[ardour-manual] / include / recorder.html

<figure class="center">
  <img style="width:50%;" src="/images/record_window.png" alt="The Recorder window">
  <figcaption>
                The Recorder window. <i>(<a href="/images/record_window.png">full-size image</a>)</i>
        </figcaption>
</figure>

<p>
  Although all the process of recording an audio or MIDI performance can
  be done in any mode, the <dfn>Recorder</dfn> provides a synoptic view of
  most parameters and actions related to capturing this performance, hence
  giving more confidence in the final result.
</p>
<p class="note">
  The Recorder is another view on settings, parameters, and actions
  that can be set or called in other modes. Any change done in the Recorder
  is instantly reflected in e.g. the Editor, and vice versa.
</p>
<p>
  The Recorder, being a mode, sports the same <a href="@@main-menu">main
  menu</a>, <a href="@@status-bar">status bar</a>, and <a href="@@transport-bar">
  toolbar</a> as the Editor and Mixer. It adds a secondary toolbar, a
  simplified session view, reminiscent of the Editor, and a global input
  panel.
</p>

<h2>The Secondary Toolbar</h2>

<p>
  The subsections below describe the secondary toolbar from left to right.
</p>

<h3>Last Take Manager</h3>

<figure class="left">
        <img alt="The Last Take Manager" src="/images/recorder_last-take.png">
        <figcaption>
                The Last Take Manager
        </figcaption>
</figure>

<p>
  This manager displays information about the last (or current) take :
</p>
<ul>
  <li>
        A <em>duration display</em>, that shows the duration of the last (or
        current) recording. It is always displayed as <samp>hours:minutes:seconds:tenths</samp>,
        regardless of the <a href="@@transport-clocks">Transport clocks</a>
        display settings.
  </li>
  <li>
                An x-run counter, an x-run being a buffer under(or over)flow. Each
                time such an x-run occurs, an artifact is recording, that can be
                audible or not, but is a red flag for the recording quality.
  </li>
  <li>
                A <kbd>Discard Last Take</kbd> button, that deletes the last
                finished recording(s), effectively removing the audio file(s) from
                the hard drive, hence destructive.
  </li>
</ul>
<p>
  This last button cannot be used while recording, the transport must be
  stopped. It also has no concept of history, and repeatedly
  clicking it wont discard previous takes from last to first, in order to
  prevent destroying good takes. Lastly, it does not reset the playhead
  position, as the <kbd class="menu">Transport &gt; Stop and Forget
  Capture</kbd> menu would.
</p>

<h3>Global Arm</h3>

<figure class="left">
        <img alt="The Global Arm options" src="/images/recorder_global-arm.png">
        <figcaption>
                The Global Arm options
        </figcaption>
</figure>

<p>
  Like the <em>Monitor Options</em> below, these buttons apply to all
  the tracks at once.
</p>
<p>
  It is a convenient shortcut to arm (<kbd>All</kbd>)/disarm (<kbd>None</kbd>)
  all the tracks for recording.
</p>

<h3 class="clear">Monitoring Options</h3>

<figure class="left">
        <img alt="The Monitoring options" src="/images/input-mode-buttons.png">
        <figcaption>
                The Monitoring options
        </figcaption>
</figure>

<p>
  These buttons allow switching the monitoring mode globally, for all the
  tracks at once. The monitoring mode allows to decide what the user wants
  to be listening to, between:
</p>
<ul>
        <li>
                <dfn>All In</dfn>: all the tracks play what is on their <em>In</em>puts,
        </li>
        <li>
                <dfn>All Disk</dfn>: all the tracks play the actual content of the
                playlist on <em>Disk</em>,
        </li>
        <li>
                or <dfn>both</dfn>: also called "cue monitoring" if both buttons are
                engaged, a combination of the two modes above, where all the tracks
                play existing data from disk while also listening to the input
                signal. This is particularly useful for MIDI tracks, where one can
                hear a performance/new material while listening to the playback of
                existing material in the track.
        </li>
</ul>
<p>
  The <kbd class="menu">Auto Input</kbd> switch allows Ardour to auto-select
  what is played, which is:
</p>
<ul>
  <li>When not playing: all tracks are on <em>In</em> (to listen to any connected source)</li>
  <li>When playing, all tracks are on <em>Disk</em> (to play whatever was recorded on those tracks)</li>
  <li>When recording, on rec-enabled tracks: <em>In</em> and on non rec-enabled ones: <em>Disk</em></li>
</ul>

         If Auto Input is disabled, then you will hear the Input being
         monitored whenever a track is armed, even if you aren't actually
         recording.  If Auto Input is _enabled_, then you will hear playback
         when the transport is rolling, and the tracks will only switch to
         Input when the master-record arm is engaged (so you are actually
         recording).

