<scripttype=text/javascript>varbaseurl="https://prokoudine.github.io/ardour-tutorial/en"</script><scripttype=text/javascriptsrc=/ardour-tutorial/js/search.js?1649285227></script></div><sectionid=homelinks><ul><li><aclass=paddinghref=/ardour-tutorial/en/><iclass="fas fa-home"></i> Home</a></li></ul></section><divclass=highlightable><ulclass=topics><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/introduction/title=Introductionclass=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/introduction/><b>1. </b>Introduction</a><ul><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/introduction/conventions/title=Conventionsclass=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/introduction/conventions/>Conventions</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/introduction/what-is-digital-audio/title="What is digital audio?"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/introduction/what-is-digital-audio/>What is digital audio?</a></li></ul></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/title="Getting started"class="dd-item
parent"><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/><b>2. </b>Getting started</a><ul><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/starting-ardour-on-ubuntu/title="Starting Ardour"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/starting-ardour-on-ubuntu/>Starting Ardour</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/title="Overview of the Interface"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/>Overview of the Interface</a><ul><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/editor-window/title="Editor window"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/editor-window/>Editor window</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/mixer-window/title="Mixer window"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/mixer-window/>Mixer window</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/recorder-window/title="Recorder window"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/recorder-window/>Recorder window</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/cue-window/title="Cue window"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/cue-window/>Cue window</a></li></ul></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/creating-tracks-and-busses/title="Creating tracks and busses"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/creating-tracks-and-busses/>Creating tracks and busses</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/importing-audio/title="Importing audio"class="dd-item active"><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/importing-audio/>Importing audio</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/setting-up-the-timeline/title="Setting up the timeline"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/setting-up-the-timeline/>Setting up the timeline</a></li></ul></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/recording-audio/title=Recordingclass=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/recording-audio/><b>3. </b>Recording</a><ul><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/recording-audio/recording-audio/title="Recording audio"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/recording-audio/recording-audio/>Recording audio</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/recording-audio/understanding-routing/title="Understanding routing"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/recording-audio/understanding-routing/>Understanding routing</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/recording-audio/routing-between-applications/title="Routing between applications"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/recording-audio/routing-between-applications/>Routing between applications</a></li></ul></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/editing-sessions/title="Editing sessions"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/editing-sessions/><b>4. </b>Editing sessions</a><ul><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/editing-sessions/non-destructive-editing/title="Non-destructive editing"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/editing-sessions/non-destructive-editing/>Non-destructive editing</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/editing-sessions/arranging-tracks/title="Arranging tracks"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/editing-sessions/arranging-tracks/>Arranging tracks</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/editing-sessions/setting-up-the-meter/title="Setting up the meter"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/editing-sessions/setting-up-the-meter/>Setting up the meter</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/editing-sessions/setting-up-time-signature/title="Setting up time signature"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/editing-sessions/setting-up-time-signature/>Setting up time signature</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/editing-sessions/using-ranges/title="Using ranges"
<spanclass=links><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/>Home</a> > <ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/>Getting started</a> > Importing audio</span></div><divclass=progress><divclass=wrapper><navid=TableOfContents><ul><li><ul><li><ahref=#importing-audio-directly-to-a-track>Importing Audio Directly to a Track</a></li><li><ahref=#remove-regions-from-tracks>Remove Regions from Tracks</a></li></ul></li><li><ahref=#continuing>Continuing</a></li></ul></nav></div></div></div></div><divid=head-tags></div><divid=body-inner><h1>Importing audio</h1><p>Sections of audio are known as <em>regions</em> in Ardour. A Region can be an entire
from the hard drive of your computer so they can be used in your Ardour session.</p><p>To import an audio file into your session, you will use the <em>Add Existing Media</em>
with a common file format, such as WAV or AIFF).</p><p><imgsrc=en/ardour7-add-existing-media.pngalt="Add Media"></p><p>At the lower left corner there is a menu which indicates how these files will
be added. <em>Add files… as new tracks</em> will import audio files and place them on
a newly created track. <em>Add files… to source list</em> will simply import audio
files into the Sources list, without creating any new tracks. Choose this
option now, as we don’t want Ardour to create any tracks at this point. Make
sure the <em>Mapping</em> options says <em>one region per file</em>.</p><p><imgsrc=en/ardour7-to-source-list.pngalt="Add to source list"></p><divclass="notices tip"><p>If you do not have any suitable audio files on your hard drive to follow these
allowing you to inspect the properties of the file you selected. Here you will
see the name, number of channels, sample rate, format and length of the sound
file, along with any tags you have chosen to add to the file.</p><p>The <strong>Play</strong> button allows you to preview the file. You can also select
<strong>Auto-play</strong> if you would like to hear a sound file immediately as soon as you
click on it in the file browser (without having to push the Play button).</p><p>You will notice that the option <em>Copy files to session</em> is checked by default.
