Ableton Forum

Hi

I see that the factory grooves come with a preview option in the file browser. Ableton doesn't seem to support previews for 3rd party grooves, which is tough, because I have hundreds of them and I dont know what they are.

Is there a workaround? How do I see what the groove is?

Is there any way to add a preview to a 3rd party groove?

Thanks

What file format are your 3rd party grooves?

they are .agr

Oh, excuse that doesn't matter, indeed builtin grooves have audio preview.
A workaround would be to save a midi version of your groove alongisde your .agr that would be used just as a preview.

thanks for your reply

How would I convert them? Is there a way to convert .agr to midi inside of ableton?

Just drag an .agr on a midi track

Alas, when I do that it sets up a midi file but it is the same pattern no matter what I choose. I have hundreds of drum machine grooves from the grooves from mars pack I am trying to explore but there seems to be no way other than to try each one at a time. I would like to look at the groove I'm applying first.

The resulting midi file isn't a groove pattern, is what I mean. It looks like a quantize grid, it's the same for each groove I tried.

chinaexpert1 wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 28, 2024 8:26 pm

The resulting midi file isn't a groove pattern, is what I mean. It looks like a quantize grid, it's the same for each groove I tried.

It should be a midi version of your groove file, so it's strange you're seeing this. Are you sure about it though? Grooves are often very small moves and you might need to zoom on the notes/grid quite a lot to visually see it.

[jur] wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 28, 2024 10:14 pm

chinaexpert1 wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 28, 2024 8:26 pm

The resulting midi file isn't a groove pattern, is what I mean. It looks like a quantize grid, it's the same for each groove I tried.

It should be a midi version of your groove file, so it's strange you're seeing this. Are you sure about it though? Grooves are often very small moves and you might need to zoom on the notes/grid quite a lot to visually see it.

This is the case. I have the same Grooves pack and many grooves look the same. But like you said, when you zoom in, you can see the subtle differences in note position and velocity.

Grooves are subtle... And very difficult in real life!

thank you all. I didnt know the differences were so slight...I guess the best way to know the pack is to hot swap and try them out in batches on the same beat

many thanks

Were you rushing or were you dragging?