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:
+ Nevertheless, when adding tracks to a session, its content is typically
+ known, and Ardour offers three choices:
</p>
-<dl class="narrower-table">
- <dt>Audio</dt>
- <dd>An <dfn>Audio Track</dfn> is created with a user-specified number of
+<table class="dl">
+ <tr><th>Audio</th>
+ <td>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
+ existing or newly recorded audio.</td></tr>
+ <tr><th>MIDI</th>
+ <td>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
+ If an instrument plugin is added, the MIDI track outputs audio alongside
+ MIDI data.
+ </p></td></tr>
+ <tr><th>Audio/MIDI</th>
+ <td>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
+ are another). It can be tricky to configure this type of track manually,
+ so Ardour allows 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>
+ MIDI tracks, and a dialog will warn of this.</td></tr>
+</table>
<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
+<table class="dl">
+ <tr><th>Normal</th>
+ <td>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
+ </td></tr>
+ <tr><th>Non-Layered</th>
+ <td>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="@@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
+ </td></tr>
+ <tr><th>Tape</th>
+ <td><dfn>Tape-mode</dfn> tracks do <strong>destructive</strong> recording:
+ all data is recorded to a single file and if a section of
+ existing data is overdub, 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
+ can be useful for certain kinds of re-recording workflows, but is not
suggested for normal
- use.</dd>
-</dl>
-<img class="right" src="/images/a3_nonlayered_example.png" alt="normal and non-layered overdubbing comparision"
-/>
+ use.</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<figure class="right">
+ <img src="/images/a3_nonlayered_example.png" alt="Normal and non-layered overdubbing comparision">
+ <figcaption>
+ Normal and non-layered overdubbing comparision
+ </figcaption>
+</figure>
+
<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>
+ top</dfn> of the the existing (longer) region. It can be seen by the region
+ name strips.
+</p>
+<p>
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.
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="@@adding-tracks-busses-and-vcas">Add Tracks</a> dialog allows you to
- select "Mono", "Stereo" and few other typical multichannel presets<br>
+ <a href="@@adding-tracks-busses-and-vcas">Add Tracks</a> dialog allows to
+ select "Mono", "Stereo" and few other typical multichannel presets
+</p>
+<p>
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
+ If Ardour is configured to automatically connect new tracks and
+ busses, 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
+ href="@@understanding-basic-concepts-and-terminology#busses">bus</a></dfn>,
+ to which the track outputs will be connected.
+</p>
+<p>
+ For example, with a two-channel master bus, 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
+ If <kbd class="menu">Edit > Preferences > Signal Flow
+ > Track and Bus Connections</kbd> is set 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.
+ and there will be as many outputs as there are inputs. It is up to the user to connect
+ them as desired. This is not a particularly useful way to work unless something
+ fairly unusual is done with signal routing and processing. It is almost always
+ preferable to leave Ardour make connections automatically, even if some changes
+ are manually done later.
</p>
projects / ardour-manual / blobdiff