-<p>Plugins are bits of software that get loaded by Ardour in order to:</p>
+<p><dfn>Plugins</dfn> are bits of software that get loaded by Ardour in order to:</p>
<ul>
<li>Create various audio or MIDI effects
</li>
</p>
<dl class="narrower-table">
- <dt>LADSPA</dt>
- <dd>An early, simple, lightweight plugin API, audio effects only,
+ <dt><abbr title="Linux Audio Developers' Simple Plugin API">LADSPA</abbr></dt>
+ <dd>An early, simple, lightweight plugin <abbr title="Application
+ Programming Interface">API</abbr>, audio effects only,
plugins have no editors/GUI of their own (Ardour provides one, however).</dd>
-
- <dt>LV2</dt>
- <dd>An extensible, full-featured plugin API, audio and MIDI, plugins can provide their own editors/GUIs</dd>
-
- <dt>AudioUnit</dt>
+ <dt><abbr title="LADSPA Version 2">LV2</abbr></dt>
+ <dd>An extensible, full-featured plugin API, audio and <abbr
+ title="Musical Instrument Digital Interface">MIDI</abbr>, plugins can provide their
+ own <abbr title="Graphical User Interface">GUI</abbr>s</dd>
+ <dt><abbr title="Audio Unit">AU</abbr></dt>
<dd>OS X only, full featured, audio and MIDI, plugins can provide their own GUI</dd>
- <dt>Linux VST</dt>
+ <dt>Linux <abbr title="Virtual Studio Technology">VST</abbr></dt>
<dd>Plugins using Steinberg's VST plugin standard but compiled specifically for Linux</dd>
<dt>Windows VST</dt>
<h2>Adding/Removing/Copying Plugins</h2>
<p>Within Ardour, plugins are just another type
-of <code>Processor</code> and so the techniques for
+of <dfn>Processor</dfn> and so the techniques for
adding/removing/copying/moving processors apply to plugins as
well. These techniques are covered on
the <a href="/working-with-plugins/the-processor-box">Processor
layout: default
title: Managing Plugin Presets
---
-
-
- <p>All plugin editors, whether they are created by Ardour or by the plugin, have a common set of controls at the top of their window. These include 4 controls for managing plugin presets.</p>
+<p>
+ All plugin control widgets, whether they are created by Ardour or
+ by the plugin, have a common set of controls at the top of the window.
+ These include 4 controls for managing <dfn>plugin presets</dfn>.
+</p>
<h2>What Is a Plugin Preset?</h2>
-<p>A preset for a plugin is simply a saved set of values for all of a plugin's parameters. If you load a preset, you are restoring all the parameters within that plugin to the values stored in the preset. This is an easy, fast way to manage your preferred settings for particular plugins.</p>
+<p>
+ A <dfn>preset</dfn> for a plugin is simply a saved set of values for
+ all of a plugin's parameters. If you load a preset, you are restoring
+ all the parameters of that plugin to the values stored in the preset.
+ This is an easy, fast way to manage your preferred settings for
+ particular plugins.
+</p>
<h2>The Preset Selector</h2>
-<p>The preset selector is a regular selector that can be clicked to display a list of all known presets for this plugin. This will include presets that you have created yourself, and for some plugin formats, presets that come with the plugin itself. </p>
+<p>
+ The <dfn>preset selector</dfn> is a regular selector that can be
+ clicked to display a list of all known presets for this plugin. This
+ will include presets that you have created yourself, and for some
+ plugin formats, presets that come with the plugin itself.
+</p>
<h2>Load a New Preset</h2>
-<p>Click on the preset selector to popup a menu showing the names of all available presets. Click on the name of the preset you wish to load. The preset will be loaded - you may see various controls in the plugin editor change to reflect the new value of some or all parameters.</p>
+<p>
+ Click on the preset selector to pop up a menu showing the names of
+ all available presets. Click on the name of the preset you wish to load.
+ The preset will be loaded — you may see various controls in the
+ plugin editor change to reflect the new value of some or all parameters.
+</p>
<h2>Create a Preset</h2>
-<p>To save the current plugin settings as a new preset, click on the "Add" button at the top of the window. A dialog will appear to ask for the name of the preset. Enter the desired name, and then click the "OK" button in the dialog. The preset selector will now show the name you have just entered.</p>
+<p>
+ To save the current plugin settings as a new preset, click on the
+ <kbd class="menu">Add</kbd> button at the top of the window. A dialog
+ will appear to ask for the name of the preset.
+</p>
<h2>Save a Preset</h2>
-<p>If you wish to modify the settings in an existing preset, use the preset selector to load the preset. Then adjust the settings as you wish. When done, click the "Save" button and the new values will be stored, overwriting the previous version of this preset.</p>
+<p>
+ If you wish to modify the settings in an existing preset, first use
+ the preset selector to load the preset, then adjust the settings as
+ you wish. When done, click the <kbd class="menu">Save</kbd> button
+ and the new values will be stored, overwriting the previous version
+ of this preset.
