Product Spotlight: PROGRESSION Music Software for Guitar

Product Spotlight: PROGRESSION Music Software for Guitar
PROGRESSION Music Software for Guitar

If you are a guitar player who's been looking for a way to write for guitar without actually having a guitar in your hands and are frustrated with software that plays back guitar parts that sound like a keyboardist played them, it's time to explore PROGRESSION from Notion Music, Inc.

In creating this product we interviewed a slew of guitarists who play several different genres and found that virtually all of them had the same needs: they wanted software to sound like a guitar, not a keyboard; have a ton of sounds; function on a Mac or PC; play back the guitar parts in realistic fashion with guitaristic inflections; have a killer amp simulator; allow writing for other instruments; support VST; and display TAB ... so we delivered PROGRESSION.

PROGRESSION features 1.5 gigabytes of acoustic and electric guitar samples from guitar great Neil Zaza, bass samples from Victor Wooten, and drum samples from Roy "Futureman" Wooten, in addition to upright bass, clavinet, Fender Rhodes, and piano samples. It also contains fully realized amp simulators, FX, and a cabinet simulator that allows you to dive in and change your tone or even alter the tubes and the internals of the amp if you're an amp tweaker who likes the sound of one type of tube over another.


How does it work?

PROGRESSION lets you input TAB or notation in four different ways—via MIDI with a MIDI-enabled guitar or keyboard, through the computer keyboard and mouse, by importing a score or using the interactive fingerboard, and by selecting notes by the string and/or fret. And when you enter a note, PROGRESSION actually "auditions" the note for you—allowing you to use your ears as well as your eyes!

Once you've entered the music you can edit at will simply by selecting true guitar-related markings like "let ring," "slur," or "hammer-on" (to name just a few) and dropping them on a phrase or a note. You can copy and paste the music exactly like you would when using a word processing application. What's really cool is that when you edit a note on the notation staff, the TAB changes—edit the TAB staff and the notation changes instantly!

The PROGRESSION amp simulator can be activated at any time, giving you total control over distortion, EQ, volume, and effects. You can add chorus, delays, reverb, and cabinet simulations. Additionally, in the lower portion of the control panel, a simple mixer allows you to control the specific track volume, adjust the pan, and access the effects.
Playing Well with Others

When you're ready to add some groove, PROGRESSION comes with several styles of drum grooves and fills that you can simply copy and paste into your music. You can even add effects to the drum parts.

Being self-contained, PROGRESSION allows you to communicate your music the way you want it heard by other PROGRESSION owners—like the guys in your band. Just email them the small PROGRESSION files, and the music you've written will sound the same on their computer as it does on yours. Your band mates can write their parts into PROGRESSION, then email the updated file back to you and you'll hear their contributions the way they want. You can even print out the parts for rehearsal. Once the music is written you can burn the whole track to a WAV file and fly it into any recording software and add vocals. All this functionality for just $99 makes PROGRESSION a real bargain!
Features & Specs

* Work with real recorded samples featuring acoustic and electric guitar, electric and upright bass, drum kit, grand and electric piano, and clavinet recorded by great performers including Neil Zaza and Grammy award winners Victor and Roy "Futureman" Wooten
* Change your tone with the built-in guitar and bass amp simulators
* See, learn, and write chords with the interactive chord library
* Lead sheet capabilities allow you to write jazz or vocal charts
* Enter tablature and notation via computer keyboard and mouse or MIDI guitar or keyboard
* Easily edit your music with click and drag, note audition, and simple deletion
* Realtime dynamic linking between tab and notation staves allows you to work from either staff and the other will update instantly
* Customize your settings to write for additional stringed instruments like banjo and mandolin, use alternate tunings, or add additional strings to your bass or guitar staves
* Realtime tempo control with NTempo feature
* Integrated audio mixer with volume, panning, FX, and mute/solo controls
* Use our bundled effects or use your own with our VST hosting capability
* Import and export MIDI files
* Save your music as a .WAV audio file
* For MAC or PC