</p>
<h2>Track types</h2>
+
<p>
An Ardour track can be of type <dfn>audio</dfn> or <dfn>MIDI</dfn>,
depending on the <dfn>data</dfn> that the track will primarily record
MIDI data from disk but would produce audio, since the instrument plugin
would turn MIDI data into audio data.
</p>
+
<p>
Nevertheless, when adding tracks to a session, you typically have an idea
of what you need to use the new tracks for, and Ardour offers you three
choices:
</p>
+
<dl class="narrower-table">
<dt>Audio</dt>
<dd>An <dfn>Audio Track</dfn> is created with a user-specified number of
<dt>Audio/MIDI</dt>
<dd>There are a few notable plugins that can usefully accept both <dfn>Audio
and MIDI</dfn> data (Reaktor is one, and various "auto-tune" like plugins
- are another). It can be tricky to configure this type of track manually,
+ are another). It can be tricky to configure this type of track manually,
so Ardour allows you to select this type specifically for use with such
plugins. It is <em>not</em> generally the right choice when working normal
MIDI tracks, and a dialog will warn you of this.</dd>
</dl>
<h2 id="trackmodes">Track Modes</h2>
+
<p>
Audio tracks in Ardour have a <dfn>mode</dfn> which affects how they behave
when recording:
</p>
+
<dl class="narrower-table">
<dt>Normal</dt>
- <dd>Tracks in <dfn>normal mode</dfn> will record non-destructively —
- new data is written to new files, and when overdubbing, new regions will be
- layered on top of existing ones. This is the recommended mode for most workflows.
+ <dd>Tracks in <dfn>normal mode</dfn> will record non-destructively—new
+ data is written to new files, and when overdubbing, new regions will be
+ layered on top of existing ones. This is the recommended mode for most
+ workflows.
</dd>
<dt>Non-Layered</dt>
- <dd>Tracks using <dfn>non-layered mode</dfn> will record non-destructively
- — new data is written to new files, but when overdubbing, the existing
+ <dd>Tracks using <dfn>non-layered mode</dfn> will record non-destructively—new data is written to new files, but when overdubbing,
+ the existing
regions are trimmed so that there are no overlaps. This does not affect
the previously recorded audio data, and trimmed regions can be expanded
again at will. Non-layered mode can be very useful for spoken word material,
- especially in combination with <a href="/missing">push/pull trimming</a>.
+ especially in combination with <a href="/editing-and-arranging/change-region-lengths/pushpull-trimming">push/pull trimming</a>.
+
+ <p class="fixme">Broken link</p>
+
</dd>
<dt>Tape</dt>
<dd><dfn>Tape-mode</dfn> tracks do <strong>destructive</strong> recording:
all data is recorded to a single file and if you overdub a section of existing
- data, the existing data is destroyed irrevocably — there is no undo.
+ data, the existing data is destroyed irrevocably—there is no undo.
Fixed crossfades are added at every punch in and out point. This mode can be
useful for certain kinds of re-recording workflows, but it not suggested for normal
use.</dd>
</dl>
-<img class="right" src="/files/a3/a3_nonlayered_example.png" alt="normal and non-layered overdubbing comparision"
+
+<img class="right" src="/images/a3_nonlayered_example.png" alt="normal and non-layered overdubbing comparision"
/>
+
<p>
The screenshot on the right shows the subtle difference between an overdub
in <dfn>normal mode</dfn> (upper track) and one in <dfn>non-layered mode</dfn>
- (lower track). Both tracks were created using identical audio data. <br />
+ (lower track). Both tracks were created using identical audio data.
+</p>
+
+<p>
The upper track shows a new region which has been <dfn>layered on
top</dfn> of the the existing (longer) region. You can see this if you look
- carefully at the region name strips.<br />
- The lower track has split the existing region in two, trimmed each new
- region to create space for the new overdub, and inserted the overdub region
- in between.
+ carefully at the region name strips. The lower track has split the existing
+ region in two, trimmed each new region to create space for the new overdub,
+ and inserted the overdub region in between.
</p>
<h2 id="channelconfiguration">Channel Configuration</h2>
+
<p>
- Ardour tracks can have any number of inputs and any number of outputs, and the
- number of either can be changed at any time (subject to restrictions caused by
- any plugins in a track). However it is useful to not have to configure this sort
- of thing for the most common cases, and so the
- <a href="/working-with-tracks/adding-tracks">Add Tracks</a> dialog allows you to
- select "Mono", "Stereo" and few other typical multichannel presets<br />
+ Ardour tracks can have any number of inputs and any number of outputs, and
+ the number of either can be changed at any time (subject to restrictions
+ caused by any plugins in a track). However it is useful to not have to
+ configure this sort of thing for the most common cases, and so the
+ <a href="/working-with-tracks/adding-tracks">Add Tracks</a> dialog allows you
+ to select "Mono", "Stereo" and few other typical multichannel presets.
The name of the preset describes the number of <dfn>input channels</dfn>
of the track or bus.
</p>
+
<p>
If you have configured Ardour to automatically connect new tracks and
busses for you, the number of outputs will be determined by the number of
inputs of the <dfn>master <a
href="/introducing-ardour/understanding-basic-concepts-and-terminology/#busses">bus</a></dfn>,
- to which the track outputs will be connected.<br />
+ to which the track outputs will be connected.
+</p>
+
+<p>
For example, if you have a two-channel master bus, then a Mono track has one
input and two outputs; a Stereo track has two inputs and two outputs.
</p>
+
<p class="note">
- If you you set <kbd class="menu">Edit > Preferences > Audio
+ Setting <kbd class="menu">Edit > Preferences > Audio
> Connection of Tracks and Busses</kbd> to <kbd
- class="menu">manual</kbd>, then tracks will be left disconnected by default
- and there will be as many outputs as there are inputs. It is up to you to connect
- them as you wish. This is not a particularly useful way to work unless you are doing
- something fairly unusual with signal routing and processing. It is almost always
- preferable to leave Ardour to make connections automatically, even if you later
- change some of them manually.
+ class="menu">manual</kbd> will leave tracks disconnected by default
+ and there will be as many outputs as there are inputs. It is up to you to
+ connect them as you wish. This is not a particularly useful way to work
+ unless you are doing something fairly unusual with signal routing and
+ processing. It is almost always preferable to allow Ardour to make
+ connections automatically, even if some of them have to be changed manually
+ at some point.
</p>
-
-
+
projects / ardour-manual-diverged / blobdiff