<h3>'New Playlist' buttons</h3>

<figure class="left">
        <img alt="The 'New Playlist' buttons" src="/images/recorder_new-playlist.png">
        <figcaption>
                The 'New Playlist' buttons
        </figcaption>
</figure>

<p>
  Recording multiple takes can easily be done in Ardour by using
  <a href="@@understanding-playlists">playlists</a>, as a track can have
  multiple playlists and it is easy to <a href="@@playlist-operations">switch</a>
  from one to another. 
</p>
<p>
  The two buttons create new, "blank", playlists to record on:
</p>
<ul>
        <li><kbd class="menu">New Playlist for All Tracks</kbd> creates a
        new playlist for each visible track, while</li>
        <li><kbd class="menu">New Playlist for Rec-Armed</kbd> uses the
        <kbd style="color:red;">&#9679;</kbd> recording
        status of each track to generate new playlists.</kbd></li>
</ul>
<p>
  Creating new playlists is both cheap in terms of CPU and memory, and easy
  to revert by changing the track's playlist back to its previous one. Playlists
  on different tracks can also share the same name, allowing for a better
  workflow when recording: Ardour suggests <em>Take.<i>#n</i></em> as the
  name for each playlist, so that they stay somewhat correlated.
</p>

<h3>Disk space and Reset Peaks</h3>

<figure class="left">
        <img alt="Disk space & Reset Peaks" src="/images/recorder_disk-and-reset.png">
        <figcaption>
                Disk space & Reset Peaks
        </figcaption>
</figure>

<ul>
  <li>
                <em>Disk space</em> shows how many time or recoding is available on
                the current hard drive (i.e. the hard drive where the session is
                located), by accounting the bit depth, sampling rate, and number of
                armed tracks. The result is either an duration, or
                <samp>&gt;24h</samp> if it exceeds 24 hours.
  </li>
  <li>
        <em>Reset Peak Hold</em> clears the memory of the highest recording level
        in the meters located in the bottom input panel, and displayed with a
        green line.
  </li>
</ul>

<h2>Tracks</h2>

<p>
        The Simplified Session View is a view of the session, specifically
        tailored for the purpose of recording, that is similar to the Editor
        (or the <a href="@@summary">Summary</a>) with notable differences,
        among which:
</p>
<ul>
        <li>
                it always encompasses the whole session in the time axis,
        </li>
        <li>
                the regions are displayed as blocks, not waveforms,
        </li>
        <li>
                no editing, like moving or resizing regions, is possible 
        </li>
        <li>
                each track (or lane) has a fixed and narrow height
        </li>
</ul>
<p>
        All those differences are consequences of the aim of this view, which
        is to keep thing not too busy and clear in a recording context. The
        most important settings related to the recording process are easily
        available and to facilitate the work of the operator.
</p>

<h3>Simplified Session View</h3>

<figure>
        <img alt="A track in the Recorder" src="/images/recorder_lane.png">
        <figcaption>
                A track in the Recorder
        </figcaption>
</figure>

