Guitar Pro 6 beta testing...

[NickInMesa]

Just to let you know guys that I am in the beta testing program for Guitar Pro 6.

I am not allowed to take snapshots but I can talk about it.

I am currently in the phase of learning to use it.

More later...

[champbassist]

I just wish there is
(1) a polyrhythm notation function including polys in polys. (Wishful thinking I guess)
(2) proper bass harmonics (anybody else here having problems rendering bass harmonics? )

[Shmone]

Does it still crash with Snow Leopard?..

[NickInMesa]

Originally Posted by Shmone

Does it still crash with Snow Leopard?..

Sorry, I am a PC Being a software engineer and specializing in Dot Net solutions, that's why.

As for crashes, since it is a beta, yes, a couple times, but really because I hammered it left and right and did everything I could to make it crash. They'll get it figured out.

In general it is now oriented towards musical creation as well as the traditional usage of the tool, basically learning new songs.

The GP bass tabs are not really good, as any bass tab anyway, but the rest is usually pretty good, which allows me to play without a bass track and learn much much faster this way (still use my ears most of the time).

One thing I love is the modeler. You can select an amp for the guitars by dragging an icon. The virtually turn the knobs. It's pretty nifty.

Also the tab/music editor is much much better, and runs a lot smoother. They had issues with linked notes but that is gone.

Can't show any screen caps, because of my NDA, but I can talk as much as I want about it.

[warnergt]

Tell those guys to get the MIDI export working on the Mac version.
Currently, it only works on the PC version.

[champbassist]

Any changes regarding polyrhythms? Or am I asking for too much?

[NickInMesa]

Originally Posted by champbassist

Any changes regarding polyrhythms? Or am I asking for too much?

You mean change the balance between the elements of the drums?

Or am I wrong?

So far, besides the glitches that are to be expected in a beta, I have found it to be very good. The note entry is a lot faster and does not glitch as before. You can also copy and past across sections, not just the instrument you're working on at the selected time. They fixed the glitch with tied notes, when you would move up or down a string, the tied note would stay and tie with a previous similar one. Also it would freeze when entering notes too fast. That is fixed.

The sound of the instruments is also a lot better.

[champbassist]

Originally Posted by NickInMesa

You mean change the balance between the elements of the drums?

No, I was actually asking if there's any change regarding the "tuplets" feature. As of now we can only have tuplets such as triplets, pentuplets, etc. but not complicated polyrhythms, e.g. 5 over 3 or 7 over 5.

Now I feel like a bit of a fool for asking this. I think I'm expecting more than possible (yet) for a software which is already stuffed full of features.

I'll reiterate my 2nd question: are bass harmonics any good? GPro bass tabs may not be very good as you previously stated but bass harmonics are a very basic feature, esp. considering harmonics are just fine when tabbing out guitars. Or maybe it's some problem specific to my system?
When I use the harmonics feature on a bass, the effected note just sounds dead, without a proper harmonic ringing out.

[dazole]

Originally Posted by Shmone

Does it still crash with Snow Leopard?..

Nope, they fixed that a couple months ago. 5.3.2b2 ( I believe) is the most recent version for OSX and it works pretty good. Well, as good as can be expected from them, anyway.

David

[WayneS]

When is it scheduled for release?

[beam2611]

Is Guitar Pro 6 Addressing the issue of Enharmonic notes?
What I mean is;
If you want to write a Bb, it might give you an A# that you can't change. Even if you have selected the right key to transcribe in..

For myself, and the transcribing I do, it is the most annoying issue the the program has, other than that, it is rather pretty cool, and very user friendly...

PS: if any other beta-tester are needed, I could put GP6 thru it's pace...

[FunkMetalBass]

Originally Posted by champbassist

No, I was actually asking if there's any change regarding the "tuplets" feature. As of now we can only have tuplets such as triplets, pentuplets, etc. but not complicated polyrhythms, e.g. 5 over 3 or 7 over 5.

Now I feel like a bit of a fool for asking this. I think I'm expecting more than possible (yet) for a software which is already stuffed full of features.

I'll reiterate my 2nd question: are bass harmonics any good? GPro bass tabs may not be very good as you previously stated but bass harmonics are a very basic feature, esp. considering harmonics are just fine when tabbing out guitars. Or maybe it's some problem specific to my system?
When I use the harmonics feature on a bass, the effected note just sounds dead, without a proper harmonic ringing out.

It's been a while since I've used the polyrhythm feature, but I'm pretty sure it has the upper/lower/whole staff feature, in which case you just write one -tuplet in the "upper" and one tuplet in the "lower"


Also, does the new GP-6 still require RSE to sound good? I always got glitches where RSE instruments would be drastically out of time with each other.

[NickInMesa]

Originally Posted by FunkMetalBass

It's been a while since I've used the polyrhythm feature, but I'm pretty sure it has the upper/lower/whole staff feature, in which case you just write one -tuplet in the "upper" and one tuplet in the "lower"


Also, does the new GP-6 still require RSE to sound good? I always got glitches where RSE instruments would be drastically out of time with each other.

