1. technology and computing
2. mp3 and midi

Operation Manual
Credits, copyright and 'small print'
Thanks to Charlie, Cristina, Manfred, Phil and Tobias.
Special thanks to Waldorf Music for the kind permission to use samples created by using Attack.
The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of
Bruns & Spork GmbH. The software described herein is subject to a License Agreement and may not be copied to any
other media. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any
purpose, without prior written permission by Bruns & Spork GmbH.
All product and company names are TM or ® trademarks of their respective owners.
Release Date: 11 July 2014
Operation Manual Revision 1.1.0, supplied with Grooove 1.1.0
© Bruns & Spork GmbH, 2014. All rights reserved.
Bruns & Spork GmbH
Missundestr. 9a
22769 Hamburg
Germany
www.brunsandspork.com
[email protected]
Support Contact:
www.brunsandspork.com/support.html
[email protected]
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Table of Contents
Credits, copyright and 'small print' ............... 2
Table of Contents ....................................... 3
Introduction ............................................... 5
Welcome ............................................... 5
About This Manual ................................. 5
Structure ............................................ 5
Key Commands .............................. 5
Click, Right-click and Control-click ...... 6
Buttons ......................................... 6
Basics ....................................................... 7
System Requirements ............................. 7
Mac OS X .......................................... 7
Windows ............................................ 7
General Requirements .......................... 7
Installation ............................................ 8
Installation on Mac OS X ....................... 8
Installation on Windows ........................ 8
Windows 32 bit only ......................... 9
Windows 32 and 64 bit ..................... 9
Windows 64 bit only ......................... 9
Trial, Purchase & Activation ................... 10
Trial ................................................. 10
Purchase .......................................... 10
Online Activation ................................ 11
Offline Activation ................................ 11
Trial Limitations ................................... 12
Control Conventions ............................. 12
Rotary Knobs .................................... 13
Modifier Keys .................................... 13
Drop-down Menus .............................. 13
Disabled Control Elements .................. 14
About Grooove ......................................... 15
The Grooove Concept ........................... 15
Ying & Yang .................................. 15
Less is more ................................. 15
GUI Overview ....................................... 16
The Control Panel ..................................... 17
Kit Display ........................................... 17
Kit Menu .......................................... 17
Tools ................................................... 19
Help Tool .......................................... 19
Speaker Tool ..................................... 19
Mixer ................................................... 20
The Keyboard ........................................... 21
Keyboard Setup Bar .............................. 21
Key Controls And Symbols .................... 22
1. MIDI Monitor ............................. 23
2. Note View Selector .....................
3. Key Label .................................
4. Sample State Indicator ................
5. Lock ........................................
6. Mute ........................................
7. Solo .........................................
Key Menu ............................................
Key Faders ..........................................
Scrollbar ..............................................
The Left Inspectors ...................................
Samples Sources .................................
Sample Selection & Waveform Display ...
Sample Pre-adjustment .......................
Pre-adjustment Switches .....................
Bypass ........................................
Phase Inv. ....................................
Normalise ....................................
Reverse .......................................
Solo ............................................
Pre-adjustment Knobs ........................
Volume ........................................
Pan .............................................
Pitch ...........................................
Start ............................................
Length .........................................
Pre-listening Samples .....................
Sound Engine ......................................
Velocity Conditions .............................
Sample Mix ..................................
Volume ........................................
Pan .............................................
Cut Off .........................................
Resonance ...................................
Pitch ...........................................
Delay ..........................................
Start* ..........................................
Fade-in* .......................................
Length* ........................................
Fade-out* .....................................
Flip ............................................
Bypass ........................................
Control Options .................................
LFOs ...............................................
LFO Limitations .............................
Trigger Mode Options .........................
One Shot .....................................
Key Hold ......................................
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Waveform Display ..............................
Output Buses ....................................
Presets ............................................
The Right Inspectors .................................
MIDI Settings .......................................
MIDI Input ........................................
Velocity Dynamic ...............................
Compress/Expand .........................
Operation Point .............................
Subtract/Add .................................
Range .........................................
Velocity Monitor pre/post .................
Position ............................................
Truncation Trigger ..............................
The Truncation Trigger Group Editor ..
Global Switches .................................
Matrix ..................................................
The Clues Bar ...........................................
Getting Clues .......................................
Grooove in Use .........................................
Running Grooove Stand-alone ...............
Stand-alone Specific Settings ...............
Audio Hardware Setup ....................
Output Device ...............................
Output Ports .................................
MIDI File Player .................................
Loading MIDI Files .........................
MIDI File Playback .........................
Changing the Tempo ......................
Running Grooove As Plug-in .................
Plug-in Paths ....................................
32 vs. 64 Bit ......................................
Using Kits & Samples ...........................
Loading Kits ......................................
Switching Kits ...............................
Optional Ways to Load Kits ..............
Creating Kits .....................................
Loading Samples ...............................
Optional Ways to Load Samples .......
Saving Kits .......................................
Managing Kits & Samples ....................
About Grooove Kit Files ......................
User Kits Folder ............................
Exporting Kits ...............................
Missing Samples ...........................
Sound Design ......................................
Using the Sound Engine ......................
Round-robin .................................
Appendix .................................................
Built-in Drum Kit Categories ..................
Arcade .............................................
Field ................................................
Klassik .............................................
Studio Kits ........................................
Waldorf Attack ...................................
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Introduction
Welcome
... to the Grooove operation manual!
Wether you are still checking out the trial installation or if you are a proud owner of a
personal license key, thanks for using Grooove - we hope you enjoy it!
This document provides detailed information on Grooove and helps you to get the most
out of it.
If you want to share your experiences with Grooove, send us an email, contribute in our
user forum or use our contact form. Your feedback is highly appreciated.
You'll find all communication channels including social media links here:
www.brunsandspork.com/contact.html
About This Manual
The information in this manual refers to both Grooove for Mac OS X and Grooove for
Windows. There are only a few differences between the two platform versions.
In case it is relevant, operating system specific instructions and screenshots are clearly
indicated.
Structure
After essential information given in the Basics chapter, the manual takes you on a detailed
tour through the graphical user interface (GUI). This is the major part of the manual and
mainly consists of reference text. It allows for quickly looking up and finding details and
facts.
The tour starts with the The Control Panel at the top and ends with the The Clues Bar at
the bottom of Grooove's interface.
If you are reading this even though you are not much of a manual reader, you might want
to skip the referential and describing part and jump directly to Grooove in Use. As the title
implies, this chapter has a more praxis-oriented attitude. It guides you step-by-step
through the most essential examples of usage. Key & Mouse Button Conventions
Key Commands
Computer keyboard keys used for operations in Grooove mentioned in the manual are
marked by square brackets.
[Shift]
Caps key or the key you use to type capitals.
[Alt]
On a Mac, this key is also known as the 'Option' key.
5
[Space]
Space or blank bar
A mismatch between Windows and Apple keyboards has an affect on Grooove's keyboard
shortcuts: The 'Control' (Ctrl) key on a Windows keyboard is the 'Command' (cmd) key on
an Apple keyboard. Therefore this key appears in the manual as follows:
[Ctrl] (Win) or [cmd] (Mac)
For example, the complete shortcut for 'Save As...' reads:
[Ctrl] (Win) or [cmd] (Mac) + [Shift] + [S]
Which means press the keys Control (Win) or command (Mac), Shift and S
simultaneously.
Click, Right-click and Control-click
A click using the left mouse button is simply referred to as 'click'.
In some places, contextual menus can be called by clicking the right mouse button or, if
you use an Apple trackpad or mouse, by clicking while holding down [ctrl].
Depending on your
mouse/trackpad settings, a two
finger tap will also bring up
contextual menus.
In the manual, these operations
are referred to as follows:
A contextual menu, in this specific case triggered by
right-clicking using a Microsoft mouse connected to an
Apple computer.
'Right-click or ctrl-click (Mac)
Buttons
Clickable graphic user interface elements such as buttons mentioned in the manual are
marked by angle brackets. 'Click <OK>' means click the button named 'OK'.
6
Basics
System Requirements
Mac OS X
• Mac OS X 10.7, 10.8, 10.9
• Intel CPU with at least two cores
• The plug-in requires a VST2, VST3 and/or AU compatible host application (Bitwig,
Cubase, Live, Logic, Reaper, Sonar etc.).
• CoreAudio compliant or built-in audio interface
Windows
• Windows Vista, 7, 8
• Intel or AMD CPU with at least two cores
• The plug-in requires a VST2 and/or VST3 compatible host application (Bitwig, Cubase,
Live, Logic, Reaper, Sonar etc.).
• ASIO compatible audio interface highly recommended, onboard sound cards can be
used though.
General Requirements
• 32/64 Bit
Grooove will run natively in both 32 and 64 bit environments.
• Hard Disk
A complete installation requires about 500 MB free disk space including the drum kits.
• Memory
2 GB or more recommended. Grooove's actual RAM footprint depends on the loaded
samples. An empty Grooove instance consumes less than 30 MB.
• Internet
Grooove is distributed online only, which means an internet connection is needed in
order to be able to download the installer.
Furthermore, the activation requires a momentary internet connection. An activated
Grooove installation will be happy offline though. However, the automatic check for
updates will only work when Grooove has access to the internet.
In case you need to install and use Grooove on a computer that cannot connect to the
internet at all, please get in contact with us: [email protected]
7
Installation
Installation on Mac OS X
If you already have used Grooove in trial mode, you can directly skip to the Activation
chapter.
In case you haven't installed Grooove yet, the following instructions will be of help.
• Download Grooove from here:
www.brunsandspork.com/downloads.html
• Double-click the downloaded file to mount the disk image containing the installer..
• In the opened disk image window, double-click on the 'Grooove.pkg' icon.
• Follow the on-screen instructions.
During the installation, you can define the Grooove components to be installed. By default,
the Mac OS X installer will place these files on your hard disk:
Stand-alone
Applications
VST2 Plug-in
Library/Audio/Plug-ins/VST
VST3 Plug-in
Library/Audio/Plug-ins/VST3
AU Plug-in
Library/Audio/Plug-ins/Components
Additional Files
Library/Application Support/brunsandspork/Grooove
User Folder
Users/*Your Username*/Documents/brunsandspork/Grooove
On Mac OS X, Grooove will run as 32 and 64 bit application or plug-in, just as required.
