Reorganize material in Getting Started and Starting Session

The Starting Session chapter is gone.

There is now a reorganized Getting Started chapter that deals with explaining
sessions, covers UI basics and tells how to add new tracks and busses.

Then there's new Recording chapter that holds sections on recording audio
and explains routing inside and outside Ardour.

All the past material on JACK has been removed. The tuturial now mentions
the PulseAudio backend and clarifies that JACK is not the recommended backend
anymore.

content/getting-started/_index.en.md

@@ -8,4 +8,4 @@ pre = "<b>2. </b>"
 ### Chapter 2
 # Getting started
 
-Learn how to launch JACK and Ardour on Ubuntu
+Create your first session and learn the basics of Ardour's user interface

content/getting-started/creating-a-track-or-bus/index.en.md

@@ -1,92 +0,0 @@
-+++
-title = "Creating a track or a bus"
-chapter = false
-weight = 3
-#pre = "<b>1. </b>"
-+++
-
-What is an Audio Track?
---------------------------
-
-An **Audio** **Track** is a place where you can drag a **Region**
-from your **Region List** and where you can record sounds coming from an
-outside source.
-
-A Region represents an audio clip, i.e., one of your
-sound files or just a portion of a sound file. In the image below, the
-horizontal strip areas marked "*MyTrack*" and "*short-drone-mono*" are Tracks.
-The rectangles containing audio information are called Regions (for example, the Region "*wheels-mono.1*" is contained within *MyTrack*).
-
-![Tracks](en/Ardour6_Tracks.png) 
-
-What is a Bus?
-----------------
-
-A **Bus** is similar to a track except that it does not contain its own
-regions. You cannot record directly into a bus or drag regions into it.
-The area marked "*Master*" in your session is an example of a Bus. Typically every
-session has a **Master Bus**. All the audio to be **Exported**  from
-your Session will be sent to the Master Bus.
-
-How are Tracks and Busses Used?
----------------------------------
-
-Audio-processing **Plugins** and **Automation** can be applied to both
-Tracks and Busses.
-
-Audio tracks can be routed to Busses. In fact, many Tracks can be
-simultaneously routed to one Bus. Busses are traditionally used as a
-convenient way to apply any kind of signal processing to many Tracks at
-once. For instance, you might find it useful to route all Tracks that
-contain drum sounds to a single Bus that you would call '*drum bus*'.
-Then, if you decide that all your drum Tracks are too loud, you can
-quickly adjust the level of the '*drum bus*' rather than adjusting each
-separate Track that feeds into it.
-
-Another use of a Bus would be to have a common **Reverberation** Plugin,
-so that any audio Track which requires the Reverb effect could be routed
-to a single Bus.
-
-Adding Tracks and Busses
-------------------------
-
-Right-Click in the empty area beneath any existing Tracks and Busses.
-Alternatively, click on the menu *Track > Add Track, Bus, or VCA...* (shortcut
-"*Ctrl*" + "*Shift*" + "*N*"). The following window will appear:
-
-![Add Track](en/Ardour6_Add_Track_or_Bus.png)
-
-**Add** lets you specify how many Tracks (or Busses) you would to like
-to create.
-
-Choose **Audio Tracks** or **Audio Busses** to specify whether you want to
-create Tracks or Busses. There are also other options such as **MIDI Track** and more. Ardour offers different track types depending on the type of data they contain. This tutorial will only
-cover Audio Tracks and Busses. (see the [Ardour
-Manual](http://manual.ardour.org/working-with-tracks/track-types/) for
-details on all track types)
-
-You can optionally give a **Name** to the Track or Bus being created.
-The **Configuration** drop-down menu allows you to specify how many
-channels of audio you'd like the new Track or Bus to handle. For
-example, if you will be recording your voice on this track using a
-single microphone, choose **Mono**. If you plan to import a clip from an
-existing song and place it on this Track, choose **Stereo**. The choice
-made here will also affect which Plugins you can use on the track (Mono
-tracks cannot use Stereo Plugins and vice versa).
-
-The **Position** menu lets you choose where you want the new track or bus to be placed: first, last, before or after the selection.
-
-You can safely ignore the other options for now. To learn more about each of them, please check [this page of the complete Ardour
-Manual](http://manual.ardour.org/working-with-tracks/adding-tracks-and-busses/).
-
-Click the **Add and Close** button to create the Tracks or Busses you
-have just configured, and automatically close the Add Track window. The tracks you just created will appear as new rows in the **Main Canvas**. If you still wanted to add more tracks after this step, you could alternatively have chosen **Add selected items (and leave dialog open)** instead.
-
-Continuing
-----------
-
-Once you've added one or more Tracks, you will want to put some audio
-material into them to work with. Continue on to the **Importing Audio**
-and **Recording Audio** chapters to learn how to do this.
-
-Next: [IMPORTING AUDIO](../importing-audio)