A lot of the questions here are very very technical, I am not totally up to snuff to answer them but I can transmit them, yet.

As for the sounds, the RSE sound a heck of a lot better, and you can actually select the type of cab you want, build a virtual stack, etc... and have a lot more control on the sound.

As for the regular non-RSE sounds, don't forget that those will always sound like crap since they are your system midi sound.

For a lambda user like me with average musical knowledge, GP6 has two main advantages: 1-it sounds a heck of a lot better and plays with no bugs and 2-entering or editing a tab (for instance changing the fingering from 0 to 5 on the lower string) is a lot faster and less buggy.

There is no hang time like with GP5.

Also you don't have a tab for non-guitar instruments. The tab track can be deactivated per track as well.

Now note I have reported a few things I did not like, but I am not going to make a list, because they are likely to be gone from the final release.

I also could not test the export/import features, it's not active, as they want us to enter tabs for them to show we tested that part of the software properly.

Also someone asked me if they could be in the next beta test. I happened to be in it because I am French and the guys who made it are as well, meaning the language barrier is gone, and I started last year to report bugs and ideas in GP5. I am also a software engineer, which means I also see why some of the bugs exist, which helps.

I am not paid for this, by the way, I'm just a volunteer.

My main point I brought is that the software should dynamically create a different type of tab for bassists as for guitarists. I have a nice stretch but I can go easily from the 2nd to the 6th fret like that.

[buddingbassit]

I am using GP6 (its great) but because I have a 5 string bass and i know a lot of other bass players do, I was wondering if you can still transpose the whole tab like you can in GP5 so it has the 5th lower B string. it was a wonderful feature when I got my 5 string and replaced my 4 string because i could put the 5 string into use fairly quickly. i just cant seem to find out how to do it. any help will be appreciated so very much.
Thank you guys.

[NickInMesa]

Originally Posted by buddingbassit

I am using GP6 (its great) but because I have a 5 string bass and i know a lot of other bass players do, I was wondering if you can still transpose the whole tab like you can in GP5 so it has the 5th lower B string. it was a wonderful feature when I got my 5 string and replaced my 4 string because i could put the 5 string into use fairly quickly. i just cant seem to find out how to do it. any help will be appreciated so very much.
Thank you guys.

No you can't. I end up using GP5 a lot more than GP6. I like the updater, but I believe they over did it an tried to create a product which it is not supposed to be.

The sounds are so different, the volume between the instruments is not adequate for previous versions files. The distorted guitar sound is horrible. The previous one had a tube amp feel to it. This one has a cheap Boss pedal feel.

I actually let them know during the beta of the issue with adding or removing strings and they said it was not possible and did not work on it.

[champbassist]

Originally Posted by NickInMesa

No you can't. I end up using GP5 a lot more than GP6. I like the updater, but I believe they over did it an tried to create a product which it is not supposed to be.

The sounds are so different, the volume between the instruments is not adequate for previous versions files. The distorted guitar sound is horrible. The previous one had a tube amp feel to it. This one has a cheap Boss pedal feel.

I actually let them know during the beta of the issue with adding or removing strings and they said it was not possible and did not work on it.

Thank you!

I can't begin to tell you how many negatives GP6 has with respect to GP5. A few major ones:

a) The sounds of each and every instrument are horrible (only the bass is passable at best).

b) You can't set the tracks to change an "instrument" during a song. The best that you can do is change an effect chain: even then only 4 "effect chain" changes for each track in a piece are possible. Say goodbye to tabbing Jordan Rudess's keyboard parts.

c) I feel the interface would be terribly convoluted for a beginner.

And the problem with strings as NickInMesa points out is another major glitch (maybe not a glitch technically, just that they didn't bother to work on it)

[NickInMesa]

Yeah, I let them know of all my issues with it and would recommend using GP5 if you find a copy and not upgrading to GP6.

If they read this, they will hate me and remove me from their beta tester's group (if they did not already do it).

They should look at how Line 6 does virtual modeling in Pod Farm. It's a breath. It sounds good. It's fun to use.

They did fix the editor, though, it has become easier to edit tabs, but in the meantime I became a better sight reader and barely use the bottom part now. I only use it to play without bass on and to get an idea of what to play but my ears do a better job at finding the notes to play than most tabs, which are flawed in 99% of the cases.

[champbassist]

Originally Posted by NickInMesa

If they read this, they will hate me and remove me from their beta tester's group (if they did not already do it).

So what on earth are testers for? I never knew testers were supposed to be endorsers

More massive negatives: the bass harmonics are still pretty useless. Marginally better than GP5, but still not of any use when playing back a bass track.

Also, if a track has volume changes mid track, you can't override those changes with the volume bar for that particular track like GP5; in other words, the volume bar becomes unusable if you have volume changes during a track.

[Engine207]

I just picked up GP6 and can't figure out how to change the 4-string bass to a 5. Am I missing something obvious?