Installation on Windows
If you already have used Grooove in trial mode, you can directly skip to the Activation
chapter.
In case you haven't installed Grooove yet, the following instructions will be of help.
• Download Grooove from here:
www.brunsandspork.com/downloads.html
• Double-click the downloaded Zip file to unpack the installer.
• Double-click the unpacked file 'Grooove.exe' to start the installation.
• Follow the on-screen instructions.
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Optional: During the installation you may select where you want the stand-alone
application of Grooove to be installed. We strongly recommend to keep the default path
suggested by the installer.
Mandatory: Since the VST2 standard doesn't know a default location, you need to select
the folder in which you want the VST2 plug-in to be installed manually.
Important: The folder must be monitored by the host application(s) in which you
want to run Grooove as a VST2 plug-in. In case of doubt, please refer to the
documentation of the host application(s).
If you run a 64 bit edition of Windows, you need to select the installation folders for both
the 32 bit and 64 bit VST2 plug-ins separately.
During the installation, you can define the Grooove components to be installed. By default,
the Windows installer will place these files on your hard disk:
Windows 32 bit only
Stand-alone 32 Bit
C:\Program Files\brunsandspork\Grooove
Windows 32 and 64 bit
VST2 32 Bit Plug-in
Path needs to be defined during installation.
VST3 32 Bit Plug-in
Windows 32 Bit: C:\Program Files/Common Files/VST3
Windows 64 Bit: C:\Program Files (x86)/Common Files/VST3
Additional Files
C:\ProgramData\brunsandspork\Grooove
User Folder
C:\Users\*Your Username*\Documents\brunsandspork\Grooove
Windows 64 bit only
Stand-alone 64 Bit
C:\Program Files\brunsandspork\Grooove
VST2 Plug-in 64 Bit
Path needs to be defined during installation.
VST3 Plug-in 64 Bit
C:\Program Files (x86)/Common Files/VST3
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Trial, Purchase & Activation
The choice between activating or trying out the installation is made within Grooove.
So in any case, the first step is to start Grooove, either as a stand-alone application or as
plug-in (VST or AU) within a host program.
The stand-alone application can be found here:
• Mac OS X
Applications > Grooove.app
• Windows
Program Files > brunsandspork > Grooove.exe
Alternatively, if you want to run Grooove as plug-in, start the host application (Bitwig,
Cubase, Live, Logic, Reaper, Sonar etc.) and run Grooove from there. Please refer to the
documentation of the plug-in host for detailed information.
Until Grooove is being activated, the startup screen shows three buttons:
<Trial> <Activate> <Buy>
While Grooove is running in trial mode, these options are also shown in the friendly trial
reminder that pops up then and when, as well as in the 'About Grooove' screen that opens
when you click on the Grooove logo at the upper right.
Trial
You can proceed without activating Grooove by clicking on <Trial>. This will allow for using
Grooove in trial mode. Read more on this in the chapter Trial Limitations.
Purchase
Click on <Buy> if you want to purchase a personal Grooove license key with which you
can activate the installation. You will be connected with a webpage on which detailed
information on the order process can be found: http://www.brunsandspork.com/store.html
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Online Activation
The online activation enables immediate activation and should therefore be preferred over
the offline procedure.
If you already have a personal license key for Grooove, simply click on <Activate> in the
startup screen, the 'About Grooove' screen or the trial reminder box. You will be asked to
enter your email address and the license key. Please use the email address that you have
named when purchasing Grooove. It is linked to the license key.
Grooove will verify the details online, so please make sure your computer has access to
the internet.
The verification will take a few seconds only. If license key and email address can be
confirmed, the installation will be permanently activated and you can start using Grooove
without any limitation.
According to the license agreement, you are allowed to use your license key to activate up
to three Grooove installations on computers you own.
Offline Activation
Alternatively, in case you need to activate Grooove on a computer that is not connected to
the internet, the activation can be performed offline.
Please note that the offline process takes some time and doesn't allow instant activation. It
is a workaround. So whenever possible, you should activate Grooove online.
These are the necessary steps, if your computer is completely offline:
•
Start the stand-alone version of Grooove (Mac: Applications, Windows: Programs).
•
Open the File menu, go to 'Offline Activation Ticket' and select 'Export' from the
submenu.
A standard file browser window opens. Select a location where you want to save the
Offline Activation Ticket - a file named "OfflineActivationTicket.gro" - and click <OK>.
Now you can use a portable storage medium, for example a USB flash drive, to
transfer the ticket to a computer with internet access.
Attach the saved ticket to an email and send it to: [email protected]
•
•
•
At this point, some patience is required. We will send you an email with your personal
Offline Activation Ticket attached. Normally, we get back to you within a few hours, but
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please allow for up to 48 hours for the offline activation to be processed.
Once you've received the email with the Offline Activation Ticket, please follow these steps
to complete the offline activation.
•
Save the attached Offline Activation Ticket on a portable storage medium to transfer
it to the offline computer on which you want to activate Grooove.
On the offline computer, open the stand-alone version of Grooove.
•
•
Open the File menu, go to 'Offline Activation Ticket' and select 'Import' from the
submenu.
A standard file browser window opens. Navigate to the Offline Activation Ticket,
select it and click <OK>.
Yeehah! Grooove is activated and at your service with all the bells and whistles.
•
•
Trial Limitations
If you don't own a personal license key, you can use Grooove in trial mode by clicking on
<Trial>. The trial mode is not limited in time. You may try out Grooove as long as you wish.
When running in trial mode, Grooove is basically fully functional. These are the only
differences to a licensed Grooove installation:
•
•
•
From time to time, Grooove will point out visually and acoustically that it has not
been activated yet. Randomly, you will hear modulations of the sound as well as
interfering noise. Please mind that these sound effects might be included
when you export audio from a VST host application in which Grooove is
running as a VST or AU plug-in.
Only 10 built-in drum kits are available. Kits that are exclusive to activated
Grooove installations are greyed out in the Kit Menu.
'Export Kit And Samples' is disabled. This means, you can save and load your
kits. However, if you want to reorganise used samples, for example since you
want to share or backup a kit, you need to do this manually.
To put it more positively, by activating Grooove you will
•
get rid of the nag screens and interfering noise,
•
be able to make use of the 'Export Kit And Samples' function
•
get additional drum kits
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Control Conventions
This chapter provides information about basic operating methods used in Grooove.
Rotary Knobs
The rotary knobs in Grooove are controlled linearly.
Click on a knob and drag the mouse pointer horizontally or vertically while holding down
the mouse button to change the corresponding value. Moving from left to right and/or
upwards increases, moving from right to left and/or downwards decreases values.
In case a knob doesn't have a permanent display field, the value is being displayed in a
tooltip that appears next to the corresponding knob.
increase
increase
decrease
decrease
If you double-click on a knobs without display field, you can directly enter the requested
value in a text field. If a knob has a display, double-click on the display to enter the value.
Modifier Keys
Keys that change mouse control functions when being pressed are named modifier keys.
The modifier keys as well as their purpose is control element specific.
A commonly used modifier key is [Shift]. While [Shift] is pressed, rotary knobs can be
controlled with higher precision since they respond less sensitive.
Grooove makes extensive use of modifier keys. If requested, a special help feature - the
Clues Bar at the bottom - informs you on available mouse control and modifier key options.
Learn more in the chapter The Clues Bar.
Drop-down Menus
Small down-pointing triangles indicate drop-down menus/lists that provide additional
options. Click on the triangle symbol to open the menu.
Mouse pointer located
over drop-down triangle
Opened drop-down menu
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Disabled Control Elements
Some control elements are dependent from the status of other controls.
For example, the Release knob in the Trigger Mode section can only be operated, when
Trigger Mode is set to Key Hold. If the mode One Shot is selected, Release is not relevant
and therefore greyed out.
Key Hold:
Release knob at service
One Shot:
Release knob greyed
out and inoperable
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About Grooove
The Grooove Concept
Grooove is designed to load and play back audio files. You can say that it is a sample
player, or more precisely a drum sample player, since many functions of Grooove meet the
needs of beat producers.
However, Grooove is not just another drum machine. In fact, it is a very particular one.
Ying & Yang
The special thing about Grooove is the dualistic principle of its sound engine, which
focusses on the relationship of sound parameters and velocity.
For each sound parameter two different 'velocity conditions' (Min and Max) can be defined.
In other words, you set up two sound variations - one for the highest, one for the lowest
velocity - and Grooove will render the sounds for all conditions in between automatically.
In this way the velocity sensitivity of a sound can be determined effectively, precisely and
intuitively at the same time.
In theory, this probably sounds rather abstract. In fact, it feels quite natural in praxis.
Due to its unique Sound Engine, Grooove is particularly interesting for musicians who pay
attention to velocity values when programming beats.
Of course, Grooove can be used to produce less complex beats with fixed velocity, too.
However, that would mean to leave a big part of Grooove's potential unexploited.
Less is more
Grooove settles for two samples per sound. This is not a limitation but part of Grooove's
concept.
Instead of trying to emulate acoustic drums by managing huge multi-sample libraries,
Grooove concentrates on breathing life into a single drum sound and turning a handful
audio files into a highly dynamic drum kit.
Get into it and rediscover your drum sample library!
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GUI Overview
Grooove's graphical user interface (GUI) is very - some might say too - compact. However,
when you get used to Grooove, we hope you will appreciate the fact that Grooove takes
only a small part of the screen and doesn't block the view of its host application.
Here's an complete GUI overview:
The Kit Display shows details on loaded drum
kits and provides all file handling options.
The Mixer manages
Groooves 8 stereo outputs.
Clicking the Grooove
logo opens the
'About Grooove' screen
All parameters of a Key can be
accessed via the inspectors on
both sides. Each inspector has
two different views that are
organised in tabs.
The Scrollbar shows an overview of all 128 Keys and
allows for quickly navigating the Keyboard in the center.
The octave currently displayed in the Keyboard is
highlighted. Keys that are holding samples are marked
blue, red coloured Keys indicate incoming MIDI signals.
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In the Keyboard in the centre, all 128
MIDI notes are listed vertically, 12 of
which are shown. Each Key represents
a sound and can hold up to 2 audio files.
The Keys also act as pads that can be
clicked to trigger the assigned sounds.
The Control Panel
The Control Panel is the horizontal switching board at the top of Grooove's graphical user
interface. In addition to a few buttons that will be explained in this chapter, the Control
Panel contains the Kit Display and Grooove's Mixer.
