3 <img src="/images/track-layer-dialog.png" alt="The Track layering menu">
5 The Track layering menu
10 Ardour allows arbitrary <dfn>layering</dfn> of regions—there can any number
11 of regions at a given position. By default, the regions are
12 <dfn>overlaid</dfn> in the editor window, to save vertical space.
15 However, this display mode can be confusing for tracks with many overdubs,
16 because its not obvious in which order the overdubs are layered. Although
17 there are other methods of moving particular regions to the top of an
18 overlapping set, and although Ardour also has playlists to manage
19 <a href="@@playlist-usecases">takes</a> a bit more efficiently than just continually
20 layering, there are times when being able to clearly see all regions in a track
21 without any overlaps is reassuring and useful.
24 The example below shows a track with a rather drastic overdub situation,
25 viewed in normal <dfn>overlaid mode</dfn>:
28 <img src="/images/overlaps_layered.png" alt="Overlapping regions in overlaid mode">
30 Overlapping regions in <em>overlaid</em> mode
35 This display can be changed by <kbd class="mouse">right</kbd> clicking on the
36 track header, showing the menu displayed above. There are two choices for layers, and
37 <kbd class="menu">overlaid</kbd> is currently selected. Clicking on <kbd
38 class="menu">stacked</kbd>, the track display changes to:
41 <img src="/images/layers_stacked.png" alt="Overlapping regions in stacked mode">
43 Overlapping regions in <em>stacked</em> mode
48 Regions can still be moved around as usual, and can be dragged so that they overlay
49 each other again, but when the mouse button is released, things will flip back to them all being
50 stacked cleanly. The number of <dfn>lanes</dfn> for the track is determined by
51 the maximum number of regions existing in any one spot throughout
52 the track, so if a track has 10 overdubs stacked up in one spot,
53 it will end up with 10 lanes. Obviously, using a large track height
54 works much better for this than a small one.