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Power Tab Editor 2.0, Here at last!

Cameron White edited this page Jan 27, 2022 · 13 revisions

Power Tab Editor 2.0

PTE2.0 is the long-overdue sequel to the famous Power Tab Editor, which, while useful, had a list of quirky bugs that remained uncorrected as the original author ceased development and the source code was never released. Born out of the irritation of dated software as well as a conspicuous lack of solid drum support, PTE2.0 begins anew. Written from scratch, it is cross-platform and compatible with PTE1.7 and Guitar Pro. And it's not just freeware, it's open-source. Never again will your tabbing platform be mired in the realm of proprietary purgatory!

New Features

New features implemented into the program so far include:

  • Cross platform - Windows, Mac, and Linux
  • Tabbed layout for opening multiple files at the same time
  • Mixer interface for adjusting volumes during playback
  • MIDI instruments can be changed at a Guitar In (now called a Player Change).
  • Complete customization of keyboard shortcuts
  • Unlimited number of staves per system
  • Importing of Guitar Pro tabs
  • Nested irregular groups
  • No more 7 instrument limit
  • Support for 8-string guitars
  • A speed adjuster to slow down or speed up MIDI playback.
  • Configurable default instrument type/string arrangement when opening new files.
  • Show/Hide various combinations of players/staves (e.g. show only the bass, or view only the rhythm guitars)
  • New file format (.pt2) which is a JSON file that is compressed with gzip (much easier for other applications to import)
Changes in Behaviour
  • When importing v1.7 files, the bass score is merged into the guitar score (there is only a single score).
To Do
  • Handle musical directions when merging in the bass score
  • Show/Hide the tab staff or the standard notation staff
  • Improve the UI (perhaps add some toolbars, etc)
  • Rhythm Slashes
  • Fade In/Out
  • Font settings
  • All bugs and feature requests