The Kit Display which shows details
on loaded drum kits and provides all
file handling options.
Help Tool
Clicking the Grooove
logo opens the
'About Grooove' screen
Speaker Tool for triggering
sounds by mouse-click
The Mixer manages
Groooves eight
stereo outputs.
Kit Display
The Kit Display at the left of the Control Panel shows information on the currently loaded
drum kit. It also grants access to a drop-down menu (Kit Menu) in which you can find
Grooove's built-in drum kits and all kit management and file handling functions.
First, let us take a look at the more obvious information and features the Kit Display is
providing.
Amount of loaded
samples and used Keys
and RAM consumption
Name of the drum kit
Click to ad/remove loaded
kit to/from Favourites menu
The arrows allow for skipping to
the next or previous drum kit
within the current folder.
Path to the loaded
drum kit file (*.grk)
Date & time of the last
saved modification
The folder buttons work as
short cuts to the Kit Menu
operations 'Load Kit...' (yellow)
and 'Save Kit As...' (red).
Hold down Ctrl (Windows) or
cmd (Mac) while clicking on the
red folder to suppress overwrite
warnings when saving a kit.
Kit Menu
Just click anywhere on the Kit Display to open the Kit Menu, a drop-down menu in which
various file handling options are available.
Apart from the common load and save file operations, the menu contains several 'Kits'
17
folders that allow for accessing listed drum kits directly without having to browse through
the file system. Here is a list of all Kit Menu entries:
Load Kit...
Opens the standard file browser and lets you browse your hard disk(s) for Grooove drum kit
files (*.grk).
Save Kit
Saves latest changes to the loaded drum kit. The existing Grooove drum kit file (*.grk) will be
overwritten.
Save Kit As...
Allows for browsing your hard disk(s) in order to save the loaded drum kit as a Grooove drum
kit file (*.grk) at a location of your choice.
Reload Kit
Discards all unsaved changes
New Kit > Empty
Loads an empty kit that doesn't contain any samples. Use this function if you want to build up
a new kit from the scratch.
New Kit > GM Template
Loads an empty kit that doesn't contain any samples. In contrast to a new empty kit, the
Keys of the GM Template are named GM (General MIDI) standard compliant.
Export Kit and Samples... The export function creates a new folder at a location of your choice and stores all used
samples and the corresponding kit file (*.grk) inside.
Please note:
• Samples that come from a kit that has been supplied with Grooove will not be exported.
• Export is disabled while Grooove is running is trial mode.
Reveal Kit in Finder
Opens a Finder (Mac) or Explorer (Win) window containing the currently loaded kit file.
Categories
The built-in drum kits are divided into categories. Each category contains a submenu from
which the requested drum kits can be selected.
User
A customisable list of kits that corresponds to Grooove drum kit files that are placed on your
hard disk under: *Your Username*/Documents/brunsandspork/Grooove/Kits
Recent Kits
A list showing recently loaded kits.
Favourite Kits
A list showing the kits you have marked as 'Favourite'. Kits can be added to or removed from
the Favourites list by clicking on the asterisk symbol in the upper right corner of the Kit
Display. The asterisk is coloured orange when a kit is being 'favoured'.
Rescan Kits
The list of drum kits available via the Kit Menu is based upon the content Grooove is finding
in the 'User' (see above) directory and internal library folders on startup. Use 'Rescan Kits' to
get the menu in sync if you've changed the folder content while Grooove is running.
Furthermore, at the bottom of the menu, kits that are available in the current folder are
listed.
More detailed information on the Kit Menu and examples of usage can be found in chapter
Grooove in Use under Using Kits.
18
Tools
With the two buttons next to the Kit Display you can enable two alternate mouse operation
modes. Both buttons work as switches and turn blue when enabled.
Help Tool
Help
Tool
Click on the Help Tool switch (question mark icon) to switch on Grooove's
help mode.
While the help mode is active, a small question mark will be attached to the
mouse pointer whenever it is located over a graphical element for which help
information is available.
The details will be displayed within a tooltip box, when the mouse pointer is
kept over the corresponding spot for an instant.
When you click on the small down-pointing triangle in
the upper right corner of the Help Tool button, you can
access a drop-down menu that provides additional
help options.
Toggle Help Mode
Turns the help mode on or off, just like clicking the Help Tool Switch.
Open Operation Manual
Opens the PDF documentation.
Visit Support Page
Takes you to www.brunsandspork.com/support.html.
Check for Updates
Verifies if the installed Groove version is up-to-date. This option requires an internet
connection.
Speaker Tool
Speaker
Tool
With the Speaker Tool switch you can permanently enable or disable the
Speaker Tool.
While the Speaker Tool is enabled, a speaker symbol is attached to the
mouse pointer. In this operation mode sounds can be triggered directly by
clicking anywhere on the corresponding Key on the Keyboard.
1
128
Trigger velocity value
The tooltip shows the velocity value which
depends on the location of the Speaker Tool.
The velocity increases proportionally to the
horizontal position of the mouse pointer on
the Key. The closer a click with the Speaker
Tool is done to the right border of a Key, the
higher the velocity.
19
In order to simplify triggering sounds, the Speaker Tool does not have any other function
while it is placed over a Key. This means, it cannot be used to select Keys or operate
buttons on a Key.
Outside the Keyboard, the Speaker Tool automatically switches to the regular mouse
pointer.
Over the Keyboard, you can manually toggle between the Speaker Tool and the regular
mouse pointer by holding down [Alt]. When the Speaker Switch is engaged (blue), [Alt]
switches to the regular mouse pointer. When the Speaker Switch is off (grey), [Alt]
switches to the Speaker Tool.
Mixer
All sound that comes from Grooove must go through the Mixer. It is the last station on the
audio signal path within Grooove. From here, audio will be passed on to the host
application, or - if Grooove is running stand-alone - directly to the audio interface.
The Mixer consists of 8 independent stereo channels, which can be used as separate
outputs.
Usually, the outputs are used to apply different amounts of effects to specific drum sounds,
for example, to put a lot of reverb on the snare while keeping the bass drum more or less
dry.
On the left part of the Mixer, a small level meter for each channel is shown to provide an
overview of all outputs.
Selected channel
Red peak indicates
signal level of 0 dB
or higher
Numbers can
be clicked to
mute/unmute a
channel
The upper value shows the current level
and will be refreshed continuously.
The value below shows the all-time
peak. Click the values to reset.
Muted channel
Level meter, volume fader and
balance fader of selected channel
The stereo output assignment of a Key is done on the Sound Engine inspector. By default,
any sound that is created on a Key will be sent to the first output channel of the Mixer.
The channels can be muted and unmuted by clicking on the numbered buttons below the
meters. If you directly click on a level meter, the corresponding channel is getting
highlighted.
The right part of the mixer is showing a horizontal level meter, a volume fader and a
balance fader. These three segments are linked to the currently selected channel in the
channel overview.
20
The Keyboard
The Keyboard features 128 Keys that represent the 128 MIDI notes from C-2 to G8
vertically. 12 Keys (one octave) are always visible and accessible.
If the mouse pointer is placed over
the Keyboard, you can scroll up or
down to reach other Keys by using
the mouse wheel. The Scrollbar at the
far left (not shown here) provides
further and more targeted navigation
options.
On each Key a specific sound can be
created, composed of up to two
samples. Just click a Key to select it
(the Key gets highlighted) and get
access to its settings displayed in the
inspectors on the left and right.
Keyboard
Setup Bar
Muted channels
12 Keys
1 Octave
Selected Key is highlighted and connected to
the inspectors to the left and right.
Locked Keys
Keyboard Setup Bar
Keyboard Setup Bar
The Keyboard Setup Bar above the Keyboard encloses a
group of tools and switches that allow for configuring the
representation, sorting, and function of the Keys.
This is the Note View Selector. Click to show/hide the MIDI note names. The drop-down menu allows
you to select whether the Source Note or the Input Note (the note defined as MIDI Input note in the MIDI
Settings inspector) should be shown. If set to Input Note, the note names on the Keys are coloured red.
Shows/hides the Key Faders. If activated, each Key features a fader for volume and balance.
Allows you to sort the keys in different orders. Click on the button to step through the available sort
options. If you click on the triangle symbol, the requested option can be directly selected from a dropdown list. The green arrow buttons invert the sorting vertically.
21
Key Name
The Keys are listed alphabetically by their names.
Key Name + Sample State
Depending on the sample assignment, this order option splits the Keyboard in two groups ordered
alphabetically and by sample state. One group contains Keys with samples, the other group empty Keys.
Source Note
The Keys are listed chromatically by their Source Note. This is the default setting and the only order
option that allows the Scrollbar to appear with a piano roll layout.
Source Note + Sample State
Depending on the sample assignment, this order option splits the Keyboard in two groups ordered by the
Source Note and the sample state. One group contains Keys with samples, the other group empty Keys.
Opens a drop-down menu that allows you to select a MIDI note. The corresponding Key is selected
automatically. If necessary, the displayed Keyboard section will be adjusted in order to show the selected
Key.
Global switches for Lock, Mute (M-symbol) and Solo (S-symbol).
Global Lock
Global Lock is working in a different way than the global switches for Mute and Solo. It simply enables or
disables Lock on all Keys at once, independent from the Lock state on single Keys.
If you click on the grey Lock (opened) switch, all Keys will get locked and the symbol turns white.
Clicking on the white Lock (closed) switch unlocks all locked Keys.
Global Mute
Global Mute allows for unmuting all directly muted Keys at once. It is not related to Keys that have been
set to Mute by the Solo state of other Keys.
When at least one Key is muted, Global Mute is coloured blue and operable. When no Key is muted,
Global Mute is grey and has no function. It is also disabled when a Key has been set to Solo.
Global Solo
Global Solo allows for disabling Solo on all Keys at once thus unmutes all Keys that have been set to
Mute by the Solo state of other Keys. Global Solo does not affect Keys that have been directly set to
Mute.
When at least one Key has been set to Solo, Global Solo turns red and is operable. When no Keys is set
to Solo, Global Solo is grey and has no function.
Key Controls And Symbols
Apart from the label, each Key features three indicators and three switches.
