Exported GP files have no sound when switching drum tracks to RSE in Guitar Pro 8

[L-Sun]

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I have searched the existing issues

Current Behavior

When opening alphaTab-exported GP files in Guitar Pro 8 and switching drum tracks to RSE (Realistic Sound Engine), there is no sound output from the percussion instruments.

Expected Behavior

Drum tracks should produce sound when switched to RSE mode in Guitar Pro 8, similar to files created directly in Guitar Pro.

Steps To Reproduce

1. Export a score with drum tracks from alphaTab to GP7/GP8 format
2. Open the exported file in Guitar Pro 8
3. Switch the drum track to RSE (Realistic Sound Engine) mode
4. Play the track
5. Observe that no sound is produced from the drum instruments

Link to jsFiddle, CodePen, Project

No response

Version and Environment

[AlphaTab][VersionInfo] alphaTab 1.8.0
[AlphaTab][VersionInfo] commit: 00ce98608f2f606c260377b48be3aa36af37a467
[AlphaTab][VersionInfo] build date: 2025-12-28T06:38:03.168Z
[AlphaTab][VersionInfo] High DPI: 1
[AlphaTab][VersionInfo] Platform: NodeJs
[AlphaTab][VersionInfo] WebPack: false
[AlphaTab][VersionInfo] Vite: false

Platform

Node.js

Anything else?

No response

[Danielku15]

Thanks for the report of this problem. As commented on your PR I'll have to think on how and if we can support this properly. RSE being a proprietary solution, very specific to Guitar Pro and what soundbanks they ship, we can only add limited support for compatibility.

Instead of extending the model with GP specifics it would be better to handle things as part of the exporter.

One idea I have in mind (a breaking change):

• Simplify the data model to define the articulations in an own alphaTab way (audio and visual aspects). Similar to MusicXML and GuitarPro to support them both well.
• For GP export: Allow devs to provide a "template" file from which the definitions are taken. This way all aspects of RSE soundbanks, effects etc. are taken from this template.

The benefit there is: we don't add all the GP specifics and at the same time devs can build "optimized" GP exports. e.g. you can make sound templates for rock, metal, classic with RSE sounds and effects configured. then devs choose from their templates during export.