<p>
- Ardour offers three <dfn>track types</dfn> depending on the type of
+ 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
+ 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
+ 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:
+ 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
- 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>
-
-
+<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="@@channel-configuration">Channel Configuration</a>).
+ This is the type of track to use when planning to work with
+ 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 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 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 of this.</td></tr>
+ <tr><th>Audio or MIDI Bus</th>
+ <td>A bus is a pseudo-track where multiple audio tracks can be mixed together
+ for some common processing before being routed to the Master Bus (which itself
+ is a bus). A bus doesn't contain any regions or audio/MIDI data, it is fed a
+ signal by <a href="@@aux-sends">sends</a> from one or multiple other tracks, or
+ by <a href="@@audiomidi-busses-mixer-strips">connecting tracks outputs</a> to
+ the bus' input. Busses are often used to apply one effect on multiple tracks,
+ with the benefits of having the same parameters and less computer processing
+ required as only one instance of the plugin is used.<br>
+ Ardour can differentiate Audio busses from MIDI busses, allowing e.g. one
+ instrument plugin to be used for several MIDI tracks.<br>
+ A bus output can also be routed to another bus.
+ </td></tr>
+ <tr><th>VCA</th>
+ <td>A <abbr title="Voltage-Controlled Amplifier">VCA</abbr> is a way to group
+ together tracks or busses to enable grouped-control over gain, solo and mute.
+ Like the Bus, it does not contain regions, but unlike it, it does not contain
+ effects either. VCAs are commonly used to group together related tracks (e.g. "drums"
+ or "vocals") to allow controlling the gain of all those tracks at once in the
+ mix while retaining their relative gain.<br>
+ VCAs are fed audio by <a href="@@control-masters-mixer-strips">assigning them</a>
+ to one or more tracks or busses.
+ </td></tr>
+</table>
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