Steinberg Geoove Agent, Operation Manual

Page: 26 / 192

Groove Agent
26 English
Musically, these two types are known as straight and swing based
music. And to make matters more complicated, swung music can be
based on either triplet 8ths (as in the song “New York, New York”) or
triplet 16th notes (as in Stevie Wonder's “Sir Duke”).
The Shuffle knob affects the sub-timing of the 8ths or 16ths and acts
a bit differently than the other Groove Agent controls. If you play a
straight style and turn the knob to the right (+), you'll hear the music
change into a more “swingy” style (the even 8ths or 16ths turning into
triplet feel). On the other hand, a swing based style becomes more
straight if you turn the dial to the left.
Unfortunately, while we've tried our best to provide a logical user inter-
face, the Shuffle knob can be used to mess things up, too. If you turn
in towards 7 o'clock when playing a straight style, or if you turn it to-
wards 5 o'clock when playing something triplet based, the result will
sound weird, to say the least. Use at your own risk!
The normal position for this knob is 12 o'clock. At this setting, all
styles sound as they were originally composed.
❐
For that cajun, zydeco, or New Orleans kind of swing, try using a straight
style and move the Shuffle knob halfway to its triplet position, to the 57-
60% region.
Humanize
Even though the musical tracks feeding Groove
Agent have been created with great care and musi-
cality, you may want to give your drumming a bit
more natural variation. This knob gradually makes
the instrument play more “inaccurately” in terms of
timing and dynamics.
The normal position for this knob is to the far left.