Jorge Asensio

By accident, out of interest, out of necessity... What guitarist doesn't know Guitar Pro? The quintessential program for editing scores and tablature seems to know no end when it comes to updates and improved versions.

This month we couldn't resist the temptation to put it on the test bench and squeeze every possibility out of this small, feature-packed all-in-one. Bass, guitar of any kind, banjo, keyboard, editing drum and vocal parts… And, of course, the playback function, so you can check that the composition sounds as expected.

So, without further ado, let's take a look at what the latest version of this great classic has to offer.

UNBOXING
A simple box, but with a good product description on the front. It includes: a CD with the program, a thank-you card for purchasing the product and a warranty certificate. One long-awaited new feature is this software's compatibility with MACOS X operating systems (until then it was designed only for Windows), since Mac machines are the ones that offer the most features and performance when working with interfaces as well as music editing and recording programs and, in general, multimedia development.

RUNNING THE PROGRAM
This program has a worldwide reach; although during installation we can only choose English, French or German as the language, once installed we can choose from twenty-four interface languages.

I couldn't resist installing Guitar Pro 5 on both of the platforms it supports: a PC running Windows (compatible with 98 Second Edition, 2000, XP and Vista), and a Mac running MACOS X (version 10.3 or higher). In the first case, the test was done on a PC with a 2.0 GHz Intel Pentium IV processor and 1 GB of RAM; in the second, on a MacBook with a 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 1 GB of RAM.

The difference was minimal; basically, what I noticed in the Mac version is an adaptation to its operating system's interface, as well as support for both Intel processors and the discontinued PowerPC. As if that weren't enough, Guitar Pro for Windows users can get a free license to work on MACOS X.

It's worth mentioning that this version of the program has received a major overhaul as far as "bugs" are concerned.

FEATURES AND RESOURCES
Here we have the bulk of the description. We get tools for studying and composing, with a special focus on stringed instruments derived from the guitar. We can add to the interface a virtual fretboard (with twenty-four frets) of the instrument we play (guitar, bass or banjo), on which the notes are marked as the sequences play back.

Also, to make things easier, the entire display is fully configurable to the user's liking and can be scrolled both vertically and horizontally.

a) STUDY
When composing or recording, two essentials: a metronome and a tuner. For students, Guitar Pro 5 offers ninety different scales (including Greek modes, diminished, augmented, etc.) in their corresponding keys. They can be displayed on the corresponding virtual fretboard, and the MIDI sound of the scale can be played as you run through it.
As if that weren't enough, if we have a composition created in Guitar Pro (it plays GP files from all versions, up to five), we can find out what key it's in by entering the corresponding range of measures.

On top of that, we have a powerful chord builder: major, minor, diminished, augmented, inverted, dominant, secondary dominant, with thirds, fifths, sevenths, ninths, elevenths or thirteenths, and a long list of other combinations. Whatever we like and, of course, with the option of playing back the sound of the chord.

So as not to be exclusive and monotonous, a virtual keyboard has been added, which works the same way as the fretboard and which I find really useful, especially for learning music theory, since a keyboard is, for practical purposes, like a staff turned into an instrument.

And finally, more points in favor for guitar learners: an indicator of finger positions on the fretboard.

b) COMPOSITION
Now for a key part: how to compose. Both standard notation and tablature are available, and we can choose from different instruments within the categories mentioned, as well as various keyboards, winds (brass and woodwinds), percussion (drum kits, xylophones, chimes, etc.), strings of all kinds (violin, cello, double bass...), and even voices and ethnic instruments. Total: 127 instruments. As if that weren't enough, we can add effects: chorus, tremolo, distortions, flangers…; whatever we fancy. Add to that the respective dynamic volume and mute controls. Mind you, it's all in MIDI format (which means Guitar Pro 5 can be used as a MIDI sequencer).

We can create different tabs with each instrument's part composed in parallel, so we can sync them up once they're finished.
As for the scores, we can set any time signature we like (however unusual), identified by a number in ascending order, anywhere in the composition.