<p>
        Each lane is made of (from left to right):
</p>
<ul>
        <li>
                A zone showing <a href="@@track-and-bus-groups">grouping</a>, as in the
                Editor, with the same functions and menus. 
        </li>
        <li>
                A <kbd style="color:red;">&#9679;</kbd> rec-arm button. When armed,
                the entire button will turn pink, and change to bright red as soon
                as the transport is rolling and the track is recording. <kbd
                class="mouse">Right</kbd>-clicking will allow to en/disable
                <em>Rec-safe</em>, protecting the track against accidental
                recording.
        </li>
        <li>
                An <kbd>Input</kbd> button displaying the connected input(s) of the
                track. It is the same button as the <em>Input</em> button shown in
                the <a href="@@audiomidi-mixer-strips">Mixer strip</a>, and behaves
                exactly the same way (<kbd class="mouse">Left</kbd>-clicking to
                show the input menu, <kbd class="mouse">Right</kbd>-clicking shows
                the input connection matrix).
        </li>
        <li>
                A <kbd>P</kbd> playlist button displaying the connected input(s) of
                the track. Again, it is the same button as the one shown in the <a
                href="@@audio-track-controls">Editor's track header</a>, and
                behaves exactly the same way (<kbd
                class="mouse">Left</kbd>-clicking to show the playlist menu).
        </li>
        <li>
                A <kbd>Track Name</kbd> label, displaying the track's name.<kbd
                class="mouse">Double</kbd>-clicking allows to edit (rename) the
                track.
        </li>
        <li>
                Two <kbd>In</kbd> and <kbd>Disk</kbd> buttons allowing to set this
                particular track's monitoring option, as described above.
        </li>
        <li>
                <em>N</em> level meters showing the input level of the track, as in
                the <a href="@@audio-track-controls">Editor's track header</a>,
                <em>N</em> being the number of input channels of the track.
        </li>
        <li>
                A <kbd style="background:yellow;"><em>n</em></kbd> numbered
                button, using the <a href="@@track-color">track's color</a> as
                background color. Numbering can be useful when using OSC, a MIDI
                controller, or when recording multiple performances at once.
        </li>
        <li>
                An overview of the track's content, with solid blocks representing
                regions. The region's color is the track color, except while
                recording where the recorded regions are displayed in red.
        </li>
</ul>
<p>
        Like in the Editor or Mixer, a <a
        href="@@adding-tracks-busses-and-vcas">new track, bus or VCA</a> can
        be created by either <kbd class="mouse">double</kbd> or <kbd
        class="mouse">right</kbd>-clicking on an empty place in the track
        list.
</p>

<h3>The Global Input Panel</h3>

<p>
        This panel lists all the audio and MIDI system inputs.
</p>

<figure>
        <img alt="An audio input" src="/images/recorder_input-panel.png">
        <figcaption>
                An audio input
        </figcaption>
</figure>

<p>
        The inputs are displayed either vertically or horizontally based on the
        <a href="@@preferences#preferences-appearance-recorder">Preferences</a>.
</p>
<p>
        If an input is used by a track that is armed for recording, it sports
        a red frame.
</p>
<p>
        The controls on each input are:
</p>
<ul>
        <li>
                a <kbd>(1)</kbd> button indicating how many tracks are fed by this
                input. Clicking this button will show only those tracks.
        </li>
        <li>
                a <kbd>&plus;</kbd> button, allowing to create a track that will be
                automatically connected to this input. The type of track (MIDI or
                aurio) depends on the input type.
        </li>
        <li>
                a <kbd>PFL</kbd> button, or <em>Pre-Fader Listen</em>, active only
                if <kbd class="option">Use monitor section in this session</kbd> is
                checked in the <a
                href="@@session-properties#properties-monitoring">Session
                Properties</a>. When active, sends the soloed signal to the <a
                href="@@monitor-section">Monitor</a>.
        </li>
        <li>
                a <kbd>Input's Name</kbd> button. Inputs can be named or renamed at
                will, to ease the recognition of e.g. one microphone in a
                multi-track recording, like a multi-instrumentalist performance, by
                clicking the button. Ardour stores this name for the device, so any
                later session using this input will show this label.
        </li>
</ul>

<p>
        The right hand side of the input depends on the kind of input, either
        audio or MIDI. For an audio track:
</p>
<ul>
        <li>
                a live level-meter for this input that shows the current level of
                the audio signal. A green line marks the <em>Peak Hold</em>, i.e.
                the maximum level reached on this input.
        </li>
        <li>
                a continuous waveform, showing the input state during the last 5 seconds.
        </li>
</ul><p>
        For an MIDI track:
</p>
<ul>
        <li>
                a channel indicator, the channel numbers lighting up as events come
                in to show channel activity.
        </li>
        <li>
                a MIDI monitor, showing the last four MIDI events.
        </li>
</ul>