Updated Understanding Routing
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title = "Understanding routing"
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description = "Routing signal in Ardour"
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chapter = false
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weight = 6
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weight = 2
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#pre = "<b>1. </b>"
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featherlight = false
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+++
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Routing an audio signal is sending it from somewhere to somewhere else.
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In addition to getting audio signals to and from Ardour, routing plays
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an important part inside Ardour itself. Examples of using routing inside
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Ardour include routing audio from Tracks to the Master Bus or to other
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Busses, creating 'sends', routing the outputs from Busses to the Master
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Bus, etc. (see chapter on **Creating a Track** for an explanation of
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Tracks and Busses). All routing, both internal and external to Ardour,
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is handled by JACK.
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In addition to getting audio signals to and from Ardour, routing plays an
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important part inside Ardour itself. Examples of using routing inside Ardour
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include routing audio from tracks to the _Master_ bus or to other busses,
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creating 'sends', routing the outputs from busses to the _Master_ bus, etc. (see
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chapter on **Creating a Track** for an explanation of tracks and busses). All
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routing, both internal and external to Ardour, is handled by JACK.
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### Routing in Ardour
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The standard routing of inputs, tracks and busses in Ardour is
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determined when a new Session is created in the Advanced Options of the
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New Session dialog box (see **Starting a Session** chapter). By default,
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the routing is as follows:
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The standard routing of inputs, tracks and busses in Ardour is determined when
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a new session is created in the _Advanced Options_ of the _New Session_ dialog
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box (see the [Starting Ardour](../../getting-started/starting-ardour-on-ubuntu/)
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page). By default, the routing is as follows:
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- The audio device inputs are routed to the Track inputs.
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- All outputs from Tracks and Busses are routed to the master bus
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inputs.
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- The Master Bus outputs are routed to the audio device outputs.
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- The audio device inputs are routed to the track inputs.
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- All outputs from tracks and busses are routed to the master bus inputs.
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- The _Master_ bus outputs are routed to the audio device outputs.
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Note that when a new Bus is created, nothing is routed to its input.
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Note that when a new bus is created, nothing is routed to its input.
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This routing setup makes sense for sessions containing only Tracks, but
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to make use of any Busses (other than the Master Bus) or to get creative
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with the paths of the audio signals inside Ardour, we need to be able to
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change the routing.
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This routing setup makes sense for sessions containing only tracks, but to make
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use of any busses (other than the _Master_ bus) or to get creative with the
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paths of the audio signals inside Ardour, we need to be able to change the
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routing.
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The Audio Connection Manager window (also known as the patchbay) is the
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main way to make connections to, from ,and within Ardour's mixer. You
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can open this window with the shortcut "*Alt*" + "*N*", or through the
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menu *Window > Audio Connections*.
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The _Audio Connection Manager_ window (also known as the patchbay) is the main
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way to make connections to, from ,and within Ardour's mixer. You can open this
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window with the shortcut **Alt + P**, or through the
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`Window > Audio Connections` menu.
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The patchbay presents two groups of ports; one set of sources, and one
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of destinations. Sources and destinations are organized by tabs. The
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available sources are displayed vertically on the left side, and the
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destinations are displayed horizontally at the bottom.
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The patchbay presents two groups of ports; one set of sources, and one of
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destinations. Sources and destinations are organized by tabs. The available
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sources are displayed vertically on the left side, and the destinations are
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displayed horizontally at the bottom.
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In the screenshot below, notice that the "*Hardware*" tab is selected on
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the top left (that's a source), and the "*Ardour Tracks*" is selected as
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a destination in the bottom. This means that the matrix you see displays
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connections from available hardware sound sources (for example, a
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microphone), into existing Ardour tracks.
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In the screenshot below, notice that the _Hardware_ tab is selected on the top
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left (that's a source), and the *_Ardour Tracks_* is selected as a destination
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in the bottom. This means that the matrix you see displays connections from
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available hardware sound sources (for example, a microphone), into existing
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Ardour tracks.
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The green dots represent a connection. The screenshot above tells us
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that incoming sounds from "*system: capture\_1*" (the first input source
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of your soundcard, or the built-in microphone of your laptop) are going
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into Ardour track named "*Audio 1*", and also that incoming sounds from
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"*system: capture\_1*" and "*system: capture\_2*" are respectively going
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into the Left and Right inputs of Ardour track named "*Audio 2.*"
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The green dots represent a connection. The screenshot above tells us that
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incoming sounds from "*system: capture\_1*" (the first input source of your
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soundcard, or the built-in microphone of your laptop) are going into Ardour
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track named "*Audio 1*", and also that incoming sounds from "*system:
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capture\_1*" and "*system: capture\_2*" are respectively going into the Left and
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Right inputs of Ardour track named "*Audio 2.*"
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Notice we can see that "*Audio 1*" is a Mono track because it only has
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one connection slot, while track "*Audio 2*" is Stereo since it has two
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slots (Left and Right).