1. MIDI Monitor shows
incoming MIDI event
4. Sample State
Indicator
(sample loaded) 6. Mute switch (off)
7. Solo switch (off)
2. Note View Selector
(set to Source Note)
3. Double-click to
rename Key
22
5. Lock switch (off)
1. MIDI Monitor
The MIDI Monitor indicates if a Key is receiving MIDI notes. It also illustrates the velocity of
a note and thus works as a level meter.
Normally, incoming MIDI notes cause the MIDI Monitor to flash red.
A white flashing MIDI Monitor points out that incoming MIDI notes are being redirected to
another Key, for the input note defined in the MIDI Input section of the MIDI Settings
inspector differs from the original input note (Source Note). This helps avoiding routing
confusion.
2. Note View Selector
By default, the Source Note of a Key is shown next to the MIDI Monitor. The Source Note
is the default MIDI input note of a Key and cannot be changed.
Instead of the Source Note, you can also
Note View
choose to have the Input Note shown on a Key.
Selector
This is done using the drop-down menu of the
Note View Selector in the Keyboard Setup Bar.
The Input Note can be set in the MIDI Input
section of the MIDI Settings inspector. By
default, Source Note and Input Note are the
same.
By changing the Input Note an existing drum kit can be adjusted to MIDI notes from a MIDI
source that has a different MIDI mapping.
3. Key Label
Key labels can be chosen freely. A double-click on a Key label opens a text field in which
the name can be edited.
If you load an audio file on an unlabelled Key, Grooove will name the Key after the audio
file. The same goes for Keys that are labelled '...' (3 points), as the empty Keys in the New
Kit templates 'Empty' and 'GM Template'.
4. Sample State Indicator
The Sample State Indicator provides information from the Sample Sources inspector.
The waveform symbol indicates if at least one audio file is loaded and if a Sample Slot is
set to Solo.
Black: No sample is loaded
White: At least one sample is loaded.
Grey with S symbol: A Sample Slot is set to Solo.
Orange with question mark: Sample could not be loaded.
23
5. Lock
Use the Lock switch to prevent the Key from any changes. When a Key is locked, its
settings cannot be modified, neither in the inspectors nor directly on the Key. In this case,
the Lock switch remains the Key's only operable control.
6. Mute
When the Mute switch (M-symbol) is engaged, samples on a Key will not be played back the Key is muted. When Mute is enabled, the M-symbol is coloured blue.
Grooove knows two different mute states and memorises if a Key has been muted directly
or by clicking the Solo switch on another Key. Directly muted Keys stay muted when an
engaged Solo on another Key is being switched off.
7. Solo
Clicking Solo (S-symbol) engages Mute on all Keys that are not set to Solo.
Key Menu
Right-clicking or ctrl-clicking (Mac) on a Key
opens a contextual menu that allows for
loading or removing samples from the
Sample Slots in the Sample Sources
inspector directly.
Furthermore, the contextual menu provides
an Input Note selector and the standard
editing functions Clear, Cut, Copy and
Paste.
Clear
Resets a Key to its default condition. Samples will be removed and all settings initialised.
Cut
Same as Clear, but the Key's settings and sample assignments will be copied to the
clipboard.
Copy
Copies the Key's settings and sample assignments to the clipboard. Existing settings and
sample assignments will be preserved.
Paste
Applies the copied settings and sample assignments to a Key. Already existing settings
and sample assignments on the target Key will be overwritten.
24
Key Faders
The overall volume and balance of each Key can
be controlled by compact faders.
They are hidden by default. Click the mixer symbol
in the Keyboard Setup Bar to display the faders.
In the signal path, the Key Faders are placed after
the Sound Engine and before the Mixer in the
Control Panel.
Volume
25
0 dB
Center Balance
Scrollbar
The Scrollbar on the far left gives you an overview of all 128 Keys and allows for quickly
and accurately navigating the Keyboard.
The 12 Keys that are directly accessible via the Keyboard are highlighted on the Scrollbar.
The Scrollbar also shows incoming MIDI notes and indicates the currently selected Key as
well as Keys which are holding audio files.
Up/down
Arrows
allow for
horizontal
scolling
Click
anywhere on
the scrollbar
to relocate the
highlighted
part and the
Keyboard.
Keys are
flashing red
when
receiving
MIDI events.
The blue marks
indicate that at
least one
sample is
loaded on a Key.
Highlighted
segment
indicates the 12
Keys that are
accessible on
the Keyboard in
the middle.
Click on one of the arrows above the
Scrollbar to move the section of the
Keyboard that is displayed in Grooove up
or down by one octave. Hold down [Shift]
The currently
while you click to move it by a single key
selected Key on
only. If [Alt] is pressed, the displayed
the Keyboard is
octave will be moved by six Keys (1/2
coloured green.
octave).
When the mouse pointer is placed over the
scrollbar, the directly accessible segment
can also be moved by using the mousewheel.
Piano roll view while
Generic view while an
Alternatively, if you click directly on the
sort order is set to
alternative sort order
Scrollbar, the corresponding octave will be
'Source Note'
is selected
displayed on the Keyboard.
When you change the sort mode, the view of the Scrollbar (piano roll or generic) will be
adjusted accordingly.
The Keys on the Scrollbar are also informing on the sample state. Keys that hold one or
two samples are marked by a blue 'LED'. The currently selected Key is coloured green.
Additionally, the Scrollbar is showing the overall MIDI activity. Keys that receiving MIDI
events are flashing red.
26
The Left Inspectors
The vertical control panel beneath the
Kit Display on the left side of Grooove is
shared by the Samples Sources and the
Sound Engine inspectors.
All sample-related settings and
operations are done here.
Click on the tabs at the top of both
inspectors to switch between Sample
Sources and Sound Engine view.
Inspector tabs
(Sample Sources selected)
Samples Sources
The Sample Sources inspector is where you do the ground work for each sound in
Grooove. Each Key features two independent Sample Slots into which audio files can be
loaded, pre-adjusted and prelistened. This means each drum sound in Grooove can be
composed of up to two audio files.
Sample Selection & Waveform Display
In this section, the two possible audio files or samples per Key can be assigned.
In order to load an audio file, you can drag it from a folder in Finder (Mac) resp. Explorer
(Windows ) directly onto the waveform display of a Sample Slot.
Sample Sources inspector is selected
Click the up/down arrows to
step through audio files
available in the same folder.
Name of audio file
loaded in Sample Slot 1
Click the i-symbol to
switch to the details view.
Waveform of audio file
loaded in Sample Slot 1
Click the drag handle to move
or copy ([alt] pressed) loaded
samples.
Empty Waveform Display
of Sample Slot 2
Click anywhere on a
Waveform Display or the
file name field to open the
Sample Menu.
Empty file name field
of Sample Slot 2
Alternatively, clicking on one of the Waveform Displays or file name fields opens the
Sample Menu, which lets you select from a list of audio files that are available in the
currently selected folder. It also allows for browsing the contents of Grooove's library folder
sorted by instruments or kits. The standard file browser dialog can be accessed here, too.
27
Opened Sample Menu
When clicking the small i-symbol (information) in the
Waveform Display, detailed information on the loaded audio
file will be shown. While the details are displayed the symbol
turns into a waveform icon. Click it to hide the details.
Clicking on the folder symbol reveals the audio file in a Finder
(Mac) resp. Explorer (Windows) window.
If a stereo sample is loaded, a stereo symbol appears in the
upper right corner of each waveform display. Click on it to get
access to the playback modes: STEREO, MONO (both
channels mixed), MONO L (left channel only), MONO R (right
channel only)
Sample Pre-adjustment
In the Sample Pre-adjustment, you can adjust the basic sound parameters of loaded
samples. This can be particularly helpful when two quite different audio files are loaded on
one key.
In this case, for example, adjusting start and pitch of the samples might result in a more
homogenous, consistent basic sound.
If possible, pre-adjustments will be reflected in the Waveform Display.
28
Pre-adjustment Switches
The header of the Sample Pre-adjustment feature switches for Bypass, Phase Inversion,
Normalise and Reverse. They allow for quickly controlling basic sample settings.
Bypass
When enabled, all other settings within the pre-adjustment
section will be ignored so that the raw sample will be played
back. Use this button to toggle between the original sound
(Bypass on) and the sound modified by the pre-adjustments.
Phase Inv.
Phase Inv. stands for phase inversion which means swapping
plus and minus or the polarity of the audio signal. It's like
mirroring the waveform vertically. It would be more accurate
to name this option 'Polarity Reversal', however, Phase
Inversion is the commonly used term.
In most cases, Phase Inversion is not required and will not have an affect. But particularly
when two samples with low frequencies (bass drums) are loaded, inverting the polarity of
one sample might help avoiding unwanted cancellations.
In general, if you experience an unexpectedly thin tone, just enable this option and see if
the sound will benefit from it.
Normalise
When Normalise is enabled, the volume of the loaded audio file will be adjusted to the
highest possible value below clipping. The point of reference is the loudest point of the
audio file (peak normalisation).
Reverse
Reverse inverts the playback direction. The sample will be played from the end to the
beginning. It's like mirroring the waveform horizontally.
Solo
When Solo is enabled, the other Sample Slot will be ignored. When a Sample Slot is put to
Solo, the Keys works as if only a single Sample Slot would exist. On the Key, the Solo
status is being indicated by a small red S symbol attached to the Sample Status icon.
Pre-adjustment Knobs
Volume
Obviously, this knob sets the basic volume of a sound. If two samples are loaded, Volume
29
can be used to set a preliminary mixing ratio.
Pan
With Pan you can place a mono signal between left and right. If a stereo sample is loaded,
Pan works as a balance control, which means it sets the volume difference between the
left and right channel.
Pitch
This parameter allows for tuning a sound by up to 12 half-tone steps up and down.
Start
Start sets the starting point for the playback of the loaded sample. Together with Pitch, this
parameter can be particularly important if a sound is composed of two very different
samples.
Length
The length of the sound can be set here. Length is affected by the starting point. The
maximum length that can be set is the range between the selected starting point and the
end of the loaded sample.
Pre-listening Samples
The Listen buttons allow you to preview the loaded samples and verify the effect of the set
pre-adjustments. When samples are triggered by the Listen buttons, sound settings in
other sections are not taken into account.
Samples can be pre-listened individually by clicking on <Listen> in the corresponding
Sample Slot. If two samples are loaded, clicking the middle Listen button triggers both
samples.