+</p>
<h2>Delete a preset</h2>
-<p>To delete an existing preset, use the preset selector to load the preset. Click the "Delete" button, and the preset will be removed. The preset selector will be blank, showing that no preset is currently loaded (although the settings will stay as they were). </p>
+<p>
+ To delete an existing preset, use the preset selector to load the preset.
+ Click the <kbd class="menu">Delete</kbd> button, and the preset will be
+ removed. The preset selector turn blank, showing that no preset is
+ currently loaded (although the settings will stay as they were).
+</p>
title: Processor Box
---
-
-
- <p>A ‘processor’ is a thing which treats the signal in some way. Ardour provides several builtin processors, such as the "fader" processor which controls the gain (volume) of a track or bus. Processors can also be plugins used for effects or as instruments, as well as sends/inserts which are used to change <a href="/signal-routing">signal routing</a>. The arrangement of processors is arbitrary, and there is no limit to how many there can be.</p>
-<p>The main box in the top half of a mixer strip shows the processor list. Processors are shown as coloured rectangles, with a small ‘LED’ beside them; this indicates whether or not the plugin is enabled, and can be clicked to enable or disable a processor. The colour of the processor depends on its location in the sequence; processors that occur before the fader are coloured in red, and those after are coloured green (in the default theme).</p>
-<p>The processor box will always contain a blue processor called ‘Fader’. This indicates where in the processor chain the main volume fader is located — this is the fader shown in the lower half of the strip.</p>
-<h2>To Reorder (Move) Processors</h2>
-<p>Processors can be re-ordered using drag-and-drop. Dragging a processor allows it to be moved around within the chain, or copied to another processor list on another track or bus.</p>
-<h2>To Enable/Disable a Processor</h2>
-<p>To the left of the name of each processor is a small LED symbol; if this is lit-up, the processor is active. Clicking on it will deactivate the processor. It will still pass audio or MIDI signals, but they will not be affected.</p>
+<p>
+ In Ardour terminology, a <dfn>processor</dfn> is anything which treats the
+ signal in some way and gets plugged into a mixer strip.
+ Ardour provides several builtin processors such as the fader or panners.
+ Processors can also be <dfn>plugins</dfn> used for effects or as instruments, as well
+ as sends or inserts which are affect <a href="/signal-routing">signal
+ routing</a>.<br />
+ The arrangement of processors is arbitrary, and there is no limit to how
+ many there can be.
+</p>
+<p>
+ The main box in the top half of a mixer strip shows the <dfn>processor
+ box</dfn>.
+ Processors are shown as coloured rectangles, with a small "LED" beside
+ them that lights up when the processor is enabled. The colour of the
+ processor depends on its location in the sequence; processors that are <dfn>pre-fader</dfn> are
+ coloured in red, and <dfn>post-fader</dfn> processors are coloured green
+ (in the default theme).</p>
+<p>
+ The processor box will always contain a blue <dfn>Fader</dfn> processor.
+ This indicates where in the processor chain the main channel fader is
+ located — this is the fader shown in the lower half of the strip.
+</p>
<h2>Adding Processors</h2>
-<p>Finally, processors can be added to or removed from the chain. Right-clicking the processor list does three things:</p>
+<p>
+ Processors can be added to the chain by
+ <kbd class="mouse">Right</kbd>-clicking in the processor list, This does three things:
+</p>
<ul>
-<li> A gap is opened up to indicate the location of the click. The gap shows where any new processors will be inserted.
-</li>
-<li> The processor under the click is selected.
-</li>
-<li> A menu is presented giving options of what to do.
-</li>
+ <li>A gap is opened up to indicate the location of the click. The gap
+ shows where any new processors will be inserted.</li>
+ <li>The processor under the click is selected.</li>
+ <li>An options menu is presented.</li>
</ul>
-<p>From the menu, some new processors can be inserted.</p>
+<p>
+ From the menu, new processors can be inserted.
+</p>
+
+<h2>To Reorder (Move) Processors</h2>
+<p>
+ Processors can be re-ordered using drag-and-drop. Dragging a processor
+ allows it to be moved around within the chain, or copied to another
+ processor list on another track or bus.
+</p>
+
+<h2>To Enable/Disable a Processor</h2>
+<p>
+ To the left of the name of each processor is a small LED symbol; if this
+ is lit-up, the processor is active. Clicking on it will deactivate the
+ processor and effectively bypass it.</p>
+
<h2>Removing Processors</h2>
-<p>Context-click on the processor you want to remove. </p>
+<p>
+ Context-click on the processor you want to remove, and select <kbd
+ class="menu">Delete</kbd>, or <kbd class="mod3 mouse">Right</kbd>-click on it.
