ruxguitar

A guitar pro tablature player.

The design of the application is described in details in the blog article "Playing guitar tablatures in Rust".

Limitations

• supports only gp5 & gp4 files

Usage

./ruxguitar --help
Guitar pro tablature player

Usage: ruxguitar [OPTIONS]

Options:
      --sound-font-file <SOUND_FONT_FILE>  Optional path to a sound font file
      --tab-file-path <TAB_FILE_PATH>      Optional path to tab file to by-pass the file picker
      --no-antialiasing                    Disable antialiasing
  -h, --help                               Print help
  -V, --version                            Print version

A basic soundfont is embedded in the binary for a plug and play experience, however it is possible to provide a larger soundfont file to get better sound quality.

For instance I like to use FluidR3_GM.sf2 which is present on most systems and easy to find online (here or there).

./ruxguitar --sound-font-file /usr/share/sounds/sf2/FluidR3_GM.sf2

FAQ

• Where can I find guitar pro files?

  • You can find a lot of guitar pro files on the internet. For instance on Ultimate Guitar.

• Why is the sound quality so bad?

  • The default soundfont is very basic. You can provide a better soundfont file using the --sound-font-file option.

• Which dependencies are needed to run the application?

  • Check the necessary dependencies for your system from the CI configuration.

• Why is the file picker not opening on Linux?

  • Install the XDG Destop Portal package for your desktop environment.

• Why are the strings no rendered on the tablature?

  • You might need to disable antialiasing using the --no-antialiasing option.

• Does it run on Windows 7 or Windows 8?

  • Yes, the Windows binary is built with Rust 1.75 which supports Windows 7 and Windows 8.

• Why is the sound not working on Linux?

  • Getting the error The requested device is no longer available. For example, it has been unplugged.
  • You are most likely using PulseAudio or Pipewire which are not supported.
  • Install compatibility packages pulseaudio-alsa or pipewire-alsa (requires a restart of the audio service).

Installation

Releases

Using the provided binaries in https://github.com/agourlay/ruxguitar/releases

Crates.io

Using Cargo via crates.io.

cargo install ruxguitar

Build

Make sure to check the necessary dependencies for your system from the CI configuration.

Acknowledgements

This project is heavily inspired by the great TuxGuitar project.