- A playlist is a list of regions ordered in time. It defines - which parts of which source files should be played and when. Playlists - are a fairly advanced topic, and can be safely ignored for many types - of audio production. However, the use of playlists allows the audio - engineer more flexibility for tasks like multiple takes of a single - instrument, alternate edits of a given recording, parallel effects such + A playlist is a list of regions ordered in time. It defines + which parts of which source files should be played and when. Playlists + are a fairly advanced topic, and can be safely ignored for many types + of audio production. However, the use of playlists allows the audio + engineer more flexibility for tasks like multiple takes of a single + instrument, alternate edits of a given recording, parallel effects such as reverb or compression, and other tasks.
Each audio track in Ardour is really just a mechanism for
- taking a playlist and generating the audio stream that it represents.
- As a result, editing a track really means modifying its playlist in
- some way. Since a playlist is a list of regions, most of the
- modifications involve manipulating regions: their position, length
+ taking a playlist and generating the audio stream that it represents.
+ As a result, editing a track really means modifying its playlist in
+ some way. Since a playlist is a list of regions, most of the
+ modifications involve manipulating regions: their position, length
and so forth. This is covered in the chapter
- Working With Regions.
- Here, we cover some of the things you can do with playlists as objects
+ Working With Regions.
+
+ This page covers some of the things that can be done with playlists as objects in their own right.
- It is important to understand that a track is not a playlist. - A track has a playlist. A track is a mechanism for generating - the audio stream represented by the playlist and passing it through a - signal processing pathway. At any point in time, a track has a single - playlist associated with it. When the track is used to record, that - playlist will have one or more new regions added to it. When the track - is used for playback, the contents of the playlist will be heard. - You can change the playlist associated with a track at (almost) any - time, and even share playlists between tracks. + It is important to understand that a track is not a playlist. + A track has a playlist. A track is a mechanism for generating + the audio stream represented by the playlist and passing it through a + signal processing pathway. At any point in time, a track has a single + playlist associated with it. When the track is used to record, that + playlist will have one or more new regions added to it. When the track + is used for playback, the contents of the playlist will be heard. + The playlist associated with a track can be changed at (almost) any + time, and tracks can even share playlists.
- If you have some experience of other - DAWs, then you might - have come across the term "virtual track", normally defined as a track - that isn't actually playing or doing anything, but can be - mapped/assigned to a real track. This concept is functionally - identical to Ardour's playlists. We just like to be little more - clear about what is actually happening rather than mixing old and - new terminology ("virtual" and "track"), which might be confusing.
+ Some other DAWs use the term + "virtual track" to define a track that isn't actually playing or + doing anything, but can be mapped/assigned to a real track. This concept is + functionally identical to Ardour's playlists. We just like to be little more + clear about what is actually happening rather than mixing old and + new terminology ("virtual" and "track"), which might be confusing. +- One thing you should be clear about is that playlists are cheap. They - don't cost anything in terms of CPU consumption, and they have very - minimal efforts on memory use. Don't be afraid of generating new - playlists whenever you want to. They are not equivalent to tracks, - which require extra CPU time and significant memory space, or audio - files, which use disk space, or plugins that require extra CPU time. - If a playlist is not in use, it occupies a small amount of memory, and + One thing to bear in mind is that playlists are cheap. They + do not cost anything in terms of CPU consumption, and they have very + minimal efforts on memory use. So generating new playlists whenever needed + is recommended. They are not equivalent to tracks, + which require extra CPU time and significant memory space, or audio + files, which use disk space, or plugins that require extra CPU time. + If a playlist is not in use, it occupies a small amount of memory, and nothing more.
- -