- This section will help you get acquainted with the basic terminology and - concepts associated with Ardour. More detailed information on each aspect - of the program is provided in later chapters. + In order to fully grasp the terms used in Ardour (and this manual), it is + necessary to understand what things like sessions, tracks, busses, regions + and so on—as used in Ardour—are.
- An Ardour session is a container for an entire project. A - session may contain an arbitrary number of tracks and - busses consisting of audio and MIDI data, along with - information on processing those tracks, a mix of levels, and everything - else related to the project. A session might typically contain a song, or - perhaps an entire album or a complete live recording. + An Ardour session is a container for an entire project. A session + may contain an arbitrary number of tracks and busses + consisting of audio and MIDI data, along with information on processing those + tracks, a mix of levels, and everything else related to the project. A + session might typically contain a song, an entire album, or a complete live + recording.
+- Ardour sessions are held in directories; these directories contain one or - more session files, some or all of the audio and MIDI data and - a number of other state files that Ardour requires. The session file - describes the structure of the session, and holds automation data and - other details. + Ardour sessions are kept in directories; these directories contain one or + more session files, some or all of the audio and MIDI data, and a + number of other state files that Ardour requires. The session file describes + the structure of the session, and holds automation data and other details.
+- Ardour's session file is kept in - XML format, which is - advantageous as it is somewhat human-readable, and human-editable in a - crisis. Sound files are stored in one of a number of optional formats, and - MIDI files as SMF. + Ardour's session file is written in XML format, which is advantageous as it is somewhat + human-readable and human-editable in a crisis. Sound files are stored in one + of a number of optional formats, and MIDI files as SMF.
+It is also possible for Ardour sessions to reference sound and MIDI files - outside the session directory, to conserve disk space and avoid - unnecessary copying if the data is available elsewhere on the disk. + outside the session directory, to conserve disk space and avoid unnecessary + copying if the data is available elsewhere on the disk.
+Ardour has a single current session at all times; if Ardour is started without specifying one, it will offer to load or create one.
-- More details can be found at - Working With Sessions. + +
+ More details can be found in the Sessions chapter.
- A track is a concept common to most - DAWs, and also used in - Ardour. Tracks can record audio or MIDI data to disk, and then replay - it with processing. They also allow the audio or MIDI data to be edited - in a variety of different ways. -
+- In a typical pop production, one might use a track each for the kick - drum, another for the snare, more perhaps for the drum overheads and - others for bass, guitars and vocals. + A track is a concept common to most DAWs, and also used in Ardour. Tracks can record audio or + MIDI data to disk, and then replay it with processing. They also allow the + audio or MIDI data to be edited in a variety of different ways.
+- Ardour can record to any number of tracks at one time, and then play - those tracks back. On playback, a track's recordings may be processed by - any number of plugins, panned, and its level altered to achieve a - suitable mix. + In a typical pop production, one track might be used for the kick drum, another for the snare, more perhaps for the drum overheads and others for bass, guitars and vocals.
+- A track's type is really only related to the type of data that it stores - on disk. It is possible, for example, to have a MIDI track with a - synthesizer plugin which converts MIDI to audio. Even though the track - remains MIDI (in the sense that its on-disk recordings are MIDI), its - output may be audio-only. + Ardour can record to any number of tracks at one time, and then play those + tracks back. On playback, a track's recordings may be processed by any number + of plugins, panned, and/or its level altered to achieve a suitable mix.
+- More details can be found at - Working With Tracks. + A track's type is really only related to the type of data that it stores on + disk. It is possible, for example, to have a MIDI track with a synthesizer + plugin which converts MIDI to audio. Even though the track remains MIDI (in + the sense that its on-disk recordings are MIDI), its output may be + audio-only. +
+ ++ More details can be found in the Tracks chapter.
Busses are another common concept in both DAWs and hardware - mixers. They are similar in many ways to tracks; they process audio or - MIDI, and can run processing plugins. The only difference is that their - input is obtained from other tracks or busses, rather than from disk. + mixers. They are similar in many ways to tracks; they process audio or MIDI, + and can run processing plugins. The only difference is that their input is + obtained from other tracks or busses, rather than from disk.
+- One might typically use a bus to collect together the outputs of related - tracks. Consider, for example, a 3-track recording of a drum-kit; given - kick, snare and overhead tracks, it may be helpful to connect the output - of each to a bus called "drums", so that the drum-kit's level can be set - as a unit, and processing (such as equalisation or compression) can be - applied to the mix of all tracks. Such buses are also called - groups. + A bus might typically be used to collect together the outputs of related + tracks. Consider, for example, a three track recording of a drum kit; given + kick, snare and overhead tracks, it may be helpful to connect the output of + each to a bus called "drums", so that the drum kit's level can be set as a + unit, and processing (such as equalization or compression) can be applied to + the mix of all the tracks. Such busses are also called groups.
- A track may contain many segments of audio or MIDI. Ardour contains - these segments in things called regions, which are - self-contained snippets of audio or MIDI data. Any recording pass, for - example, generates a region on each track that is enabled for recording. - Regions can be subjected to many editing operations; they may be moved - around, split, trimmed, copied, and so on. + A track may contain many segments of audio or MIDI. Ardour contains these + segments in things called regions, which are self-contained + snippets of audio or MIDI data. Any recording pass, for example, generates a + region on each track that is enabled for recording. Regions can be subjected + to many editing operations; they may be moved around, split, trimmed, copied, + and so on.
-- More details can be found at - Working With Regions. + +
+ More details can be found at Working With + Regions.
The details of what exactly each track should play back is described by a playlist. A playlist is simply a list of regions; each track always has an active playlist, and can have other playlists which can be switched in and out as required.
-- More details can be found at - Working With Playlists. + +
+ More details can be found in the Playlists chapter.
- Ardour allows you to process audio and MIDI using any number of - plugins. These are external pieces of code, commonly seen as - VST plugins on Windows or AU plugins on Mac OS X. Ardour supports - the following plugin standards: -
-
- Ardour has some support for running Windows VST plugins on Linux, but
- this is rather complicated, extremely difficult for the Ardour
- developers to debug, and generally unreliable, as it requires to run a
- large amount of Windows code in an emulated environment.
- If it is at all possible, you are strongly advised to use native
- LADSPA, LV2 or Linux VST plugins on Linux, or AU on Mac OS X.
-
- More details can be found at - Working With Plugins. + Ardour allows processing audio and MIDI using any number of + plugins. These are external pieces of code, commonly seen as VST + plugins on Windows or AU plugins on Mac OS X. Ardour supports the following + plugin standards: +
+ +| LADSPA | +the first major plugin standard for Linux. Many LADSPA plugins are + available, mostly free and open-source. |
|---|---|
| LV2 | +the successor to LADSPA. Lots of plugins have been ported from LADSPA to + LV2, and also many new plugins written. |
| VST | +Ardour supports VST plugins that have been compiled for Linux. |
| AU | +Mac OS X versions of Ardour support AudioUnit plugins. |
+ Ardour has some support for running Windows VST plugins on Linux, but this is + rather complicated, extremely difficult for the Ardour developers to debug, + and generally unreliable, as it requires running a large amount of Windows + code in an emulated environment. If it is at all possible, it is strongly + advisable to use native LADSPA, LV2 or Linux VST plugins on Linux, or AU on + Mac OS X. +
+ ++ More details can be found at Working With + Plugins.