A blue bar on the Listen buttons shows the playback progress. Clicking <Listen> during
pre-listening stops the playback.
Triggers samples in both
Sample Slots simultaneously.
Repeat
enabled
Tempo of
repetitions
By activating the Repeat function you can pre-listen the samples repeatedly while
adjusting the parameters above. To change the tempo of the repetitions, use the control
knob or double-click the BPM value (beats per minute) to enter the requested tempo
manually.
30
Sound Engine
The Sound Engine is the heart of Grooove. Here, you can
determine how the basic sound you have composed in the
Sample Sources inspector responds to the velocity of
incoming MIDI notes.
The special thing about the Sound Engine is its dualistic
principle. It allows for setting two different sound variations
which refer to the lowest velocity and highest velocity.
Therefore, each sound parameter in the Velocity
Conditions section has two controls.
Actually, both knobs control the same parameter and have
the same scope. However, they represent two opposite
reference points - the two 'Velocity Conditions' Min and
Max.
The knobs in the left column labelled Min are used to set
the variation of a sound for minimum velocity (0).
Accordingly, with the knobs in the right column labelled
Max, the variation of the sound that corresponds to
maximum velocity (127) can be set.
When two different values have been chosen for Min and
Max, the parameter responds to the velocity of a MIDI note
and affects the sound dynamically. The more Min and Max
differ from each other, the more dynamic the sound will be.
If Min and Max share the same value, the velocity has no
influence on the sound parameter.
For example, if you want the volume of a sound to be dynamic, set a low value for Min and
a high value for Max. Grooove calculates the volume for all velocity values that lie in
between the set range accordingly.
By using additional sound parameters, the dynamic response of a sound can be made
much more complex and interesting.
Since each Key has two Sample Slots, you can also create velocity sensitive mixes
between both. Depending on the choice of samples, that opens further opposed Velocity
Conditions, for instance, electronic/acoustic or distorted/clean.
If you pay some attention to velocity when programming beats, Grooove's Sound Engine
will reward your efforts with highly sensitive and musically responding sounds, even if only
a few simple samples are involved. This is particularly true when it comes to lively hi-hat
patterns, snare drum ghost notes and dynamically pumping bass drums.
In case you are still not sure what this Min and Max dualism is about, the step-by-step
instructions in the Sound Design chapter will shed some light.
31
Velocity Conditions
Min column
Set the sound variation for
minimum velocity here.
Global Bypass switch
In the Max column, the sound
variation for maximum velocity is set.
Global Flip switch
Flip enabled
Min and Max exchanged
Bypass enabled
Sample Mix
Controls the mix between Sample 1 and 2. Obviously, Sample Mix can only be operated
when two samples are loaded in the Sample Pre-adjustment section on the Sample
Sources inspector.
Volume
This is the most common and obvious velocity dependent parameter. The Volume can be
set between 0% (silence) and 100% (maximum sound level).
Pan
The Sound Engine is always processing in stereo, which means the output always
features two channels, even if the Sample Sources section delivers a mono signal only. So
the Pan knob actually controls the balance of a sound by varying the volume of the left and
right channel.
If you turn Pan to left for Min and right for Max, the sound will travel from left to right when
the velocity is being increased. The effect certainly depends on the selected sample and
the corresponding pre-adjustments.
Cut Off
The frequency range of a sound can be controlled by a lowpass filter. Cut Off defines the
frequency at which the filter sets in. Turn down Cut Off to dampen the higher frequencies
of a sound.
This is typically used for the Min velocity condition, since quieter sounds are usually more
muffled.
32
Resonance
Resonance emphasises frequencies near the set Cut Off frequency, which causes a bump
in the frequency spectrum. Depending on the resonance dosage, this will make the filter
effect more audible or even drastic, particularly when the Cut Off frequency is modulated
by a LFO.
Pitch
Just like Pitch in the Sample Sources inspector, this knob allows for tuning a sound. You
can go up and down up to an octave.
Delay
Delay sets back the audio signal by the given period of time. Selecting different values for
high and low velocity can affect the groove of drum beat in a very interesting way.
Start*
Correlates to the Start parameter on the Sample Sources inspector. Start sets the starting
point for the playback of the loaded sample. In contrast to the corresponding Sample
Sources parameter, you can set a velocity sensitive starting point here.
Fade-in*
Turn up the Fade-in knob to create an area at the start of the sample in which the volume
will be increased from silence at the beginning up to 100% at the end of the fade-in range.
The longer the Fade-in the softer a sound gets. In other words, a Fade-in is taking away
the attack of an audio signal.
Length*
Correlates to the Length parameter on the Sample Sources inspector. The length of the
sound can be set here. Length is affected by the starting point. The maximum length that
can be set is the range between the selected starting point and the end of the loaded
sample. In contrast to the corresponding Sample Sources parameter, the length setting
here can be velocity sensitive.
Fade-out*
Fade-out can be considered as a reverse Fade-in at the end of the sound. Over the course
of a fade-out the audio signal will be decreased until silence. In this way, the end of a
sound can be softened.
*The correlation of Start, Fade-in, Length and Fade-out needs to be considered when editing a
sound. Changing one of these four parameters affects the adjustment range of the others.
Of course, Length limits the range of Start. Furthermore, Fade-in and Fade-out cannot overlap and
share the set overall length. For example, if Length is 70 ms and Fade-in is set to 10 ms, the maximum
possible value for Fade-out is 60 ms.
The sum of Fade-in and Fade-out is the minimum possible value for Length. For example, if Fade-in is
set to 5 ms and Fade-out is set to 40 ms, the minimum Length is 45 ms.
33
Flip
The Flip button next to the Min and Max controls of each Sound Engine parameter inverts
the settings of Min and Max. When Flip is active (coloured arrow symbol), Mix is Max and
Max is Min. Visually, the control knobs keep their position though.
In this example, the same effect has
been achieved without using Flip by
adjusting the knobs manually.
Flip is enabled, so the
values for Min and Max
have been exchanged.
Depending on the velocity values of the incoming MIDI velocity, this can have an intense
effect on the groove of a beat. When you have a Hi-hat pattern, using the Flip button of the
Volume parameter often switches between an off-beat and on-beat feeling.
The topmost Flip button is working globally and switches Flip for all parameters on or off.
Bypass
Each Sound Engine parameter has an own Bypass switch. If enabled, corresponding
parameter settings are ignored.
By switching Bypass on and off the actual impact of a setting can be easily checked.
Global Bypass switch
Bypass enabled
As with the Flip buttons, there is a Global Bypass switch above the parameters. It controls
all Bypass switches simultaneously.
Control Options
There are several options that help you setting the Min and Max (Velocity Conditions)
parameters effectively.
[Ctrl] (Win) or [cmd] (Mac) + Left-click
Resets the parameter to default
Right-click or ctrl-click (Mac)
Adopts the value from the opposite Velocity Condition
[Alt] + Drag
Sets both Velocity Conditions simultaneously
[Ctrl] (Win) or [cmd] (Mac) + [Alt] + Drag
Sets both Velocity Conditions diametrically
[Shift] + Drag
Sets the parameter with maximum precision.
Can be combined with [Alt], [Ctrl] (Win) or [cmd] (Mac)
34
LFOs
Grooove features eight independent LFOs (Low-frequency Oscillators) with which all
sound parameters in the Sound Engine inspector can be modulated. It is possible to set
Efficiency and Frequency individually for each of the eight LFOs.
To enable a LFO for a specific parameter, click on the LFO switch to the left in the same
row. Only controls of enabled LFOs are operable.
Efficiency (Percent) Frequency (Hertz)
LFO Selector: Click on the LFO
LFO Switch:
number to select a LFO from a
Click to turn
drop-down menu
LFO on and off
In the example above, LFO No. 3 is modulating the sample mix ratio (two audio files
loaded). Depending on the samples, the effect would result in a quickly and heavily
changing sound, for Efficieny (percent symbol) is set to 100% and Frequency also has a
quiet high value. Obviously, this is not necessarily a real life example.
Please note that all 128 Keys share the same eight LFOs. Thus sounds on Keys on
which the same LFO is enabled are modified in the same way.
By implication, that means that changing a LFO setting affects the sound on all
Keys that have the same LFO activated.
LFO Limitations
Grooove's LFOs are an effective way to modulate sounds. However, due to the simplicity
of the LFOs, there might be some things you are missing from more complex LFOs:
• The LFOs are running freely. They cannot be synced to a tempo.
• The LFOs are generating a sine curve. Other waveforms are not available.
• The playback of a sound does not follow the LFO. That means, a sound keeps all
parameters that are given at the moment the playback has been started.
35
If you wonder what a LFO is doing, here's a brief unscientific explanation:
A LFO creates a pulse that is 'swinging' periodically around a zero point. While the pulse is increasing
and decreasing rhythmically, it is hitting opposite peaks at a positive and negative distance from the
zero point.
One could say that a LFO is 'making waves'. The parameter Frequency is controlling the amount of
waves hitting the beach while Efficiency is determining the height thus the impact of the waves.
In Grooove's Sound Engine, you can utilise these waves to manipulate parameters. In this way you can
achieve periodically sound changes - in addition to velocity dependent sound modulations you might
have set.
For example, when you apply a LFO to the parameter Pitch, the Key will be tuned up and down
continually according to the settings of the LFO. If Frequency is set to a low value, the pitch of the Key
changes only slowly. If you turn up the Frequency, the changes get faster. When a low Efficiency is set,
the LFO will affect the pitch only slightly (or even not at all), while a high Efficency will cause very
intense and potentially weird intonation changes.
Trigger Mode Options
One Shot
The sound is played back completely each time it is triggered by a MIDI event. If the same
sound will be re-triggered while it is still being played back, the playback will be cut-off and
started again. Each Key is monophonic, so the playback will not be layered.
Key Hold
The playback duration of the source sound is determined by the length of the incoming
MIDI note. As soon as the trigger key or pad is being released, the playback of the sound
will be stopped immediately.
Hey Hold enable
Release time can be set
If requested, you can set a release time to achieve a more or less soft truncation. Within
the set Release time, the sound will be faded.
This can be useful for preventing clicks when low-frequency sounds, for example bass
drums, are cut off.
36
Waveform Display
This Waveform Display shows the waveform of a sound after being processed by the
Sound Engine. Use the horizontal slider below the display to select the velocity for which
you want see the waveform.