content/getting-started/creating-tracks-and-busses/index.en.md

@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
++++
+title = "Creating tracks and busses"
+chapter = false
+weight = 3
+#pre = "<b>1. </b>"
++++
+
+## What is an Audio Track?
+
+An **Audio** **Track** is a place where you can drag a **Region**
+from your **Region List** and where you can record sounds coming from an
+outside source.
+
+A Region represents an audio clip, i.e., one of your sound files or just a
+portion of a sound file. In the image below, the horizontal strip areas marked
+"*MyTrack*" and "*short-drone-mono*" are Tracks. The rectangles containing audio
+information are called Regions (for example, the Region "*wheels-mono.1*" is
+contained within *MyTrack*).
+
+![Tracks](en/Ardour6_Tracks.png) 
+
+## What is a Bus?
+
+A **Bus** is similar to a track except that it does not contain its own regions.
+You cannot record directly into a bus or drag regions into it. The area marked
+"*Master*" in your session is an example of a Bus. Typically every session has a
+**Master Bus**. All the audio to be **Exported**  from your Session will be sent
+to the Master Bus.
+
+## How are Tracks and Busses Used?
+
+Audio-processing **Plugins** and **Automation** can be applied to both
+Tracks and Busses.
+
+Audio tracks can be routed to Busses. In fact, many Tracks can be simultaneously
+routed to one Bus. Busses are traditionally used as a convenient way to apply
+any kind of signal processing to many Tracks at once. For instance, you might
+find it useful to route all Tracks that contain drum sounds to a single Bus that
+you would call '*drum bus*'. Then, if you decide that all your drum Tracks are
+too loud, you can quickly adjust the level of the '*drum bus*' rather than
+adjusting each separate Track that feeds into it.
+
+Another use of a Bus would be to have a common **Reverberation** Plugin, so that
+any audio Track which requires the Reverb effect could be routed to a single
+Bus.
+
+## Adding Tracks and Busses
+
+Right-Click in the empty area beneath any existing Tracks and Busses.
+Alternatively, click on the menu *Track > Add Track, Bus, or VCA...* (shortcut
+"*Ctrl*" + "*Shift*" + "*N*"). The following window will appear:
+
+![Add Track](en/Ardour6_Add_Track_or_Bus.png)
+
+**Add** lets you specify how many Tracks (or Busses) you would to like
+to create.
+
+Choose **Audio Tracks** or **Audio Busses** to specify whether you want to
+create Tracks or Busses. There are also other options such as **MIDI Track** and
+more. Ardour offers different track types depending on the type of data they
+contain. This tutorial will only cover Audio Tracks and Busses. (see the [Ardour
+Manual](http://manual.ardour.org/working-with-tracks/track-types/) for details
+on all track types)
+
+You can optionally give a **Name** to the Track or Bus being created.
+The **Configuration** drop-down menu allows you to specify how many
+channels of audio you'd like the new Track or Bus to handle. For
+example, if you will be recording your voice on this track using a
+single microphone, choose **Mono**. If you plan to import a clip from an
+existing song and place it on this Track, choose **Stereo**. The choice
+made here will also affect which Plugins you can use on the track (Mono
+tracks cannot use Stereo Plugins and vice versa).
+
+The **Position** menu lets you choose where you want the new track or bus to be
+placed: first, last, before or after the selection.
+
+You can safely ignore the other options for now. To learn more about each of
+them, please check [this page of the complete Ardour
+Manual](http://manual.ardour.org/working-with-tracks/adding-tracks-and-busses/).
+
+Click the **Add and Close** button to create the Tracks or Busses you have just
+configured, and automatically close the Add Track window. The tracks you just
+created will appear as new rows in the **Main Canvas**. If you still wanted to
+add more tracks after this step, you could alternatively have chosen **Add
+selected items (and leave dialog open)** instead.
+
+## Continuing
+
+Once you've added one or more tracks, you will want to put some audio material
+into them to work with. Continue on to the **Importing Audio** and **Recording
+Audio** chapters to learn how to do this.
+
+Next: [Importing audio](../importing-audio)

content/getting-started/importing-audio/index.en.md

@@ -137,12 +137,8 @@ not have a proper *Delete* key).
 **Save your work often!** The shortcut "Control" + "S" is your friend. Use it a lot, all the time.
 {{% /notice %}}
 
-Continuing
-----------
+## Continuing
 
-At this point, you may wish to add some new material to your Session by
-**Recording Audio** in the following chapter, or you may want to skip
-directly ahead to the **Editing Sessions** section to learn how to
-arrange the Regions you have Imported into a composition.
+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.
 
