ardour-tutorial/content/editing-sessions/creating-looped-sections/index.en.md

+++
title = "Creating looped sections"
chapter = false
weight = 7
#pre = "<b>1. </b>"
+++

You can easily repeat sections of audio in your Ardour session.

Here, we take the short rhythmic passage we created in **Working with Regions**
and duplicate it to make a loop.

Before duplicating the passage, it is a good idea to combine individual
regions in the same track into a single one: it is easier to move them
around this way, and it prevents you from accidentally moving a single
hihat out of place, for example. There are two ways of doing this:
**Combine Regions** (allows you to "uncombine" later on), and
**Consolidate Range** ("writes it in stone", does not allow you to
separate them later).

If you are still planning on making alterations to the rhythm (adding,
removing, or moving individual regions), it may be better to use the
**Combine** regions option. If you like the sequence the way it is and
don't want or don't care to have the ability to separate them later, use
**Consolidate Range** option.

## Combine Regions

Simply select all the regions you want to combine:

![combine](en/Ardour4_Combine_Regions_1.png)

Then go to menu *Region > Edit > Combine* (or right-click on the
selected regions and find the same option through the context menu, as
shown below):

![combine2](en/Ardour4_Combine_Regions_2.png) 

The combined regions will look like this (note the word "compound"
appended to the name):

![combine4](en/Ardour4_Combine_Regions_3.png) 

Should you need to separate them again in the future, simply select the
compound region and go to the same menu and choose the option
"*Uncombine*". 

## Consolidating the Range

A more permanent alternative to **Combine** is to use **Consolidate**.
When you've arranged your Regions into a single "loop cycle" and you're
satisfied with the sound, create a **Range** with all the regions that
will make up the loop. First, make sure every Track used in the loop is
selected. Unselected Tracks are gray, and selected ones are blue. If any
of the Tracks you used are not selected, hold down the *Shift* key while
clicking on them to add them to the selected group. Finally, use the
Range tool to select the entire loop. 

Once again, the **Grid** setting will help you to set the range
precisely to the start and end points of your metric bar. Once you have
the entire loop selected, Right-Click on the range and select
"*Consolidate range*". If you would like any Automation or Plugin
effects you have added to the loop to be included, select "*Consolidate
range with processing*".

![consolidate](en/Ardour4_Consolidate_Range_1.png) 

When the range is **Consolidated**, new Regions will appear in each
Track, each containing all the repetitions of the samples which you set
up in the previous steps. Remember, once the range is consolidated,
there is no way to undo this operation. In any case, if you find that
you need to alter the rhythm in any way, you can always retrieve the
original individual samples from the Region List and rebuild the pattern
with them.

![consolidate2](en/Ardour4_Consolidate_Range_2.png)

## Duplicating the Range

After you have merged individual regions that form your pattern (using
either **Combine** or **Consolidate**), it's time to duplicate the
pattern to make it loop for several bars.

The **Multi-Duplicate** feature (seen in the
[Working with regions](../working-with-regions/) chapter) is a good way
to accomplish this. Go back to Grab mode (shortcut **G**), select all regions, 
and hit **Shift + D**. Choose how many times you want to duplicate the pattern
(for example, 16). After duplication our session looks something like this:

![multi-dup](en/Ardour4_Multi-Duplicate.png) 

Just for review, other options you could have used for duplication are:

-   The **Fill Track** command from menu *Region > Duplicate > Fill
    Track*. This would fill the entire track with copies of the selected
    regions, all the way up to the **End Marker**. 

-   The single **Duplicate** command from the same menu (shortcut
    "*Alt*" + "*D*"). This lets you make a single copy at a time. 

-   The single duplicate action with "*Control*" + *Click on the region* + *Drag a copy*.

## Continuing

In the next tutorial we will learn about **Stretching/Shrinking
Regions** that are longer or shorter than one bar in order to fit the
rhythm of our passage.

Next: [STRETCHING/SHRINKING REGIONS](../stretching-shrinking-regions)