Low velocity value
High velocity value
Output Buses
Here you can select the stereo output to which any sound on a Key will be sent.
Groooves provides eight stereo outputs. They are represented by the Mixer in the Control
Panel. By default each Key's output is set to 'Stereo Out 1 L+R'.
Make sure that the output bus you have selected is activated in the host application in
which Grooove is loaded.
If you are running Grooove stand-alone, the stereo outputs are automatically assigned to
the physical outputs of the used audio interface. However, by default, only the first stereo
output is enabled. Additional outputs need to be activated in the 'Audio' menu. More details
can be found in the chapter 'Groove in Use' under Stand-alone Specific Settings.
Presets
The Preset section lets you save and load all Sound Engine settings. If you select 'Reset
Sound Engine', all parameters are reset to their default values.
Grooove stores the presets as *.gsp files (Grooove Sound Engine Preset) at this location:
• Mac OS X
*Your Username*/Documents/brunsandspork/Grooove/Presets
• Windows
*Your Username*/Documents/brunsandspork/Grooove/Presets
37
The Right Inspectors
The vertical control panel on the right
side of Grooove is shared by the MIDI
Settings inspector and the Matrix view.
Click on the tabs at the top of both
inspectors to switch between Sample
Sources and Sound Engine view.
The right inspectors feature the MIDI
Settings and the Matrix view.
Inspector tabs
(MIDI Settings selected)
On the MIDI Settings inspector, you will find powerful MIDI processors that allow for
changing and filtering incoming MIDI events effectively.
The Matrix inspector however is confined to providing an overview of settings only. It does
not offer editing functions.
MIDI Settings
The MIDI Settings inspector is working as a multi-layered filter. The MIDI notes Grooove is
receiving are starting at the top of the MIDI Settings in the MIDI Input. Depending on the
settings, the MIDI notes will be progressively processed while crossing further sections.
Only after reaching the Truncation Trigger component at the bottom of the MIDI Settings,
the notes are passed to the Keys where corresponding sounds finally will be triggered.
MIDI Input
This is the main entrance for MIDI notes. In the MIDI Input
section you can set up a MIDI device (MIDI interface), a MIDI
note and a MIDI channel for the selected Key.
A sound set up on this Key can only be triggered by the MIDI
note and source defined here.
If Source is set to all, the Key receives incoming MIDI notes from all MIDI devices that are
available on your system. Click on the field and select an entry from the list of available
MIDI sources, if you want to restrict the MIDI input to a specific device, for example, a
connected MIDI keyboard.
The same MIDI note can be assigned to multiple Keys simultaneously.
Velocity Dynamic
As the name implies, the Velocity Dynamic section features
detailed options to process the velocity of incoming MIDI
events dynamically.
38
Compress/Expand
Negative values compress the dynamic of the velocity values, positive values expand
them. This allows you to emphasise or attenuate velocity variations of incoming MIDI
events.
Operation Point
The operating point is the reference velocity value for the compression or expansion.
When a compression is set, velocity values of incoming MIDI events will be brought closer
to the operating point.
In contrast, when the MIDI dynamic is being expanded, the difference between velocity
values and operating point will be increased.
128
The image schematically illustrates the way
compression and expansion is working.
Operating Point
The grey bars show the original, unprocessed
velocity values.
64
The blue bars show expanded values. The distance
from the Operating Point has been increased which
results in higher dynamic.
In contrast, the red bars show compressed values.
The distance from the Operating Point has been
reduced which results in lower dynamic.
1
Subtract/Add
Here you can define a fixed value that will be added to or subtracted from the velocity of
an incoming MIDI event. Negative values reduce the velocity, positive values increase it.
Range
The range parameters let you define the minimum (Min) and
maximum (Max) velocity values. You can also determine what
should happen with events that have a velocity value outside
the specified range.
Select 'Conform' to conform these values to the minimum or
maximum value, select 'Ignore' to discard events that lie above
or below the specified range.
Velocity Monitor pre/post
This monitor has two level meters. The upper bar shows the
original velocity value of incoming MIDI events.
39
The result of the velocity dynamic processing can be read from the bar below.
If no velocity dynamic processors are used, both bars show the same value.
Position
In contrary to the Delay parameter in the Sound Engine, the
Delay set here is independent from velocity. It puts back all
events on the Key by the set period of time.
Click on the unit of measurement to switch between samples, milliseconds and MIDI ticks.
Truncation Trigger
The truncation trigger section lets you select and manage
Truncation Trigger Groups (TTG). Each TTG may contain an
individual selection of MIDI notes.
When a TTG is assigned to a Key, the playback will be
stopped whenever one of the notes in the selected group is received by Grooove. In this
way, for example, you can stop the playback of an open hi-hat as soon as the closed or
pedal hi-hat starts. In this case, the Key on which you select the TTG would be the open
hi-hat and the Keys - or MIDI notes - selected in the assigned TTG would be the closed hihat and the pedal hi-hat.
The Truncation Trigger Group Editor
Managing TTGs is done within a simple editor. Click on the [Edit] button in the Truncation
Trigger section to open it.
Click to add
group
Selected
group
Click to add
note
Notes in
selected group
The editor consists of two columns. On the left, existing TTGs are listed. If a group is
selected, the assigned notes are displayed in the column on the right.
Groups and notes can be added by clicking on the plus symbol at the top of the columns.
To change an existing note, just click on its entry and select a different note from the popup menu. The menu also provides an option to remove notes from the list.
40
Existing groups can be duplicated, renamed or removed by selecting the corresponding
option from the contextual right-click menu.
Global Switches
The header of each section in the MIDI Settings inspector features a Global switch which
works as a 'single-celled' preset memory. Settings done in sections in which Global is
active can be recalled on any Key by enabling the corresponding Global switch.
When engaged, the Global switch turns red.
In this example, the delay value is shared by all Keys
on which Global is active in the Position section.
Matrix
The Matrix gives you an overview of many Grooove parameters.
Due to the large quantity of available settings, the parameters are divided into groups. You
can step through the groups by clicking on the navigation arrows in the tab of the Matrix
inspector. Alternatively, a specific group can be directly selected from the drop-down list
that is shown when you click on the small arrow in the upper right corner of the tab.
Editing values in the Matrix is not yet possible, but will be implemented later.
41
The Clues Bar
Getting Clues
The Clues Bar at the bottom is a special help feature. When you activate the Clues Bar by
clicking on the switch at the left, mouse and keyboard control options that are available at
the current mouse pointer position will be shown.
The following screenshots were taken from the Sample Sources inspector. In both images,
the mouse pointer (marked red) is located over the rotary knob of the Length parameter.
The activated Clues Bar on the first screenshot is showing six numbered control options
for this knob, represented by symbols which are explained in the chart below.
Clues Bar switch
Control option number
Control option symbols
If one of the shown numbers are pressed on the computer keyboard, a brief description of
the corresponding control option is displayed in the Clues Bar.
On the second screenshot, the mouse pointer still has the same position, but [2] is being
pressed on the computer keyboard.
While [2] is being pressed on the computer keyboard, the Clues Bar is showing a brief
description of the corresponding control option. In this example, [SHIFT] + Left-click +
Drag allows for setting the Length with maximum precision.
42
Combinations of the following symbols are used to display control options in the Clues Bar:
Left-click
Double-click
Right-click
Drag
[Shift]
[Alt]
[CMD] key (Mac OS X)
[CTRL] key (Windows)
Control option number and info key
Grooove in Use
Running Grooove Stand-alone
The stand-alone application can be found here:
• Mac OS X
Applications > Grooove.app
• Windows
Program Files > brunsandspork > Grooove.exe
To start Grooove. just double-click Grooove.app (Mac) or Grooove.exe (Windows). Please
note that depending on your operating system settings, the file name extensions *.app and
*.exe might not be shown.
Stand-alone Specific Settings
When Grooove is running stand-alone, two additional options are available that cannot be
found in the plug-in versions.
•
Audio Hardware Setup
•
Basic MIDI File Player
Audio Hardware Setup
The audio hardware setup is done via the 'Audio' menu that Grooove is providing when
running stand-alone.
43
The Audio menu has two sub-menus: Output Device and Output Ports
Output Device
At first, select the audio interface you want to use in Grooove under Audio > Output
Device. The list shows all audio hardware recognised by Grooove.
In case a device is missing, please visit the website of the manufacturer of the audio
interface and verify if you have the latest driver installed.
Output Ports
The Output Ports menu shows a list of channels provided by the selected Output Device.
By default, the first pair of audio channels - which means the first stereo output - of the
audio interface is used for the 'Stereo Output 1' in Grooove. If you want to use further
stereo outputs in Grooove, the corresponding channels need to be activated here.
MIDI File Player
Grooove's stand-alone version features a built-in player for Standard MIDI Files (SMF,
filename extension: *.mid).
The MIDI file player could not be more basic. It allows you to start and stop the playback of
a loaded MIDI file and to set the tempo via the 'Transport' menu.
Loading MIDI Files
To load a MIDI file select 'Load MIDI File' from the 'File' menu:
• File > Load MIDI File...
•
In the newly opened browser window, navigate to the desired MIDI file.
•
Select the MIDI file and click <Open>.
MIDI File Playback
The playback of a loaded MIDI file can be started and stopped by pressing [Space].
Alternatively, you can select 'Start/Stop' from the 'Transport' menu.
The playback is always looped.
Changing the Tempo
To change the playback tempo, select 'Tempo' from the
transport menu and enter the tempo in the dialog box that
opens.
Tempo unit is BPM (beats per minute).
Tempo dialog box
44
Running Grooove As Plug-in
Grooove supports the audio plug-in standards VST2, VST3 (Mac OS X and Windows) and
AU (Mac OS X only). Any host application that offers at least one of these software
interfaces can be used to run Grooove as a virtual instrument within a project.
The way how to open Grooove as a plug-in depends on the program that is hosting
Grooove. Please refer to the documentation of the host application.
Plug-in Paths
In any case, the host application needs to know where Grooove has been installed.
On Mac OS X, all plug-in paths are defined. However, on Windows, preferred VST2 plug-in
locations differ from host to host.
You will find detailed information on this in the Installation chapter.
32 vs. 64 Bit
Grooove can be used natively with 32 bit and 64 bit host applications on Mac OS X and
Windows.
If a 64 bit host allows for choosing between the 32 bit and 64 bit version of Grooove,
please always select Grooove 64 bit.
