C6 - In case you haven´t noticed... Groove Agent 1.2

Cubase
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ga12-small.png
You are a Groove Agent One fan, aren´t you? Cubase 6 includes a new version of Groove Agent One with some nice workflow improvements:

Pad Mute/Solo
Besides the possibility to mute pads, a solo mode for pads was a long time request. Now there it is! I guess it is pretty self-explaining how to use Solo and Mute.

Multi Selection Pad Editing
Parameters can be adjusted for multiple selected pads (e.g. Tune, Pan, Volume etc.). Multiple pads can be selected via modifier key (CTRL on PC, CMD on Mac) and mouse click on the desired pads. Parameter adjustments for multiple selected pads work in relative mode by default. To adjust parameters in absolute mode, CTRL/CMD + click the parameter to set an absolute default value for all selected pads first, then adjust the parameter to the desired value. Pads in a a multi selection appear in a darker green tone. The first selected pad has the LCD focus and appears in a lighter green tone.

Support for Cubase 6 64-bit on Mac OS X
Groove Agent One 1.2 in Cubase 6 is available as native 64-bit VST 3 plug-in on Mac OS X (and PC Windows of course).

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Nice…! you are listening (and delivering)…!! :slight_smile:

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mmmmmmmmmm :sunglasses:

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I don’t mean to rain on the parade here, but those updates are pretty lame considering what is still lacking in Groove Agent One over the competition.

1.) Still no copy and paste between pads? This is a real work flow killer when I must manually select and load a duplicate sample onto a separate, fresh pad when needed. Sometimes I would love to duplicate a pad and have one playing forward and one in reverse for example. It would be far easier to simply draw in a midi note when I want a drum hit in reverse rather than draw in automation for such a task. What if I wanted a duplicate a pad but have the filter slightly different on one, or one a semitone lower or higher, it would be fantastic to copy and paste a pad exactly how I like it to a fresh pad then adjust accordingly on the duplicated pad to my needs instead of having to go through the process twice over with loading and tweaking two pads accordingly.

2.) Still no layering OUTSIDE of velocity? This isn’t layering at all when you can still only play one single sample at a time from a single pad. Layering would mean the SIMULTANEOUS playing of MULTIPLE samples from a SINGLE pad. If all I can do is have the sample change according to velocity well what is the point? You cannot phatten up a snare or kick in this manner like you could through layering. Considering you can adjust sample start and end times, why not have it so you can OVERLAP velocities to play back two samples at the same time. Take the attack from one kick via the start time adjustment and the body of another via the same method. If one wants to only play one sample according to velocity as it currently is so be it, but if I want two kicks to play, why can’t I select the velocity range to the same for BOTH LAYERS meaning 0-127 for both, not 0-63, 64-127. A complete set back when dealing with Guru etc.

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Jeez! Mr C. It’d be much simpler to just buy a drum kit in the first place than to use a computer to hack one up.
Backward drums? That’s so 1970’s.

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I use Battery for serious drum machinery, but for an internal chopping tool inside Cubase and quick and dirty rhythm constructions or in conjunction with BeatDesigner it’s very nice to have.

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I concur, get Battery for deep editing stuff. Groove Agent 1.2 is great, though, considering it is a freebie.

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How about “left click” on a pad to select so it doesn’t trigger during playback?

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I wish Battery would default to multiple outs. How many people use one set of outputs for drums?

I also wish the interface was less arcane.

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and this is a thread about?

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+1
{‘-’}

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+1 for the ‘Crank.’

Why should a ‘world class’ sequencer have inferior instruments?

GA One could be the ‘beat station (it’s not copyrighted, is it?) in the box’ … making everyone just having to have it.

One killer synth and a world class drum machine/ sampler on par with the rest of C6’s features would make this a ‘got to have’ platform.

Yes … I said sampler as in Geist. Something that maybe sits between GA One and Halion Sonic.

Now I’m talkin!’

Prado

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I don’t use it many times but I wish it could have the copy pads feature…

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Me. They’re all about me. Please pay attention next time.

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I used groove agent on a recent project for two reasons:

  1. It has a GM kit and the copyist needed that.
  2. It was low stress resource-wise.

I don’t see it as competing in the same arena or Battery, or trying to, but it’s occasionally helpful-
and anything that goes 64 bit makes me happier.

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Don’t go off topic in stickies please or I will report the post ok?

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I had not realized this was a stickie, but please feel free to report away.

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I was hoping they would up the amount of layers for each pad. I sampled my acoustic snare to trigger with electronic drums but found 8 layers to be lacking. This is the only reason I have even messed with GA.

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heres another basic problem with Groove Agent.

I like to load up a snare sound, and get it playing on a 1 bar loop in cubase and then grab the “end of sample trim bar” for the snare sound in GA and drag the bar left, until the end of my snare is nice and tight.

With every other logical trimmer bar in every other sampler or drum machine IN THE WORLD, as you are dragging the bar the snare would get shorter, right? But no, not in GA. Nothing happens. You can drag the end trim bar left more and more and more, right up to the start holding it with the mouse, and NOTHING CHANGES…NO TRIM. its only when you actually “let go” of the EOS trim bar that the clunky GA actually acts on the trim location. WHY OH WHY OH WHY STEINBERG must you make everything you make be totally long-winded and anti-workflow.

So what you have to do is trim the bar, let go, grab the bar again, move it, let go, listen, grab the bar again, move it, let go, listen, etc etc. When all i want to do is drag the end of sample bar along until i hear it is in the right place and then let go. Why cant GA act on the trim bar location in real time, instead of only reading it when ive let go with the mouse.

Thanks for finally adding the trim locators in an update, but then crippling them like this. Just yet another half-baked function in Cubase, unfinished, unproductive to work.

This was for C5.5.2…i guess its possible it has been fixed for GA 1.2 / C6 can anyone check?

Cheers,
Blackout

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With every other logical trimmer bar in every other sampler or drum machine IN THE WORLD, as you are dragging the bar the snare would get shorter, right?

It’s too resource intensive to do it any other way frankly and not everyone has the latest system so it is a baseline method that suits the majority and it works.