<scripttype=text/javascript>varbaseurl="https://prokoudine.github.io/ardour-tutorial/en"</script><scripttype=text/javascriptsrc=/ardour-tutorial/js/search.js?1648576491></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
active"><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><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/using-ranges/title="Using ranges"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/editing-sessions/using-ranges/>Using ranges</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/editing-sessions/working-with-regions/title="Working with regions"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/editing-sessions/working-with-regions/>Working with regions</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/editing-sessions/further-region-operations/title="Further region operations"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/editing-sessions/further-region-operations/>Further region operations</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/editing-sessions/changing-edit-modes/title="Changing edit modes"class=dd-item><
<spanclass=links><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/>Home</a> > <ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/>Getting started</a> > Overview of the Interface</span></div><divclass=progress><divclass=wrapper><navid=TableOfContents><ul><li><ahref=#ardours-window>Ardour’s window</a></li><li><ahref=#programs-menu>Program’s menu</a></li><li><ahref=#info-panel>Info Panel</a></li><li><ahref=#transport-panel>Transport panel</a></li><li><ahref=#clocks>Clocks</a></li><li><ahref=#navigation-timeline>Navigation timeline</a></li><li><ahref=#switching-between-windows>Switching Between Windows</a></li><li><ahref=#continuing>Continuing</a></li></ul></nav></div></div></div></div><divid=head-tags></div><divid=body-inner><h1>Overview of the Interface</h1><p>This section will give you a basic overview of Ardour’s user interface.</p><p>We will take a look at shared elements of the interface, main windows, and focus
on the <em>Editor</em> window and the <em>Mixer</em> window. Later chapters will give more
detailed information on each feature listed here.</p><h2id=ardours-window>Ardour’s window</h2><p>Here is a typical view of a project opened in Ardour:</p><figure><imgsrc=en/ardour7-main-window-parts.pngalt="Main window of Ardour 7"></figure><p>There are two larger parts of the user interface:</p><ol><li><p>Static part that contains program’s menu, transport panel, clocks, navigation
timeline, and various controls. We’ll talk about it later on this page.</p></li><li><p>Dynamic part that changes depending on the currently opened window. We’ll
talk about that on further pages covering every window (Editor, Mixer, Recorder,
Cue).</p></li></ol><p>Let’s get on with the static part and focus on features that will be of
immediate use to you.</p><h2id=programs-menu>Program’s menu</h2><p>This is a fairly straightforward way of accessing features in any program, you
<em>Session</em> menu, everything that is related to playing and recording is in the
<em>Transport</em> menu, most editing features are in <em>Edit</em> and so on.</p><figure><imgsrc=en/ardour7-program-menu.pngalt="Ardour program menu"></figure><p>For convenience, item-specific features are duplicated in the right-click menu.
For instance, you’ll find the contents of the <em>Region</em> menu in the right-click
menu for a selected region (a clip that you can see on the timeline, see further
pages of the tutorial).</p><h2id=info-panel>Info Panel</h2><p>This panel displays useful information about the currently opened project
(sampling rate, latency, DSP load) as well as how many estimated minutes of
recording are available given the current amount of free disk space.</p><figure><imgsrc=en/ardour7-info-panel.pngalt="Ardour info panel"></figure><p>If you right-click on it, you will see more options such as name of the current
project snapshot (more on that later) and wall clock (as seen on the screenshot
above).</p><h2id=transport-panel>Transport panel</h2><p>The transport panel allows easily navigating the project: going to session
start/end, playing entire session or just a selection (called ‘range’ in
Ardour), initiating recording.</p><p><imgsrc=en/ardour7-transport-panel.pngalt="Transport Panel"></p><p>The bottom of the panel has jog/shuttle controls for skipping backward and
forward at various speed while playing back the contents of the session.</p><p>In case you want the transport panel sans jog-shuttle controls somewhere else on
the screen, you can open a floating window called <em>Transport Controls</em>
screen and resize it.</p><h2id=clocks>Clocks</h2><figure><imgsrc=en/Ardour6_Clocks.pngalt=Clocks></figure><p>The main <em>clocks</em> are located next to the transport controls. Clocks in Ardour
can display time in 4 different formats: Time Code, Bars:Beats, Minutes:Seconds,
and Samples. Right-click on the clock to select a format. You can also turn the
clock off. The reason for having two transport clocks is that it allows you to
see the playhead position in two different time units without having to change
any settings.</p><p>If you are working in a home studio where you use a footswitch to toggle
recording and you are a few meters away from the screen, you might want a bigger
clock. Use <code>Window > Big Clock</code> to open a clock window that will float on top of
all other windows and resize it to your liking.</p><figure><imgsrc=en/ardour7-big-clock.pngalt="Big Clock"></figure><p>Please see the <ahref=../setting-up-the-timeline>Setting Up the Timeline</a> chapter
for more details on the clocks.</p><h2id=navigation-timeline>Navigation timeline</h2><p>To the right of these two clocks you can see the <em>mini-timeline</em>, also called
<em>Navigation Timeline</em>. It’s a convenient way to be reminded of cues and location
markers, especially when you are in the <em>Recorder</em> window where the timeline
doesn’t have those rulers.</p><figure><imgsrc=en/ardour7-navigation-timeline.pngalt="Navigation timeline"></figure><p>Please check the Ardour manual for more information on the
<ahref=https://manual.ardour.org/ardours-interface/mini-timeline/>mini-timeline</a>.</p><h2id=switching-between-windows>Switching Between Windows</h2><p>To the right of the global toolbar, right after the <em>Navigation Timeline</em> and
the master bus output meter, you’ll find a convenient widget to switch between
major Ardour windows — Editor, Mixer, Recorder, and Cue.</p><figure><imgsrc=en/ardour7-window-switcher.pngalt="Window switcher"></figure><p>You can also use the <strong>Alt+M</strong> shortcut to switch between <em>Editor</em> and <em>Mixer</em>
windows. If you are currently in either <em>Recorder</em> or <em>Cue</em> window, pressing
that shortcut for the first time will take you to the <em>Mixer</em> window, and the
another one will take you to the <em>Editor</em> window.</p><h2id=continuing>Continuing</h2><p>The next sections will explain basics of main Ardour’s windows:</p><p><ahref=editor-window>Editor</a> | <ahref=mixer-window>Mixer</a> | <ahref=recorder-window>Recorder</a> |