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Notice we can see that "*Audio 1*" is a Mono track because it only has one
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connection slot, while track "*Audio 2*" is Stereo since it has two slots (Left
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and Right).
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The next screenshot shows the signal path from Ardour Tracks (selected
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vertical tab) into Ardour Busses (selected horizontal tab). As mentioned
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earlier, the default setting for all Ardour Tracks is that their sound
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goes to the Master Bus.
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The next screenshot shows the signal path from _Ardour Tracks_ (selected
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vertical tab) into Ardour busses (selected horizontal tab). As mentioned
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earlier, the default setting for all _Ardour Tracks_ is that their sound goes to
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the _Master_ bus.
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Note: remember that "*Audio 1*" is a Mono track? We saw it in the
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earlier screenshot that "*Audio 1*" only has one input slot. But now on
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the screenshot above you see that "Audio 1" has two outputs (Left and
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Right). This is normal: we define whether a track is Mono or Stereo by
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its *number of inputs*, not outputs. Mono tracks will hold a single
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channel of audio, but you can still choose to place the sound on the
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left or the right speaker (or anywhere in between). More on this in the
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chapter **Panning**.
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Note: remember that "*Audio 1*" is a Mono track? We saw it in the earlier
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screenshot that "*Audio 1*" only has one input slot. But now on the screenshot
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above you see that "Audio 1" has two outputs (Left and Right). This is normal:
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we define whether a track is Mono or Stereo by its *number of inputs*, not
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outputs. Mono tracks will hold a single channel of audio, but you can still
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choose to place the sound on the left or the right speaker (or anywhere in
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between). More on this in the chapter **Panning**.
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Finally, let's explore a couple more tabs in the Audio Connection
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Manager to see the sound going from the Master Bus to the actual
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hardware outputs (your loudspeakers or headphones):
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Finally, let's explore a couple more tabs in the _Audio Connection Manager_ to
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see the sound going from the _Master_ bus to the actual hardware outputs (your
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loudspeakers or headphones):
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As you can see, the selected source tab is now "*Ardour Busses*", and
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the destination tab is "*Hardware*". This session happens to have only
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one bus, the default "master out". The green dots show that all sounds
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coming out of the Master Bus are going to system playback 1 and 2, which
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are the outputs of your soundcard.
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As you can see, the selected source tab is now "*Ardour Busses*", and the
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destination tab is _Hardware_. This session happens to have only one bus, the
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default "master out". The green dots show that all sounds coming out of the
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_Master_ bus are going to system playback 1 and 2, which are the outputs of your
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soundcard.
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### How to connect and disconnect?
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To make a connection, click on the desired empty square in the matrix; a
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green dot will appear to indicate the connection is made.
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To make a connection, click on the desired empty square in the matrix; a green
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dot will appear to indicate the connection is made.
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To undo a connection, simply click on an existing green dot and it will
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disappear.
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### Practical example of routing to a bus
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In the following example session, there are two guitar Tracks and one
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unused Bus called Guitar Bus, all Stereo.
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In the following example session, there are two guitar tracks and one
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unused bus called _Guitar_ bus, all Stereo.
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Suppose you want to send the output from the two guitar Tracks to the
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Guitar Bus instead of the Master Bus. This can be useful to control the
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volume of both guitars with just one Fader (in this case the Guitar Bus
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fader). Then the output of the Guitar Bus, which is the sum of the two
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guitars, goes directly to the Master Bus.
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Suppose you want to send the output from the two guitar tracks to the _Guitar_
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bus instead of the _Master_ bus. This can be useful to control the volume of
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both guitars with just one fader (in this case the _Guitar_ bus fader). Then the
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output of the _Guitar_ bus, which is the sum of the two guitars, goes directly
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to the _Master_ bus.
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Here is how to edit the patchbay to get the desired routing. Select
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"Ardour Tracks" tab from Sources (vertical tabs), and "Ardour Busses"
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from destinations (horizontal bottom tabs). Undo existing connections
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from both Tracks to Master. Then create connections from both Tracks to
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Guitar Bus. The final result would look like this:
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Here is how to edit the patchbay to get the desired routing. Select _Ardour
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Tracks_ tab from _Sources_ (vertical tabs), and _Ardour Busses_ from
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destinations (horizontal bottom tabs). Undo existing connections from both
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tracks to _Master_. Then create connections from both tracks to _Guitar_ bus.