+</p>
title: Windows VST Support
---
-
-
-
-<p>Thanks to the combined work of Torben Hohn, Kjetil Mattheusen, Paul
-Davis and a few other developers, it is possible to use Windows VST
-plugins (that is, plugins in VST format built and distributed for the
-Windows platforms) on Ardour running on Linux. (Note: there is no VST
-support of any kind on OS X).</p>
+<p>
+ Thanks to the combined work of Torben Hohn, Kjetil Mattheusen, Paul
+ Davis and a few other developers, it is possible to use Windows
+ <dfn><abbr title="Virtual Studio Technology">VST</abbr>
+ plugins</dfn> (that is, plugins in VST format built and distributed
+ for the Windows platforms) on Ardour running on Linux. (Note: there
+ is no VST support of any kind on OS X).
+</p>
<p>However, doing so has three substantial downsides:</p>
<ul>
-<li>It requires a special build of Ardour that is fundamentally very different from normal builds.
-</li>
-<li>Support is reliant on <a href="http://winehq.org/">Wine</a>, a Windows "emulator".
-</li>
-<li>As usual with plugins, crashes in the plugin will crash Ardour. And crashes in Windows VST plugins are more likely when used in this way.
-</li>
+ <li>It requires a special build of Ardour that is fundamentally
+ very different from normal builds.</li>
+ <li>Support depends on <a href="http://winehq.org/">Wine</a>,
+ a Windows "emulator".</li>
+ <li>As usual with plugins, a crashing plugin will take Ardour down
+ with it. And crashes in Windows VST plugins are more likely when
+ used in this way.</li>
</ul>
<p>The dependence on Wine makes it almost impossible for the Ardour
and <a href="http://www.loomer.co.uk/">Loomer</a>.
</p>
-<h3>A Plea To Plugin Manufacturers</h3>
+<h2>A Plea To Plugin Manufacturers</h2>
<p>
Please consider porting your plugins so that users can enjoy them on
Linux too. Several other commercial plugin developers have already
title: Working with Ardour-built Plugin Editors
---
+<p>
+ To view a plugin editor, double-click on the plugin within the
+ <a href="/working-with-plugins/the-processor-box">processor box</a>.
+ A new window will appear showing the editor/GUI for the plugin.
+</p>
+<p>
+ If a plugin does not have its own GUI, Ardour will construct a
+ <dfn>generic plugin editor</dfn> from a small set of common control
+ elements. Ardour will do this even for plugins that have their
+ own, if you disable <kbd class="menu">Edit > Preferences >
+ GUI > Use Plugins' own interface instead of Ardour's</kbd>
+</p>
+<p>
+ You can temporarily switch to the generic UI by context-clicking on
+ a processor and selecting <kbd
+ class="menu">Edit with generic controls</kbd>. This will be necessary to
+ access the <a href="/automation">plugin automation controls</a>.
+</p>
+<p>
+ In the generic UI, you can re-set any controller to its default by
+ <kbd class="mod3 mouse">Left</kbd>-clicking on it.
+</p>
- <p>If a plugins does not have its own editor/GUI, Ardour will construct one from a small set of common control elements. Ardour will do this even for plugins that have their own, if you disable <code>Edit > Preferences > GUI > Use Plugins' own interface instead of Ardour's</code> </p>
-<p>To view a plugin editor, double-click on the plugin within the <a href="/working-with-plugins/the-processor-box">processor box</a>. A new window will appear showing the editor/GUI for the plugin.</p>
-<h2>Adjusting parameter sliders</h2>
-<h2>Resetting a value to its default</h2>
-<p>Shift-click on the controller.</p>
-<h2>Automation Controls</h2>
-
title: Getting Plugins
---
-<h2>Where do I get plugins from?</h2>
-
<p>
-The following list shows plugin <em>packages</em>. In some cases, a package contains just 1 or 2 plugins; in other cases, dozens.
+ The following list shows <dfn>plugin packages</dfn>. In some cases,
+ a package contains just 1 or 2 plugins; in other cases, dozens.
</p>
+<h2>Plugins by Standard</h2>
+
<h3 id="LADSPA">LADSPA</h3>
<ul>
VST) <a href="http://www.linux-vst.com/download/mda_linux.tar.gz">http://www.linux-vst.com/download/mda_linux.tar.gz</a></li>
</ul>
-<h3>How do I install plugins?</h3>
+<h2>How do I install plugins?</h2>
-<h4>Linux</h4>
+<h3>Linux</h3>
<p>
- Installation will vary a little depending on how you get plugins. If
+ <dfn>Installation</dfn> will vary a little depending on how you get plugins. If
your repository has a particular plugin package, just install it using
the normal software package management tool for your system. Most
Linux distributions that are good for audio work will have most of
environment variable.
</p>
-<h4>OS X</h4>
+<h3>OS X</h3>
<p>
Unless you're a particularly technical computer user, building and
installing plugins in the LV2 (or LADSPA) format is probably not
projects / ardour-manual-diverged / commitdiff