Hi Guys,
I’d like to put my two cents in here if I may!
@ThomasMustaine, some great ideas. As a fellow guitarist, here are some reflections: (btw, is your last name really Mustaine? Any relation???)
1). Linking Notation and TAB. Do you mean that changes on the pitched staff automatically reflect in the TAB staff? While I think this would be great, how would Dorico know which string to put the note on? This would probably be quite straight forward for changes made on the TAB staff being reflected on the pitched staff.
2). Note Entry. I have never entered notes straight into a TAB staff so I may not have anything of value here. I can say though that if you enter into the notation staff (including all slurs, bends, wang bar effects etc) and then copy across to the TAB staff then (Sibelius at least) did a good job of putting things in the right place. There was a considerable amount of clean up required but it wasn’t too bad… This all ties in with point 1.
3). This happens a lot in divisi parts. On the notation staff, you can write the intervals/diads and then divisi to indicate that the part is played by two players but because the part is then played on the same string how else would this be achieved other than 12/16 for a major 3rd? It is hard to read and cumbersome I agree…
4). Again (referring to Sibelius) most if not all of the articulations are available as automatic TAB entries if you entered the notation first. TAB developed in Sibelius over years!
- Hide Empty Staves or a similar function I think is already achievable in Dorico. One thing to consider in these scenarios is the use of text i.e. Guitar 1, Guitar 2, Riff A, End Riff A, Riff B, End Riff B etc. When writing out the parts, we often only need one staff and one TAB staff and then you can write text instructions above the staff/TAB to indicate who plays what. A good example of this is the intro to Paradise City by G ‘n’ R: You have the intro chord riff written out and labelled Riff A. IIRC, as new parts are introduced they are labelled Riff B etc. This would be very much achievable in Dorico albeit TAB is not yet available to us. I see that your point refers to Guitar Pro so sorry to make light of this comment (I have no experience with GP).
The problem with lyrics are that they are rhythmic dependant. I guess you could put in a bar’s worth but this can get tricky too.
Yes, Sibelius and Finale are complicated but so will all pro level programs!
It’s great to get some guitar specific dialogue going 