Using Kits & Samples
This chapter focusses on practice and examples of usage. Several step-by-step
instructions will tell you how to work with drum kits and samples. You will learn about the
export function and how to manage your files on the hard disk.
Loading Kits
The following steps describe how to load one of the built-in drum kits, which are installed
along with Grooove by default. (In case you have chosen to skip the built-in drum kits
during the installation, they obviously will be missing.)
•
Click on the Kit Display to open the Kit Menu.
•
•
Beneath the file handling options, the Kit Menu lists several categories in which the
built-in drum kits are organised. In this example, we will load a drum kit from the
Studio category.
In the Kit Menu, go to Studio. A submenu opens.
•
Select 'Studio Kit 1' from the submenu.
•
A progress bar in the Kit Display will show that Studio Kit 1 is loading. After a
moment, the display shows the name of the kit and the corresponding details.
Studio Kit 1 is ready to be played.
•
Loaded samples can be played by clicking on the Keys using the Speaker Tool or
45
by a MIDI note originated from a connected MIDI device - or the host application, in
case Groove is running as plug-in.
Switching Kits
By clicking on the little arrow buttons at the right border of the Kit Display you can rotate
through the kits contained in the current category - or folder, if a kit has been loaded via
'Load Kit...'.
The Studio category contains two kits, Studio 1 and Studio 2, so in this example, you can
switch between both by using the arrow buttons.
Optional Ways to Load Kits
Load Kit... via Kit Menu
To load a Grooove drum kit from anywhere on your hard disk, select 'Load Kit...' from the
Kit Menu. A standard file browser window will open in which you can navigate to the
requested drum kit file.
Load Kit... Button
Alternatively, click on the yellow folder button next to the Kit Display. It works as a shortcut
for the 'Load Kit...' function.
See the chapter Managing Kits & Files to learn how to populate the User category in the
Kit Menu with your own Grooove kits.
Creating Kits
Follow these steps to build up a new kit from the scratch:
•
Click on the Kit Display to open the Kit Menu.
•
In the Kit Menu, go to 'New Kit'. A submenu opens.
•
Select 'GM Template' from the submenu.
•
The loaded kit doesn't contain any samples, but the Keys are pre-labeled according
to the GM (General MIDI) Standard.
In case you wish to start with a completely blank drum kit, just select 'Empty' from the 'New
Kit' menu.
Now that you have an empty drum kit, we will need to get some samples involved. Read
on...
Loading Samples
Let's start with loading a bass drum on a Key, preferably the Key assigned to C1.
•
Click on Key C1 in order to select it.
If you have just loaded the 'Empty' or 'GM Template' kit, it is the first Key at the
bottom of the Keyboard.
46
•
•
•
•
•
Make sure that the Sample Sources inspector is selected on the left.
If not, click on the Sample Sources tab at the top of the left inspector.
In the Sample Selection section, click on the empty Waveform Display or file name
field of Sample Slot 1 to open the Sample Menu.
In the Sample Menu, go to 'By Instrument'. A submenu opens, showing a list of
drum instruments. Each entry stands for another submenu providing all built-in
samples related to the corresponding instrument category.
Go to 'Bass Drum' and select a sample from the submenu, for example 'Robert 707
A'.
The sample is loaded and can be triggered by clicking on the Key using the
Speaker Tool, clicking on <Listen> at the bottom of the Sound Sources inspector or,
of course, by a MIDI note originated from a connected MIDI device - or the host
application, in case Groove is running as plug-in.
Optional Ways to Load Samples
By Instrument
Select 'By Kit' from the Sample Menu to get a submenu in which the built-in samples are
sorted by kit.
By Category
Select 'By Category' from the Sample Menu to get a submenu in which the built-in samples
are sorted by categories.
Load Sample... Function
To load a sample from anywhere on your hard disk, select 'Load Sample...' from the
Sample Menu. A standard file browser window will open in which you can navigate to the
requested drum kit file.
Listed Audio Files
At the bottom of the Sample Menu, all compatible audio files within the currently used
folder are listed. If audio files are available, they can be directly selected from this list.
You can rotate through the list by clicking on the arrow buttons at the right border of the file
name field.
Dragging Samples
Samples can also be loaded by dragging them from a Finder (Mac) or Explorer (Win)
window onto one of the Waveform Displays in the Sample Sources inspector.
•
•
•
•
Switch to Finder (Mac) or Explorer (Win) and navigate to the folder that contains the
requested sample.
Click on the sample and keep the mouse button pressed while dragging the sample
onto the Waveform Display. The mouse pointer will show a plus symbol to indicate
the drag operation.
The targeted Waveform Display is being marked by an orange coloured frame,
when it is ready to take up the sample.
Release the mouse button to load the dragged sample.
If you want to load the sample on a Key that is not currently selected, move the
47
mouse pointer over the requested Key first. As soon as the Key has been selected,
you can drag the sample onto the Waveform Display.
It is also possible to drag samples from one Waveform Display to another, even to
Waveform Displays on different Keys. For this purpose, each loaded sample has a drag
grip at the lower right corner of the Waveform Display. Click on it to drag the sample onto
another Waveform Display. Hold [Alt] while dragging the sample in order to copy it to the
other Waveform Display instead of just moving the sample.
Saving Kits
After you have built a new drum kit or changed a kit you've loaded from disk, you need to
save your work.
•
Click on the Kit Display to open the Kit Menu.
•
Now you have two options: 'Save Kit...' and Save Kit As...'
•
Save Kit As...
always opens a standard file browser dialog allowing for naming a kit and selecting
a location on the hard disk.
Save Kit
simply stores changes that have been done after a kit had been saved. The existing
kit file will be overwritten. In case a new kit is loaded that hasn't been saved yet,
'Save Kit' works exactly like 'Save As...'
After you've made your choice, your kit is saved and can be re-loaded anytime
using the 'Load Kit' function.
Save Kit / Save Kit As... Button
Alternatively, you can use the yellow folder button next to the Kit Display to save kits.
A left-click on the button does the same as the 'Save Kit As...' function in the Kit Menu.
Clicking on the button while [Ctrl] (Win) or [cmd] (Mac) is pressed works as shortcut for
'Save Kit As...'.
Managing Kits & Samples
In general, file management is a delicate subject. There are as many different approaches
as users. Regardless of wether your file system is rather chaotic or neat and tidy, this
chapter will provide information on how to keep track of kits and samples you are using
with Grooove.
About Grooove Kit Files
Grooove is saving information on drum kits and samples used in drum kits in GRK files.
GRK stands for Grooove Kit.
When you save a drum kit by using the Kit Menu functions 'Save Kit' or 'Save Kit As...'
Grooove will write a file with the extension '.grk' to your hard disk.
In a GRK file, all settings made within Grooove and information on any audio file used
48
within the kit are preserved. When the same GRK file is loaded later, the saved settings thus the saved kit - will be restored.
However, a GRK file does not contain the used audio files, only audio file references that
tell Grooove where to find the required samples. In other words, a GRK file is a description
of a Grooove drum kit. Therefore, GRK files are quite small in size, even if the
corresponding drum kit requires a lot of memory due to the amount and/or size of loaded
samples.
It is important to consider that GRK files and the related audio files are separate. The
relation between a GRK kit file and the used samples must not be changed when you
move or rename files or folders on your system.
It is just like project files of an audio sequencer and the corresponding recordings. Or a
MP3 playlist and the listed MP3 files.
One possible strategy is to create a folder for each drum kit, containing both kit file and the
used samples. Obviously, this is a safe but labourious approach. It also leads to redundant
copies of audio files on your hard disk.
User Kits Folder
During the Grooove installation, a user specific 'Kits' folder is being created at this location:
Mac OS X
Macintosh HD/Users/*Your Username*/Documents/brunsandspork/Grooove/Kits
(The name of the system volume 'Macintosh HD' might differ.)
Windows
C:\Users\*Your Username*\Documents\brunsandspork\Grooove\Kits
(The drive letter of the system's partition or volume might differ.)
Kit files that are placed inside the Kits folder can be easily accessed via the 'User' category
within the Kit Menu without having to browse through the file system.
Furthermore, it is possible to organise user kits within folders inside the user specific Kits
folder. Grooove observes folders up to two levels below the Kits folder and shows the
corresponding structure in the User category in the Kit Menu.
Grooove folder at *Your Username*/Documents/brunsandspork/
Kits folder for user kits
Exemplary sub folders and kits
Resulting structure within the User category in the Kit Menu
49
When changing the content of the user Kits folder while Groove is running, just select
'Rescan Kits' from the Kit Display menu. This will cause Grooove to harmonise the User
submenu in the Kit Display with the files and folders in the user specific Kits folder.
Exporting Kits
While creating a kit, you might want to use samples from different locations on your hard
disk. Of course, this is not a problem as long as the samples do not become unavailable,
for example since they have been moved or a folder in the file path has been renamed.
Samples that are spread over the file system can cause serious headaches, at the latest
when you want to share your kits with other Grooove users or you want to move them to a
different folder or another computer.
This is when Grooove's export function comes into play. It gathers all samples of a kit and
stores them together with the drum kit file in a folder at a location of your choice.
Please note: Samples from Grooove's built-in drum kits are not included in the
export, since they are available while running Grooove anyway. (Unless you have
chosen to skip them during the installation. But even in this case, the built-in kits can easily
be added by running the Grooove installer again.)
The following instructions describe how to export a kit to the Desktop. To be able to follow
the steps, make sure the current kit contains at least one sample that does not originate
from one of Grooove's built-in kits.
•
Click on the Kit Display to open the Kit Menu.
•
Select 'Export Kit & Samples...' from the menu.
•
A standard file browser window opens.
•
•
•
Navigate to the Desktop. By clicking on <Open>, the Desktop will be defined as
target for the export folder. (In real life, you certainly can select any other location
that is not write-protected.)
A dialog opens, in which the original name of the kit to be exported can be edited.
This will also be the name of the export folder. In this example, let's name the folder
'Kit Export Test'.
Click on <OK> to confirm the name and start the export.
The export folder will be created and the kit file and all related audio files will be
placed inside. Depending on the amount of samples, this might take a few
moments. A progress bar informs you on the export process.
After the export has been completed the progress bar box closes.
On the Desktop, you will finally find a folder named 'Kit Export Test' (at least, if
you've actually been well-behaved enough to accept the example) that contains the
kit file and the related sample(s).
