Customer Reviews

Guitar Tracks Pro 4

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First, check your computer's processor and RAM speed. If you don't exceed the system requirements, don't buy this. Next, I am using this product with a Cakewalk UA-25EX audio interface (a USB device). Here's the rub: on your first go around, sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. There is no apparent rhyme or reason. Sometimes it will work perfectly - you'll be able to record, and listen to your playback. Other times, as I said, for no apparent reason, you won't be able to hear your recorded tracks, or you will just hear some of them, but not all of them, and you will then spend your time trying to figure this mess out, instead of recording. The website knowledge is useful for some problems, silent on many problems. The troubleshooting is not particularly helpful once you leave the realm of "is it plugged in?" and "have you updated the drivers?" However, the software will reveal itself to you over time and as you persist. I can only say, check all of your input buttons, and even thought you KNOW your guitar is plugged in the right input, try switching to the left. That sort of thing. The Guitar Rig 3 LE software included sounds pretty good - install that as a "standalone" rather than a "plug in" when you buy this and some of your troubles will be solved. So while you should go in forewarned, you may like end up liking this product.

I have an older version of this software that does not boast as much much of the same features; however, this core of the program remains the same. This is an excellent program - it allows you to view the recorded music as you would a multi-track recorder, something us older guitarists know and love all too well. I have written many a song with mine and still the potential for it has not been fully used - hence why I haven't gone on to the bigger and badder version, or maybe it's just my fear of change :) Regardless, I highly recommend this software. It can be used with just about any interface - I suggest using the cheapest you can find... it will challenge you to be more creative.

I have used Cakewalk products in the past. Cakewalk Home studio in particular. The work flow and a lot of the functions are consistent with previous versions. I use this software for demo'ing original songs to our band. Couldn't be easier. You do need to spend a little time with the manual but no more so than anything comparable.It's nice to be able to burn a CD or upload a Wave file or MP3 from inside the program. The only gripe I have if you can call it that is the included version of Guitar Rig times out every 30 minutes. Not a big problem since it apparently is a demo version, but it can cause a little agro. The work around ? If you dig Guitar Rig just buy the full version as I intend to do. Cakewalk's website has a good forum concerning this product and I have found it helpful with simple questions that I had. If you are new to recording I think you will find this program fairly easy to use with a little bit of practice.

I haven't used cakewalk 4 yet. But after I build my DAW PC for my home recording I will give it a try. I have cakewalk pro 2 and 3, and I believe they are the best for home recording, guitar and instrumental projects. It may take you a while to get use to the software, but it should work fine, just make sure everything is in sync meaning proper CPU, and motherboard. For simplicity cakewalk has always worked well, and I have always gotten great sound out of my instruments. As far as voice, I am no singer or vocal expert, but most cakewalk software has enough sound effects and tweaking that I would think you could get excellent results with vocals after some tweaking. Most of the way I have used cakewalk is for saving files and not real time, meaning live. So, you may want to check on that. Save a file then listen to the pre recorded solo. Then ad more tracks. As far as real time playing it may be possible if you have a powerful enough computer, but for beginners you may want to check with cakewalk before purchasing if your thinking of real time live recording or playing.

I purchased GTP4 to replace GTP2 which was about 10-12 years old( I never upgraded to the GTP3 version). I used GTP2 for the last 10 years or so and was very happy with it but I wanted to upgrade to a more current version that had more features, effects, and worked with WIN7 etc. I've been a guitar player for about 23 years and write some of my own songs.

GTP4 is full of great features for a musician that doesn't mind spending some time learning what the program is capable of such as, having alot more control over automation(effects, volume and pan etc.), a better grade and more effects than GTP2, is very MIDI friendly. The studio instruments that come with it are awesome in my opinion(i've heard others complain). I guess being so used to GTP2's layout, limited amount of loops, no studio instuments etc. makes it harder for me to get used to some of the newer features. Had this been my first DAW it wouldn't have been an issue cause I wouldn't have had a certain way of doing things that have become habit after 10 years. That being said alot of things are basically the same just with a different layout.

