--- /dev/null
+
+<p>
+ Ardour offers three <dfn>track types</dfn> depending on the type of
+ data they contain, and differentiates between three <dfn>track modes</dfn>,
+ depending on their recording behaviour.
+</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
+ and play back. <em>However, either type of track can pass either
+ type of data.</em> Hence, for example, one might have a MIDI track that
+ contains an instrument plugin; such a track would record and play back
+ 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
+ inputs. The number of outputs is defined by the master bus channel count
+ (for details see <a href="#channelconfiguration">Channel Configuration</a>
+ below). This is the type of track to use when planning to work with
+ existing or newly recorded audio.</dd>
+ <dt>MIDI</dt>
+ <dd>A <dfn>MIDI track</dfn> is created with a single MIDI input, and a
+ single MIDI output. This is the type of track to use when planning to
+ record and play back MIDI. There are several methods to enable playback
+ of a MIDI track: add an instrument plugin to the track, connect the
+ track to a software synthesizer, or connect it to external MIDI hardware.
+ <p class="note">
+ If you add an instrument plugin, the MIDI track outputs audio instead
+ of MIDI data.
+ </p></dd>
+ <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,
+ 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>
+ <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
+ 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="/editing-and-arranging/change-region-lengths/pushpull-trimming/">push/pull trimming</a>.
+ </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.
+ 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="/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 />
+ 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.
+</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-and-busses/">Add Tracks</a> dialog allows you to
+ select "Mono", "Stereo" and few other typical multichannel presets<br />
+ 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 />
+ 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
+ > 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.
+</p>
+
+
+
projects / ardour-manual / blobdiff