Missing Samples
In case Grooove cannot find a sample used in a kit, the Sample State Indicator on the
affected Key is coloured red and marked by a question mark.
The Waveform Display of the corresponding Sample Slot in the Sample Sources inspector
shows an error message and the original path of the missing sample.
50
Furthermore, two buttons are available, <Discard> and <Locate>, which allow to choose
between ignoring or retrieving the missing sample.
Sample
Sources
view
Sample Slot
notifying of
missing sample
Sample State Indicator
This is how to retrieve a missing sample:
•
Select a Key on which a sample could not be loaded.
•
Switch to the Sample Sources view in the left inspector.
•
In the Waveform Display that notifies of the missing Sample, click on <Locate>.
•
A standard browser window opens.
Navigate to the missing sample.
•
So far, Grooove is not able to assist you searching for the sample. You need to find
it by using the search options provided by Mac OS X and Windows.
Once you've found the correct sample, select it and click open.
In case you want to ignore the missing sample instead of retrieving it, click <Discard>. This
will reset the Sample Slot to its default setting with no sample assignment.
Sound Design
Using the Sound Engine
This chapter is about how to make use of the Sound Engine and its special Velocity
Conditions concept.
If you have difficulties following the instructions on how to load a sample or you need more
detailed information on the Speaker Tool, please refer to the corresponding chapters first.
• Click on the Kit Display to open the Kit Menu.
•
•
Go to 'New File' and select 'Empty' from the file menu to load the completely blank
kit template.
Select Key C1.
•
In the left inspector, switch to the Sample Sources view.
•
Click on the Waveform Display or file name field of Sample Slot 1 to open the
Sample Menu.
51
•
•
Go to to 'By Instrument' > 'Bass Drum' and select 'Bass Drum - Why R100 Fat Klassik'. It's a bright and dry sounding bass drum.
Click on Key C1 while having the Speaker Tool active to trigger the bass drum. For
you will need it extensively, it is recommendable to use the permanent Speaker Tool
by enabling the Speaker Tool switch in the Control Bar.
For simplicity, the following instructions will only refer to the mouse as trigger, but
hitting the corresponding key or pad on a connected MIDI controller, or sending
MIDI notes from a host application would certainly work as well. Or even better.
While clicking, move the mouse pointer horizontally over the Key.
•
You will hear that the playback volume depends on the mouse pointer position and
corresponds to the MIDI velocity value that is displayed in a tooltip attached to the
mouse pointer.
Click on the Sound Engine tab at the top of the inspector to switch the view.
•
Take a look at the Min and Max setting of the parameter 'Volume'.
•
•
As you can see, Min is turned completely to the left, while Max is turned up
completely. This setting (it is the default) tells Grooove to play back the bass drum
with full volume when the velocity is 127 and with minimum volume (silence) when
the velocity is 0. The volume for velocity values in between will be calculated by
Grooove accordingly.
Thus to get a bass drum that is unresponsive to velocity, just turn up Min
completely, too. Now the volume is constantly 100%, regardless of the velocity resp.
whether you click left or right on the Key with the Speaker Tool.
Keep this setting, for it helps making the following sound experiments more
obvious.
Let's proceed with another Sound Engine parameter:
•
Set Min of the 'Fade In' parameter to about 30 ms - a quite extreme setting - and
use the Speaker Tool to verify the result.
Note how the bass drum lost attack when played back at velocities near Min. It
sounds weak and smooth at lower velocities and gathers punch, distinction and
volume when it is triggered with higher velocity. The effect is so strong that no
further settings would be necessary to consider this to be a responsive bass drum.
We will stretch things further anyway, but before you go on, turn Min for Fade In
down to a more moderate value, for example to 15 ms.
Turn Min for 'Cut Off' all the way down and test the result.
•
•
•
You'll notice that sound is virtually gone at lower velocities. Even though Volume is
still constantly at maximum, the bass drum is soaked up almost completely by Cut
Off when being triggered only softly. This setting is clearly extreme.
Turn Min up to centre position, which is about 2.8 kHz. You might want to find a
better balance and, of course, some other parameters could benefit from some
tweaking, too. But we settle for that at the moment and proceed with extending the
possibilities of the Sound Engine:
Let's fatten the sound with a second sample.
Before switching to the Samples Sources inspector, take a look at the upmost
Sound Engine parameter 'Mix'. It is greyed out, for only a single bass drum sample
is loaded. There is nothing to mix
52
•
Click on the Samples Sources tab.
•
Click on the Waveform Display or file name field of Sample Slot 2 to open the
Sample Menu.
Go to to 'By Instrument' > 'Bass Drum' and select 'Bass Drum - 909 Kit - Waldorf
Attack'. In contrary to the tight and bright sound of the first bass drum, this one is
quite boomy. Obviously, we can use that to add some bottom to our bass drum
sound.
Click on the Sound Engine tab.
•
•
•
As you can see, the Min and Max knobs for the Mix parameter are operable now.
Turn Min completely down and Max to about 12 o'clock. This setting corresponds to
a mix ratio between Sample Slot 1 and Sample Slot 2 of 100:00 (Min) and 50:50
(Max). This means at minimum velocity, only the bright bass drum in Sample Slot 1
will be played. With increasing velocity the 909 bass drum in Sample Slot 2 gets
more and more involved until the amount of both bass drums is equal at maximum
velocity. Thus the sample mix ratio is now dynamic.
Listen to the result using the Speaker Tool at different positions on the Key.
•
Basically, you've now created a new bass drum sound. Congratulations!
•
Continue checking out the effect of different Sound Engine parameters. For
example, slightly increase Pitch for Max or use Resonance ('Reson.') to emphasise
Cut Off.
Finally, to make it more interesting, load samples of other instruments on other
Keys to build a small drum kit and play it with a MIDI loop. This is where the actual
fun begins!
Round-robin
Some advanced multi-layer based sample players provide a feature named 'Round Robin'.
When Round Robin is active, the sample player is trying to avoid a robotic, machine-like
repetition of a sound by rotating through a given set of slightly different samples.
Obviously, since Grooove settles for two samples per sound resp. Key, true Round Robin
is only possible in a very limited way.
However, the LFOs in Grooove allow for emulating a round-robin effect very easily.
•
Click on the Kit Display to open the Kit Menu.
•
Go to Klassik and select the Kit 'Why R100'.
•
Click on Key F#1 to select it. Typically, a Hi-hat sample is loaded here.
•
In the left inspector, switch to the Sound Engine view.
•
Enable LFO 1 for Start. This parameter is very suited for a round-robin-like effect.
•
Set Frequency to 5 kz.
•
This means, the sound changes will be quite slow.
Set Efficiency to 5 percent.
•
This means, the LFO will only have a low impact, the sound changes only slightly.
Enable the Speaker Tool via the Speaker Tool switch in the Control Bar (or by
holding down [Alt]) and click repeatedly on the same spot on Key F#1 to trigger the
53
•
hi-hat.
You will hear that the sound is continually changing while you keep on clicking.
So what is happening? The LFO slightly moves the starting point of the sample back and
forth which causes the sample to start differently each time it is triggered by your mouse
click. Since a sound usually changes drastically in the first milliseconds, a very low LFO
efficiency is sufficient to achieve audible changes.
You can modulate any parameter in this way to get an alternating sound. Loading a
second sample and modulating the Sample Mix parameter by a LFO corresponds roughly
to the original round robin strategy. Other particularly suitable parameters would be Pitch
and Fade-in. Or even Delay in order to affect the timing.
Appendix
Built-in Drum Kit Categories
We think that it is quite pointless to sort samples by music genres. Hip-hoppers do not use
MPC samples only and electronic music producers are not limited to 808 sounds. So we've
decided to divide the built-in kits and samples into categories that tell something about the
source from which they originate.
Arcade
Here you find sounds that have been sampled from vintage game consoles, great for glitch
and 8 bit sounds.
GBA
The GBA Kits come from different versions of a classic portable device. Thanks, Phil!
2600
The sounds of one of the most classic video games ever is featured in the kit '2600 Pong'
kit.
In order to gather the original vintage flavour, the samples have been created by using the
first generation model of the mother of all video game consoles built from 1977 until 1978
(a so called 'Heavy Sixer').
The kit contains all beeps used in the Pong version that has been launched with this video
computer system. The beeps have their original non-chromatc pitch and were recorded
directly from the phones output of a tube TV. It's just a couple of beeps, but, apart from the
placebo effect, there is something special about them.
Field
So far, Field contains two drum kits, each based upon abused field recordings. As the
names implies, Woood has been created among a group of trees near Hannover,
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Germany. The samples for Toools were recorded in a DIY workshop. Thanks, Tobias!
Klassik
Klassik is an extensive collection of kits that feature samples of 30 vintage analog and
digital drum machines. Beside the obligatory best of the 70s, 80s and 90s, Klassik also
gathers rather odd devices that are not so well acquainted.
Due to trademark rights, we've used more or less creative aliases to name the kits. Some
cover names are quite easy to see through, other require lateral thinking.
Studio Kits
It's not Grooove's mission to simulate acoustic drum sets. This job should be left to plugins that have a multi-layer sample approach.
However, Grooove has its own true high-end studio suitable drum samples, professionally
recorded with all accuracy today's studio technology is making possible.
Even though it is rather redundant due to Groove's dualistic Sound Engine, each drum
instrument has been recorded with lowest and highest velocity. Accordingly, the sample
names contain the attributes 'soft' and 'hard', which perfectly corresponds to the Velocity
Conditions Min and Max.
The samples can be used to mix professional acoustic drum sounds into other musical
concepts. But, of course, the Studio Kits also stand for their own.
Waldorf Attack
Attack by Waldorf, released in 2001, is a true VST drum plug-in classic.
By kind permission of Waldorf Music, we've built eight Grooove drum kits based on
samples created by using Attack with the original ROM Kit Presets loaded.
The Attack kits in Grooove cannot and don't want to emulate or even replace the original.
Since Attack with its virtual-analog sound engine is a completely different drum machine,
using the Attack samples in Grooove will lead to completely different sounds.
In case you like the Attack kits and samples, check out the original on Waldorf's website:
www.waldorf-music.info/waldorf-edition-overview
www.waldorfmusic-shop.de
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© Bruns & Spork GmbH, 2014. All rights reserved.
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