This paid-for version brought with it a new and improved drum
sample playback module in the form of Groove Agent SE4 1.
Despite the slightly different naming scheme it is really the latest
iteration of Groove Agent ONE, and features the same basic
underlying features. However GA SE4 has a more streamlined
interface design, and plenty of new tricks up its sleeve. This expansion to the
Groove Agent armoury becomes apparent as soon as you search the new
documentation and realise that Groove Agent SE4 now gets its own dedicated
95-page manual (rather than the derisory eight-page section of Cubase 7’s
Plug-in Reference Manual). This makes it the perfect time to take a fresh look at
the Cubase drum sampler line.
And the beat goes on
The first thing you’ll notice about GA SE4 in comparison to its forebear is the
darker, yet graphically busier interface. Workflow is still predominantly divided
between the 4x4 MPC-style drum pad grid section and the edit area – albeit in a
rather swapped-around fashion. GA now also has a rather more fully-featured
load/save system reflected in the new Kit Slot section. Here you can load ‘Sliced’
kits (which include MIDI patterns to play them back correctly) and older Groove
Agent ONE kits alongside ‘normal’ kits.
Right-clicking in this section opens up the Kit Context Menu 2, which
provides additional functionality for saving, cutting, pasting and renaming
kits. As well as being able to import Akai MPC kits, it is possible to export
newly-created or edited kits as VST3 Preset files. This creates a .vstpreset file
plus similarly-named folder that includes any referenced samples. It is worth
pointing out however that, should you choose to create a kit that takes some of
its sample material from Cubase factory content, you cannot export the samples
to a new location – when reloaded the kit will reference the location of the
original samples.
No comments:
Post a Comment