The Ruler scales the session along time, allows navigating, and can be marked for different uses. The main use of the Ruler is to move the playhead: clicking anywhere on the timeline will bring the playhead at this location in time.
It is made of a succession of rows, each having a special role related to time. From top to bottom, those rows are:
| Timecode | scaling the session whith the traditionnal Hours:Mins:Secs:Frames notation |
|---|---|
| Bars:Beats | slicing the time according to the time signature ot the Meter |
| Meter | shows the time signature. It can be changed along the timeline, by Right click > New Meter. The Bars:Beats ruler will reflect the change. |
| Tempo | shows the BPM. It can be changed along the timeline, by Right click > New Tempo. The Bars:Beats ruler will reflect the change. |
| Range Markers | allow to create and modify ranges directly on the Ruler. |
| Loop/Punch Ranges | are special kind of ranges designed to be played as a loop and to do punch recording, i.e. recording on a precise section of time, respectively. |
| CD Markers | are markers designed to be used while creating a recording that has to be split in time, as an audio CD |
| Location Markers | is meant to receive any kind of marker, user generated or from Ardour itself. |
Most of the operations on the markers are described in Working with Markers, while the Meter, Tempo, Bars:Beats and Timecode use are described in Tempo and Meter.