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The final result would look like this:
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Now both guitar tracks are routed to the Guitar Bus, and no longer
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directly connected to the Master Bus. We then make sure that the Guitar
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Bus is, by its turn, routed to the Master Bus (the output routing of a
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Bus is edited in the same way as for a Track), so that we can still hear
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the sound from both guitar Tracks. Now we can control the volume of both
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guitar Tracks together by changing the Fader of the Guitar Bus. What's
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more, we can now add Plugins to the Guitar Bus to process the sound of
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both guitar Tracks together.
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Now both guitar tracks are routed to the _Guitar_ bus, and no longer directly
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connected to the _Master_ bus. We then make sure that the _Guitar_ bus is, by its
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turn, routed to the _Master_ bus (the output routing of a bus is edited in the
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same way as for a track), so that we can still hear the sound from both guitar
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tracks. Now we can control the volume of both guitar tracks together by changing
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the fader of the _Guitar_ bus. What's more, we can now add plugins to the Guitar
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Bus to process the sound of both guitar Tracks together.
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### Track- or Bus-specific views of the Patchbay
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The Audio Connection Manager (Patchbay) that you open with **Alt + P** shows you
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The _Audio Connection Manager_ (Patchbay) that you open with **Alt + P** shows you
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the complete matrix of every single source and every single destination
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available in Ardour. Sometimes this is too much: you just want to quickly change
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the routing of a single track input or output, for example. Ardour allows you to
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access a relevant subset of Patchbay connections when you click directly on the
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Inputs or Outputs button of a Track or Bus in the Mixer Strip.
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**Inputs** or **Outputs** button of a track or bus in the mixer strip.
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The Inputs button is at the top, and the Outputs button is on the bottom of the
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strip. Clicking on either one will show you a menu of connection options. In the
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screenshot below, for example, you would click on the "1/2" button right under
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the track name "Guitar-1" in order to access this menu:
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The **Inputs** button is at the top, and the **Outputs** button is on the bottom
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of the strip. Clicking on either one will show you a menu of connection
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options. In the screenshot below, for example, you would click on the **1/2**
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button right under the track name "Guitar 1" in order to access this menu:
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You may select a connection right there from the menu, or choose "Routing Grid"
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to see a simpler version of the Audio Connection Manager with only the Inputs
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or Outputs of the selected Track or Bus.
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You may select a connection right there from the menu, or choose _Routing Grid_
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to see a simpler version of the _Audio Connection Manager_ with only the
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**Inputs** or **Outputs** of the selected track or bus.
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### All Ardour connections are JACK connections
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It is important to realize that any routings that you make or disconnect
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from within Ardour are in fact JACK routings, which you can see from
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other applications like Qjackctl, Catia, or JackPilot, depending on your
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Operating System. Below is an example of a Catia window (Linux only)
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displaying the same JACK connections discussed above:
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It is important to realize that any routings that you make or disconnect from
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within Ardour are in fact JACK routings, which you can see from other
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applications like _Qjackctl_ or _Catia_, depending on your operating system.
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Below is an example of a _Catia_ window (Linux only) displaying the same JACK
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connections discussed above:
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Continuing
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----------
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In this chapter, we covered how to manage Routing inside Ardour, or
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between Ardour and the sound card. However, one of the strengths of
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using the JACK system is that it can also manage connections between
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applications on the same computer. To gain a better understanding of how
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this works, please continue to the chapter **Routing Between
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Applications**. If you would prefer to work only with Ardour, then skip
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ahead to the section on **Arranging Tracks**.
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In this chapter, we covered how to manage routing inside Ardour, or between
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Ardour and the sound card. However, one of the strengths of using the JACK
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system is that it can also manage connections between applications on the same
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computer. To gain a better understanding of how this works, please continue to
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the chapter _Routing Between Applications_. If you would prefer to work only
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with Ardour, then skip ahead to the section on _Arranging Tracks_.
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Next: [ROUTING BETWEEN APPLICATIONS](../routing-between-applications) or [ARRANGING TRACKS](../arranging-tracks)
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NEXT: [ROUTING BETWEEN APPLICATIONS](../routing-between-applications) or
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[ARRANGING TRACKS](../arranging-tracks)
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