next time you open this session. <strong>It is highly recommended that you leave this
box checked (<em>Copy files to session</em>)</strong>.</p><p>Click <strong>OK</strong> to proceed.</p><divclass="notices tip"><p>The file(s) you have imported will appear listed in your <em>Sources</em> list. This
list is located at the far right of the editor window. If you don’t see it,
make sure <em>Show Editor List</em> is checked under the <em>View</em> menu.</p></div><p><imgsrc=en/ardour7-audio-imported-to-sources-list.pngalt="Editor List"></p><p>By dragging and dropping an audio file listed on the <em>Sources</em> list onto the
main canvas, you can insert it in an existing or new track. If you drag it into
an existing track, it will be added there. If you drag onto the empty space
beneath existing tracks, a new track will be automatically created to
accommodate it.</p><p>Release the mouse button to complete the drag-and-drop operation. A new region
will be inserted at the exact time point where you dropped it.</p><divclass="notices tip"><p>If a sound file is selected in the Editor List (i.e., if it is highlighted in
blue), the next time you click on that file name, Ardour will think you are
trying to rename the region (the name will become editable). More likely you
click and drag a previously <em>highlighted</em> region from the list, you need to
point and click in the empty space right before or after the name.</p></div><p>Important: always make sure you are placing stereo regions on stereo tracks. If
you drag a stereo file onto a mono audio track, only the left channel will be
used. In the screenshot below, a stereo file with very distinct left and right
channels was dragged onto a stereo track and a nono track. Notice that in the
mono track only the left channel is displayed (and played back).</p><p><imgsrc=en/Ardour4_Stereo_Mono_Comparison.pngalt="Stereo Mono"></p><h3id=importing-audio-directly-to-a-track>Importing Audio Directly to a Track</h3><p>As mentioned earlier, the <em>Add existing media</em> dialog also allows you to import
audio files directly onto tracks.</p><p>Choose <em>Add files… as new tracks</em> to automatically create a new track and add
the selected file to it. The track will be named after the sound file name.</p><p><imgsrc=en/ardour7-import-as-new-tracks.pngalt="Add as New Tracks"></p><p>If you have previously selected one or more tracks, the menu will display the
additional option <em>Add files… to selected tracks</em> to add a sound file into the
already existing selected track.</p><p>When adding files as new tracks, note that the <em>Mapping</em> options lets you choose
between <em>one track per channel</em> and <em>one track per file</em>. For the purpose of
this tutorial, choose <em>one track per file</em>, otherwise the left and right
channels of a stereo file will be split into two separate tracks.</p><h4id=choose-insert-point>Choose Insert Point</h4><p>When using either one of the options above (<em>add as new track</em> or <em>add to
selected tracks</em>), you should also specify where in the track you want the new
region to be placed. In the screenshot below, we are choosing <em>session start</em>.</p><p><imgsrc=en/ardour7-insert-point-list.pngalt="Insert At"></p><p>The region appears in a new track in the session. The new track automatically
receives the name of the imported sound file.</p><p>The sound file will also appear in the <em>Regions</em> list so that it can be inserted
into other tracks as well by dragging and dropping it.</p><h3id=remove-regions-from-tracks>Remove Regions from Tracks</h3><p>To remove a region from a track, you can select it with the mouse and use the
<em>Cut</em> function from the menu, the <strong>Control</strong> (or <strong>Apple</strong>) key and the <strong>X</strong>
key, the <strong>Delete</strong> key or the key combination of <strong>Fn + Backspace</strong> (which is
used, for example, on a laptop keyboard that does not have a proper <strong>Delete</strong>
key).</p><divclass="notices warning"><p><strong>Save your work often!</strong> The shortcut <strong>Control + S</strong> is your friend. Use it
a lot, all the time.</p></div><h2id=continuing>Continuing</h2><p>Now that you have some material in your session, you might want customizing the
timeline to better suit your needs or jump to recording new material live.</p><p>Next: <ahref=../setting-up-the-timeline>Setting up the timeline</a> or
