SmartGroove ships five built-in plugins you can add as track inserts: an EQ, a Compressor and a Reverb (effects), plus a Sampler and a Drum Rack (instruments). Open the Plugin Browser with B to add one to a track’s insert chain. Each plugin has its own editor window; you can bypass any insert without removing it.
EQ
The EQ is an 8-band parametric equalizer. Each band has a type (peaking, low/high shelf, low/high pass, notch, bandpass), a frequency, a gain (±24 dB) and a Q (bandwidth). Use it to shape tone: cut around 200-400 Hz to clear mud, dip 2-4 kHz to tame harshness, add a high shelf above 8 kHz for air, and high-pass to remove rumble.
Compressor
The Compressor controls dynamics. Set the threshold to choose where it engages and the ratio for how hard it clamps. A slower attack lets transients punch through; a faster attack catches peaks. Tune the release to the groove to avoid pumping, then use makeup gain to restore level. It also has a sidechain high-pass, lookahead and auto-makeup.
Reverb
The Reverb adds a sense of space. Size and decay set the room and tail length; pre-delay separates the dry source from its reflections to keep it upfront; the dry/wet mix sets how much you hear. Low-cut and high-cut filters on the reverb keep the tail from building into mud. Put it on a send/return so several tracks share one space.
Sampler
The Sampler plays a loaded audio sample chromatically across a MIDI keyboard. Load or drag a sample in, then play it from a MIDI track. It has amp and filter envelopes, a multimode filter, an LFO, and voice modes (poly, mono, legato) with glide — everything you need to turn a one-shot into a playable instrument.
Drum Rack
The Drum Rack maps samples to 16 pads for building beats. Each pad has its own volume, pan, tune, choke group, amp envelope, filter and sends. Load a built-in kit or drop your own samples onto pads, then trigger them from a MIDI track or by clicking the pads.