Can Dorico be used like Guitar pro?

Dorico
#1

Hello there,

I am searching for an alternative program to Guitar Pro. Especially the latest versions really don’t do it for me anymore.

  • I need to work with tabs instead of notes
  • I’d need rock/pop/metal instruments like drums, (heavy) distorted guitars/organs,
  • if possible FXs like reverb/delay

So my question is, is Dorico able to do that convincingly? Or is it more for Musical/Orchestral/Film composers?
Are there any users who produce the kind of music I produce efficiently with Dorico?
Sorry if the question seems stupid.
Thanks!

#2

Guitar tab was added in v3.0. Additional guitar features (like whammy bar notation and such) was added in v3.1.

Dorico has electric guitars, electric basses, organs, electric keyboards, and drum sets as default instruments.

I’m not as experienced with VST playback in Dorico so hopefully someone else can answer.

As far as notating for electric guitar, Dorico is far superior to Guitar Pro in terms of output. Dorico may feel “less intuitive” than Guitar Pro because GP is designed to be quick for guitar nothing else. That said, Dorico is certainly more flexible and produces a much better looking score. I’m a guitarist of 10 years and I’ve already ditched GP for Dorico.

#3

I have GP and Cubase, I don’t have Dorico but I’m considering it. One thing to note is that GP has realistic guitar-optimized sounds “built-in”, whereas you’ll have to use VSTis (“VST instruments”) to generate sound with Dorico. This is more complex but very much more flexible. The VSTi that comes with Dorico has a complete set of very usable sounds to get you started, but you might find the distorted guitars a bit cheesy. There are however loads of great VST instruments and effects out there, including many free ones.

#4

Hello colleagues,
Well, I’m not sure if Dorico Pro is enough mature as Guitar Pro for writing TAB… I’m guitar player, too, but I don’t use tabs (always prefer to use my ears, or notes)… so I don’t know.
About the Playback, for sure in Dorico you can achieve much more realistic playback and guitar sound, by using libraries as Ample Sound,
or Shreddage 3 - additionally you may apply IK Multimedia - Amplitube, or BIAS Amp as Insert in the Mix Console.
Guitar Pro uses General MIDI samples which are pretty terrible and far from realistic! :slight_smile:

You may try the Dorico Pro Trial, or Dorico SE (which is free, but very limited) to see if it fits your needs. :slight_smile:

I hope this is helpful information! :slight_smile:

Best regards,
Thurisaz

#5

What do you feel that Guitar Pro can do that Dorico can’t? There’s still a couple guitar features I’m waiting for, but there’s features across the entire program that everyone is waiting for.

In terms of strict engraving quality, it’s not even close. Dorico is far beyond what Guitar Pro will ever be.

#6

ChuckDimeCliff hello,
Well, I don’t have any feelings… since I don’t have much in working with tabs in Dorico, nor in Guitar Pro. But GP is available for around 2 decades and it is dedicated to writing mainly for guitar. Dorico is on the market since 2016… Probably there are missing guitar related features?!
I my previous comment I don’t discuss the Engraving… Of course Dorico is better here. :slight_smile:

Best wishes,
Thurisaz

#7

Here is our review of Dorico 3’s guitar features:
https://www.scoringnotes.com/reviews/dorico-3-feature-guitar-notation/

And an update for 3.1:
https://www.scoringnotes.com/reviews/dorico-3-1/

Direct to YouTube:
https://youtu.be/NNg33svg55s
https://youtu.be/8tUxXuWqY0Y

#8

I’ve spent ten years trying to find a replacement for Guitar Pro 5. It looks like Dorico (not Notion 6, not TuxGuitar, not MuseScore) may be the answer to my search.

The one feature I’ve not seen in any new software is Drum Tab notation. I’m talking about exactly like GP5 – general midi notes on tablature by their GM note value: 57 36 42 38 42 36 46. I can read notation just fine, but thousands of hours (albeit 10+ years ago) of GP5 drum tab notation has made it the easiest way for me to write and read.

It’s unlikely, I know, but is this a feature Dorico plans to support? It shouldn’t be that big of a technical ask to map drum hits to GM notes and display them on tablature (though I doubt many besides me would use this feature)

#9

Welcome to the forum, zalex. I’ve never seen drum tablature before, but I’ll look into it. I can’t imagine we’ll be able to implement this in the near future, but I would be interested to know whether other Dorico users might find it helpful.

#10

Im using Guita Pro 5 for 15 years.
I transcribe a lot of guitar solos.
Can you make dorico have option to insert tablature note in the way GP5 does?
Can you add a import option for mp3 sync to tablature?
Can you make Dorico import GP5 or GP7 files?

It would realy make a diferent for transcribers like me :slight_smile:
Check out this FREE program ROCKMER for transcribe songs.

Thanks

#11

You’ll need to use an open exchange standard such as XML. Dorico cannot (and will not, I feel safe in stating) open another program’s proprietary file formats. There’s all sorts of patent issues here. This is also why Dorico doesn’t open Finale or Sibelius files directly. This is simply something that will not happen barring some extraordinarily bizarre direct partnership that seemingly wouldn’t benefit either program.

As for syncing recordings, I feel very confident stating that this is on their roadmap, even if it will be a while before we see such a feature. Many people have requested to import their own audio (although “syncing” is another issue entirely). The typical workaround for this is to import a video with the audio that you want as its soundtrack.

#12

Guitar Pro can export MusicXML.

#13

Not sure what you mean about drum tab - but you may find the drum features in Dorico are closer or better, in the way that you can the kit laid out on multiple one line staves - one for snare, hat, etc. and then with a click combine them all into standard notation that a drummer might like. You’d be the best judge, but its a lot easier for me to see what’s going on in the lines and change the beat of one element without changing another - assuming that I keep in mind the usual number of limbs on your standard human.