Alba Céspedes

What guitarist doesn't know Guitar Pro by now? Since it was developed and released by French company Arobas Music in 1997, this software has been winning followers and gradually carving out an ever-growing niche in the market for score and tablature editors. Its success is due, in part, to its ease of use and the wide range of possibilities and practical uses it offers, both for learning and for a guitarist's day-to-day work. Its enormous popularity is neither undeserved nor handed to it on a silver platter. By analyzing its latest update, Guitar Pro 6—which recently turned one—we'll try to unravel the reasons for its success.

WHAT IS IT AND WHAT IS IT FOR?
Guitar Pro is mainly a multitrack score and tablature editor, ideal for composing. But it is also much more than that: it is an excellent learning tool. Thanks to its score player, which since version 5.0 has come equipped with the Real Sound Engine sound bank—setting it apart from other programs that use only MIDI sound—this program gives you a very realistic backing band wherever and whenever you want. It also includes other very practical elements, such as a chord and scale dictionary, a speed trainer, a metronome, a digital tuner and many import/export options, which we'll discuss in more detail below.

WHY CHOOSE IT?
Unlike other more popular score editors (Sibelius, Finale, Encore, etc.), this software uses a two-staff system: the first follows traditional score notation and the second shows the notes in tablature (this is one of the key differences from the programs mentioned above). Notes are entered on the second system, which—especially for guitarists—makes the writing process easier and faster and provides a very important piece of information: where and how each note is played. The guitar is not like the piano or the wind family, where each note can only be played on the corresponding key of its octave; instead, a note at the same pitch can be played in many different positions. That is why, to study a piece accurately, it is essential to have a reference tablature to know exactly where on the neck the composer originally plays it.

Among other notable features, it gives musicians visual access to several instrument panels (see photos), although future editions could try to expand them and give them a more realistic look, like the one one of its main competitors has in its latest edition: Sibelius 6.0.

The Guitar Pro developers recently released their namesake app for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, which can be bought for €3.99 from the App Store. It is somewhat more expensive than Sibelius's (€1.59) and less practical, since it doesn't allow score editing, only playback, transposition and tempo adjustment. Even so, Guitar Pro can boast of being among the 20 best-selling music apps on the App Store, the first score editor to appear on the list. Its success must have been helped by the "Free For One Day" initiative they launched last April 5, whereby the mobile app could be downloaded for free on that day.

Another innovative initiative that sets them apart from the competition is "Guitar Pro 6 Fretlight Ready," launched last March 16 in partnership with Fretlight Guitars. This update lets you connect a guitar with LEDs in the frets and watch the notes on the staff light up on the neck itself as the score plays. There's no doubt this is a good way to get started on the instrument, practice and learn new songs. It includes three lighting modes:

1- Tablature mode: the tablature of the selected track lights up.
2- Chord diagram mode: the transcribed chords light up.
3- Scale mode: the scales previously selected in the scales window light up.

As a final great advantage over other editors, we can't forget to mention the incredible catalog of transcribed songs—in both quantity and quality—available free on the Internet to anyone, created and uploaded by its thousands of users around the world. In this respect, Guitar Pro took over from Power Tab, a well-known tablature editor that had a large library of songs in its own format. To date, no other editor can boast of having so many songs to its name.

Because this huge song library is not officially regulated but rather hosted on independent websites such as www.guitarprotabs.org, Guitar Pro announced on its website last February 18 that it would launch the Guitar Pro Tabs Project, aiming to gather hundreds of files with the highest editing and mixing quality and distribute them directly from its official website. What we don't know yet is whether this service will be free or paid.

IN DEPTH: GUITAR PRO 6

- Installation
In this case we started from version 5.0, so upgrading to Guitar Pro 6 cost us €29.95 (it dropped by €10 when it celebrated its first anniversary in April). If you buy the full version for the first time, it will cost you €59.95, a more than competitive price compared with other similar editors.

It is available for Windows, Linux and Macintosh and can be downloaded directly from its website: www.guitar-pro.com. You can also request a physical copy for an additional €9.95. If you want to try it before buying, the trial version is available on its own website: www.guitar-pro.com/en/index.php?pg=download

The purchase also entitles you to free updates to all later 6.X versions, technical support and a guitar learning method.

We had no problems during the online installation; the process was easy, fast and hassle-free.

- Resource usage
It is not a very heavy program, insofar as it lets you run other programs without crashing. The function that consumes the most computer resources is the Real Sound Engine, but you can see exactly what percentage of CPU it's using at any moment in a panel at the bottom of the window.

- Graphical interface
There's no doubt this is one of the most polished aspects of the latest version, with an intuitive, comfortable and elegant design that has evolved a great deal from the previous edition.

There are now multiple display and layout options; for example, the ability to manually select the number and size of the bars we want per staff, as well as to work with several files at once using tabs. You can also customize the style of the score to give it a classical or jazz look by adjusting the 70 available parameters.

There is also an improved menu on the left, which includes the classic score editing elements (with some new additions such as the anacrusis, the time counter, lowering/raising a semitone, etc.); a section for configuring the instrument's sound (where you can choose custom tunings, whether or not to use a capo, playing style, accentuation and timbre); a section of amplifiers, effects, compression, EQ (10- and 15-band) and reverb designed specifically for the guitarist's delight; another section for overall mastering of the song; the popular chord dictionary; an option for editing with a MIDI instrument; and a much more manageable section for writing lyrics, in which the text appears directly on the selected track.

Below, the global view panel remains, with which you can handle each track individually. It contains the Solo options (so only the selected tracks play), Mute (to silence the selected tracks), volume control, pan control, EQ and the bars each track occupies, showing the sections that make up the piece.

- Audio
As mentioned earlier, the program's audio is based on the Real Sound Engine, an improved and expanded sound bank with more than 100 samples of different instruments and 50 effects pedals and amp simulations to its name. You can use the default settings that come out of the box or create your own effects chain for each track. The possibilities are endless!

Among the new audio features, it's worth highlighting the improved control of volume, tempo and pan automation, which didn't exist in previous versions. This way we can, for example, add fade-ins and fade-outs, tempo changes or change the balance during a solo.

- Tools
The speed trainer remains, letting you loop any section of the score and progressively increase the tempo by a percentage we set ourselves. It's very useful for practicing a solo or a complex guitar riff. Also retained are the chord diagram generator, which shows the notes that make up chords and all their possible fingerings; the scale engine, which offers a large directory from the most common to the most exotic; the search function, which lets you quickly find which scale is being used in part or all of the score; the MIDI and digital tuner; and the virtual keyboard and fretboard.

- Compatibility
Files created with Guitar Pro 6 are saved in .GPX format by default, but they can also be exported to .GP5 (the previous version of the program), .MIDI, .ASCII, .WAV, .PNG (image) and .PDF. In addition, files from all previous Guitar Pro formats (.GP3, .GP4 and .GP5), .MIDI and .ASCII can be imported.

All in all, this is an excellent program with good value for money, suitable for all musicians—especially guitarists—that will serve for learning, as a backing track and for writing your own compositions. So if you're still one of those who write with quill, inkwell and parchment, here is an excellent alternative to say goodbye to crossed-out notes for good and get a clear, professional-looking score that you can keep in both digital and analog form and modify as many times as you like. And so, may Guitar Pro be with you on your musical journey.

Bibliography
www.guitar-pro.com

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