One great feature is that when woking with your raw tracks, manipulating them is much more intuitive. Everything snaps to the correct tempo(great when adding loops or the studio instruments) and allows for easy stretching and splicing. I think all DAWS do this now but it's still very easy to do in GTP4.

I haven't had this program that long so there are features I haven't even worked with yet so time will tell if I'll love it as much as my old program. So far I do really like it but I think I would have went with Sonar X1 essential(same price). From what I've read it takes longer to learn cause it allows much more control for pro's, but cakewalk seems to have included some extra effects and they seem to support it better with how to videos(many of which apply to GTP4) as well as upgrades to more powerful versions. The draw back is you need a very powerful computer to best utilize Sonar. BTW, I'm running GTP4 on a laptop- with core i3 2.53ghz, 4gb ram, updated WIN7 and it runs without a problem. I'm also running it on a spare laptop with AMD turion 64 x2 dual core 1.9ghz, 2gb ram, up to date WIN Vista and it runs fine on that as well. I haven't been running a large # of tracks with a ton of effects and automation so it's tough to say if you'll have any problems. Hope this helps.

I'm going to give a brief explanation of my disappointment with the product because even though I should wait till I have it squared away, the one thing that won't change is my expectations not being met when I completed my setup.

I spend a lot of time in similar software, the Digital Non-Linear Video editing software interface also uses a timeline, and you find a lot in common with Digital Audio Workstation software. In Adobe Audition for example, you find a lot of overlap with the Premiere product line. In Sony, their Vegas products are similar to their Sound Forge, with obvious difference in that the DAWs can't handle video (though there are exceptions) but all of the video editors have to have some audio tools. I have never seen a nonlinear video editing suite that had MIDI tracks for one thing, and then obviously as you add more functions and for tools in audio, those become compelling reasons to edit your audio separately from the video editor where you find those tools easily integrated. Generally speaking, in film editing people prefer to import music after its produced and then mix dialog and sound effects in separate tracks. My point is that even though you can run lots of audio tracks, even with Dolby Surround needing more than 6 tracks just for that, by the time they've imported the music, they still at that stage are performing a lot of the functions that went in to producing the music. That of course depends on what style of music we are talking about.

So in a Digital Audio Workstation, I expect the timeline to be the central focus, just like in video editing, but there has to be more than just the basic tools otherwise I can keep my life easy by staying in the video editor.

MIDI is one reason already mentioned, but hosting "VST" effects and instruments are additional reasons to move to the specialty Audio production software. There are also many functions that the DAW can handle without need for add-ons via VSTs. OTOH, some very excellent DAWs keep things simple by keeping just the timeline and basic bare minimum tools as you'd find in video editors, and this way the user can get used to the simple environment and then add the VSTs as they go. Such a modular approach has a lot of benefits, but new users won't be too attracted to that typically, because it seems like software these days is expected to constantly give you more rather than helping you relax by keeping software simple.


In Cakewalk products for recording and arranging and producing audio, I see that they seem to be in transition, perhaps they purchased products along the way to this point and have integrated them in to their DAW products. I say that because they have added a lot of functions that for most software you'd need those VSTs.

They have 3 broad types of multi-track editing "environments" or User Interfaces. The simplest is Music Creator, now in version 5. Next is Guitar Tracks Pro, now in version 4, and then you have Sonar, which has been revised so significantly that they started over in version "X1."

Sonar X1 itself is divided in to 3 packages, one is "Essentials" implying you get only the most essential, the Studio product is a very nice package, but it is also over $200, and last is "Producer" that is the most complete.

In addition, some of the modules are available separately, and some modules are only available separately.


My experience with Guitar Tracks Pro 4 is that it includes the User Interface closest to Sonar before the major changes. This means you have some limited benefit of this relationship, but not as much as you'd hope. This is my biggest concern that having invested $85 in this package, if I start to buy training materials too, this won't be money well spent in my opinion.