With all this, we can create independent compositions, each with its own time signature and characteristics, and then mix and sequence them. It allows up to 256 tracks (both percussion and other instruments).

As for resources, nothing is missing: clefs, tempo markings, every note value with its duration, construction of every possible note, the ability to transpose scores by semitones, ties, and a long list of other things every musician already knows.

Also, and this tends to come in handy, there is an option that parses the entire composition and warns us if any measures are incomplete or exceed the set duration.

What's more, when we compose and don't fill out the duration of every measure: a single click and they're filled in with rests.

Also included, as you'd expect, are tools specific to guitar and bass: notation of strumming direction (upstroke or downstroke), dead notes in chords, slap and pop (bass), tapping, palm mute, tremolo, hammer-on, pull-off, slide, bending, natural and artificial harmonics, etc.

A new feature that works in favor of classical musicians:
In previous versions of Guitar Pro it wasn't possible to remove the tablature from pieces, so when printing, the tablature appeared beneath the score; well, in this version you can. In addition, standard notation has been really improved, and what we get when printing is perfectly readable. Finally, there is also the excellent percussion notation.

This has been one of the strong points among this version's improvements, especially when you consider the number of views we can adopt by showing some elements and hiding others, which is particularly handy when we're going to print and play from the score or tab on a music stand.

For playback, we have options such as a speed trainer, loop playback, enabling MIDI capture...

c) MORE THAN SIX? MORE THAN FOUR?
So far we've said that all these possibilities are aimed especially at guitars and basses. But what if our guitar has seven strings, or our bass has five or six? Guitar Pro 5 has anticipated that question and offers the same features described for those string counts. It also includes a twelve-string guitar simulator.

To top it off: we can set up the fretboard in any tuning we want, since most of the alternate tunings for these instruments are available.
Can anyone top that?

d) IMPORT AND EXPORT
An important new feature is that we're given the ability to play, print and import MIDI, ASCII, MusicXML, PowerTab and Tabledit files, and to export MIDI, ASCII, MusicXML, PDF, Wave and BMP files.

This increases the possibilities exponentially, since potential users (of whom there are many) circulate a large number of files in these formats on the internet.

Moreover, practically every song composed by the most notable guitarists can be found online in Guitar Pro format (GPX, where X corresponds to the version of Guitar Pro in which they were created).

THE RSE PACKAGE
One new feature in this fifth edition, although it's a complement rather than part of the design, is the inclusion of the RSE (Realistic Sound Engine) package. It consists of a collection of prerecorded sounds produced by real instruments, whose purpose is to replace the MIDI sounds, so that when the composition is played back it sounds closer to what we'd expect from the real instruments.

It's really large (700 MB PC-Windows / 750 MB Mac MACOS X), and the sounds it plays are much more convincing than MIDI, but we run into a problem: it uses an enormous amount of system resources. This leads to long waits when we go to play back the sequence we've composed, since all the libraries have to be loaded first. I don't recommend it for the impatient or for those who can do without realistic sound (study and composition, not recording).

TALKING THINGS THROUGH
Since it has every kind of instrument, you could say that with Guitar Pro we have a virtual "band" in which we tell each member what to play.

That's why I've always found it very useful for getting our ideas across to our "brothers in arms" when composing as a band, replacing the humming we've gotten so used to. Just put the composition into Guitar Pro, send it to the people involved, and they'll immediately understand where we're headed; and we can also record the key of the composition, the chords, the time signatures and, in short, all the musical attributes.

CONCLUSION
It's no wonder Guitar Pro is one of guitarists' favorite programs worldwide, for both average users and professionals.

Everything is perfectly organized in the interface; it's really easy to control. One afternoon is enough to learn how to set up and master the program properly and fluently; what's more, I've never found an instruction manual necessary.

We can learn, study and compose, as well as take advantage of and enjoy the endless options and features (with so many musical resources that sometimes we discover some we probably won't use in our entire career). But better too much than too little, right?

To see the spec sheet and rating table, download the magazine in PDF