Steinberg Groove Agent 4, Education Version

Full Description

Groove Agent B4 can be your go-to drum studio covering a wide range of rhythmic styles and genres. The multi agents can be used for electronic as well as acoustic drum projects meaning you only need this one piece of software to meet all your needs.

Multi Role Software

Easy to use yet functionally deep and featuring many innovative approaches, Groove Agent 4 has been designed to excel in a number of roles, such as the studio, on stage, in the rehearsal room or as a creative inspiration for music production at home or on the road. Launch the stand-alone version of Groove Agent 4 in Jam mode to assist you during song-writing sessions, for example, when your drummer is not around. Groove Agent also supports all the most common e-drum hardware, allowing you to play the included kits on your setup.

Mix It Up

With 29 studio-grade effects and a dedicated mixer section, Groove Agent 4 allows you to create your drum tracks and sculpt your ideal drum sound, all within the same application. If you want to mix your drums within your host application, the routing architecture allows you to send up to 16 stereo outputs directly into the mixer. The integrated effects also add another way of working creatively with drums and beats, either as send effects on the dedicated aux buses or inserted anywhere at the level of each kit, Agent or pad.

Production

Producers will love Groove Agent 4's unique architecture that allows you to combine agents to come up with astoundingly original, hybrid drum tracks that will keep you ahead of the competition, whatever genre or style you're specialised in. Also included is a huge library of first-class samples, grooves and patterns as well as a full-on virtual mixer and FX suite for even more creative options.

Beatmakers

For beat producers, Groove Agent 4 features a powerful beat production toolkit ready to help you create the best beats ever - regardless of what electronic, dance or urban genre you're working in. Use an array of incredible sample manipulation tools and FX, slice editors all designed to make beat production easier and faster than ever. The included sample library has been created by top names in the industry, putting the latest sounds at your disposal.

Songwriter and Composition

Groove Agent 4 offers an amazingly intuitive drum track creation solution guaranteed to inspire songwriters or composers when writing their next album. A vast array of styles and grooves await exploration, while features like the Style Player conjure a drum track in seconds, leaving you free to improvise melodies and chord progressions around wonderfully authentic acoustic drum tracks. Dial in the desired intensity and complexity, then let the Style Player play the ideal groove, replete with fills, intros and endings. Easy to use and playfully intuitive, Groove Agent 4 will help you create the best music you've ever written.

Cubase Integration

Groove Agent 4 has been engineered to harmonise completely with Cubase to keep your workflow smooth and your creativity flowing. Drag and drop samples and MIDI patterns from Cubase onto Groove Agent 4 or drag patterns from the Groove Agent 4 pads into your project to build a Cubase arrangement in seconds. But the integration goes even further: drum maps are automatically created for you from your Groove Agent kits, and all pad names are copied to Cubase, meaning less hassle and more creative freedom.

Acoustic Agent

The Acoustic Agent features three exceptional drum kits and specialises in acoustic, hand made drum tracks. The kits have been recorded with painstaking detail to capture every single subtle nuance. The Studio Kit is an excellent all-rounder, with a well-balanced sound; the Rock Kit offers plenty of punch; while the Vintage Kit oozes warmth and character. Each kit is offered in 16-bit and 24-bit versions, with controls for room and overhead level, bleed for each kit component as well as kit tuning; you can even set how far the hi-hat opens. An extra replacement kick and snare are also included to help configure your ideal kit.

Acoustic Agent also offers a dedicated mixer section with everything you need for mixing acoustic drums, with up to 20 microphone and six group channels. Each of those channels has an EQ, compressor, tape saturation and envelope shaper; the mixer also features four aux buses for send effects. You can try out one of the included mixer presets for instant, great-sounding results.

An integral part of the Acoustic Agent is the Style Player feature. Select one of over 50 styles and Groove Agent 4 will offer you a groove in that style - including intros, fills and endings. You can also instruct the Acoustic Agent to vary its playing from simple to complex and from light to intense, and control these two settings simultaneously in an intuitive XY control.

Beat Agent

Beat Agent is your in-house beat production specialist with a range of dedicated tools, kits, samples and loops all geared toward creating the best beats and grooves. Highly adept at working with samples, Beat Agent is designed to make common operations fast and simple. Load and replace samples using the integrated sample browser, create custom drum kits by stacking or layering samples on the pads or chromatically across the virtual keyboard, use the editor window to edit samples in almost any conceivable way. Beat Agent offers an outstanding array of sample editing tools.

Beat Agent comes into its own when working with loops. Not only does the AudioWarp algorithm keep your loops in sync to the song tempo at all times, but Beat Agent also slices loops and maps the result automatically and ready to play onto the pads. Beat Agent includes a feature called the Drum Classifier. This is a hit detection system that recognises if the individual slices are, for example, kick, snare or hi-hat. This leaves you free to replace elements of your loop at will, extract grooves and rearrange them in the pattern editor or change the sound of the entire kit.

Also on offer are a range of clever sonic tools, such as the Vintage and Turntable modes, which faithfully emulate the sound of 12-bit drum machines and give your sounds the gritty crunch of early hip hop samples. Combine this kind of intuitive music technology with the awe-inspiring library of over 100 kits and grooves for a full-on beat production system worthy of being a stand-alone application in its own right.

Percussion Agent

The Percussion Agent adds extra flavour to your drum tracks with specialised percussive instrumnets such as bongos, shakers, tambourines and congas. Percussion Agent also features intuitive tools for creating percussion tracks such as the dedicated Style Player. Combine up to 8 substyles and adjust the complexity and intensity of each single pattern geared especially toward percussion, essential for genres in which percussion plays a vital role such as cha-chacha, latin rock and bossa nova.

Features

• 3 specialist Agents for drums, beats and percussion
• Combinable in four slots
• Over 22,000 samples
• More than 3,800 grooves and patterns
• Acoustic Agent for realism
• Percussion Agent with more than 20 instruments for complete rhythm section
• Beat Agent for electronic music production
• Full pattern editor
• Style player with auto fills
• Jam mode for immediate backing
• Integrated mixing boards
• Advanced Cubase integration

Specifications

Minimum System Requirements

• Mac OS X version 10.8/10.9
• PC Windows 7 / Windows 8 x
• Intel or AMD dual core CPU
• 4 GB RAM
• 10 GB free HD space
• VST 2.4, VST 3 or AU host required
• DVD-ROM dual-layer drive
• USB-eLicenser (not included)
• Internet connection required for activation, account setup and personal / product registration. Additional downloads may be required for the installation.
• Languages: English, French, German

In the Box

• Groove Agent 4 Installation DVD-9 & DVD-5
• Generic printed Quick Start Guide
• Groove Agent 4 license activation code