Who would want this product? If you are certain that you won't be scaling up later, for example students who are certainly going to grow in their skills on DAW, I think it might be a mistake to get anything but Sonar X1. But for those are are guitar players and want to get some of the features as it arrives, you get a pretty complete suite of tools, and VSTi software instruments for electric piano, bass guitar, drums, and strings. These instrument modules sound fantastic for the price. In fact, they sound awesome, and as far as I can tell, you don't lose any sound quality vs. getting the more expensive instrument bundles in X1 producer or as modules. What you get for paying more seems to be in variety more than anything else. There might be some tools that I haven't seen, but as far as I can see, I won't be missing anything. The drums are fantastic, the strings are great too. The synthesizer for the keyboard (which is confusing I know, because any MIDI instrument can be controlled from the keyboard), the sound modules that are associated only with synth sounds, not in emulating other instruments, the synths that have original sounds, these to my thinking are very personal, and I don't think they would have made many people happy by simply including even more sounds. You can shop around, or you can buy specific modules from Cakewalk, but my point here is that you get a good deal on all of the instruments, way more than you might expect for a package under $100.

My biggest problem with Cakewalk Guitar Tracks Pro 4 is that the UI is not great, and it will be useless trying to learn its idiosyncrasies without knowing whether you might be moving to a different interface if you move to Sonar X1. On the other hand, it is not that radically different than Sonar X1 and I would suggest that if you are not certain which way to go, download the free trial for Sonar X1, see what you think, and if you learn a bit about X1 first, I think you will get along ok with GTP4 till you do migrate, or you might still not need to. But at least you will be making a somewhat informed decision.

What I object to is that you can't try out GTP4 while you can try out Sonar. It almost seems like a perfectly legal bait and switch tactic, because you don't get a big discount upgrading from GTP4. In fact that is my biggest resentment. Imagine if you didn't read any of what I have written, you try out Sonar X1 and then pick GTP4 because it seems to suit your needs. You'll be pretty sad to learn how limited it is compared to Sonar X1. But after all is said and done, it's a good deal for those looking for that set of tools. It's just that you might expect more, depending on what you read. I think that musicians can be very insecure some times, and reading reviews from others on this product reminds me of "the emperor's new suit" because it seems like players don't want to see its limitations for fear they are the weak link in the chain.


So overall, it is a very good value, but I would try Sonar X1 demo, and then download an excellent "shareware" tool that is superior for $50, except that for now, I am not sure about the VSTi instruments it has. But if you don't find a Sonar X1 that suits you, I would at least try Reaper before you spend money on GTP4. Maybe with all of my griping, we'll get Cakewalk to offer a trial version, and or to update the interface.

I actually think that if I was CEO or marketing manager, I would kill GTP4 UI, and built alternative Sonar X1 bundles starting with X1 Essentials, and have lateral upgrade packages by instrument. In other words, if you want X1 essentials with nothing else, make that a $60 to $80 package, and have a Guitar-oriented Essentials package for $100 (which is the MSRP for GTP4) and even create additional lateral bundles for small home music creators who have no band mates. GTP4 is not really geared for guitar players outside of including certain soft instruments that a player might typically use in lieu of band-mates. Adding a guitar VST would allow even more to create music without making them master guitar.

There is a software application called "Riffworks" that is ok, but they sell it as this amazing interface for creativity in guitar oriented music. All it does is automate the looping so that you choose a drum loop, and each time the loop starts over it uprevs your track for recording. That means you can add a layer each time. There is nothing stopping you from doing this with any multi-track recorder, but some don't support more than a few tracks, so I realize that you can't always do this, but there are so many other things that I would expect to see in software that claims so much. There are other packages that do this automatically as well, and they just don't hype the feature.

If there is a theme to this review, I would say that before you spend the money on anything, make sure you know what they are hyping. The Cakewalk and Sonoma Wireworks (Riffworks) web sites are long on hope, short on specifics.

"It's the best tool for getting the most out of your creativity!" Really? OK, but how?

Line 6 bundles Riffworks with a Guitar Port and includes a trial version with some of their recording products. That is the only way I know of to get a trial before purchasing it. I would suggest buying a ~$100 Line 6 product with the trial before spending that or more on software you many not like. Technically, you should be able to return the hardware bundle while software is often not returnable. This no refunds policy is often not applied to online purchases, so it doesn't hurt to ask.

I'm sure I've created some confusion, and for that I apologize, I just don't want to see people buying things that they can't use, and then end up thinking it was their fault. There are some land mines out there for guitar players. Watch your step.