-Next: [RECORDING AUDIO](../recording-audio) or [ARRANGING TRACKS](../arranging-tracks)
+Next: [Setting up the timeline](../setting-up-the-timeline) or [Recording audio](../../recording-audio)

content/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/_index.en.md

@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 +++
 title = "Overview of the Interface"
 description = "Basics of Ardour's user interface"
-chapter = true
 weight = 2
 #pre = "<b>1. </b>"
 +++
@@ -12,18 +11,16 @@ We will take a look at shared elements of the interface, main windows, and focus
 
 TODO PARTS OF UI ANNOTATED SCREENSHOT
 
-Switching Between Windows
--------------------------
+## Switching Between Windows
 
 You can use the key combination **Alt + M** (**Control + M** on a
 Mac) in order to toggle which window is on top: Editor or Mixer.
 
-Continuing
-----------
+## Continuing
 
-The next chapters will explain basics of main Ardour's windows:
+The next sections will explain basics of main Ardour's windows:
 
-- Editor window
-- Mixer window
-- Recorder window
-- Cue window
+- Editor
+- Mixer
+- Recorder
+- Cue

content/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/cue-window/index.en.md

@@ -6,4 +6,11 @@ weight = 4
 #pre = "<b>1. </b>"
 +++
 
-TODO
+TODO
+
+## Continuing
+
+Now that you are familiar with main Ardour's windows, let's jump to the next
+section where we create a new track and then import some audio file.
+
+Next: [Creating tracks and busses](../creating-tracks-and-busses)

content/getting-started/setting-up-the-timeline/index.en.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 +++
 title = "Setting up the timeline"
 chapter = false
-weight = 2
+weight = 5
 #pre = "<b>1. </b>"
 +++
 

content/getting-started/starting-a-session/index.en.md

@@ -1,51 +0,0 @@
-+++
-title = "Starting a session"
-chapter = false
-weight = 1
-#pre = "<b>1. </b>"
-+++
-
-Ardour groups your work in **Sessions**. A Session is a group of
-**Tracks** which eventually may be mixed down into a single Mono, Stereo
-or multi-channel sound file. Sessions are essentially projects; all your
-data is saved in a single Session folder.
-
-When you start Ardour, you are asked if you want to start a new Session
-or open an existing one. When creating a new Session you must choose a
-name for it.
-
-{{% notice tip %}}
-Avoid using any characters other than letters and numbers when naming your session. Avoid white spaces, accented letters, !@#$%*()+, periods, commas, etc. Use dashes or underscores if you like. For example, instead of "My Great Session!", prefer "My_Great_Session", or "MyGreatSession", or "my-great-session". Instead of "Açaí", write "Acai" (without accented letters), etc. Once you have created your Ardour session, do **not** manually rename any folders or files that belong to the Session.
-{{% /notice %}}
-
-You also need to tell Ardour where you would like the
-Session folder to be stored.
-
-When you are ready, click '*Open*'. Ardour
-will create the new Session and then open it.
-
-![New Session](en/Ardour6_Session_Setup_2.png)
-
-Depending on the sound settings of your computer, you may see a window like this before your session launches:
-
-![New Session Set-Up](en/Ardour6_Session_Audio_MIDI_Setup.png)
-
-The main options are:
-
-**Audio System** — probably your computer's default audio system (ALSA for Linux, CoreAudio for Mac, etc), or JACK if you are on Linux and have it installed.
-
-**Device** — it's either your built-in sound card, or an external sound card if you have one (such as a USB interface).
-
-**Sample Rate** — 48K or 44.1K are common choices.
-
-To create an Ardour session after Ardour has already started, select
-`Session > New` in the menu.
-
-Continuing
-----------
-
-Once you've started a Session, you will most likely want to learn about
-setting up the timeline to match the kind of musical meter or other
-timeframe which you will use. Please continue to the next chapter. 
-
-Next: [SETTING UP THE TIMELINE](../setting-up-the-timeline)

content/getting-started/starting-ardour-on-ubuntu/index.en.md

@@ -2,25 +2,98 @@
 title = "Starting Ardour"
 description = "Launching Ardour"
 chapter = false
-weight = 2
+weight = 1
 #pre = "<b>1. </b>"
 +++
 
-Once you have started Ardour, the **Session Setup** window shows up.
+Ardour supports both Linux, Windows, and macOS. There is very little difference about how it works on all these operating systems. So while this tutorial assumes using Ubuntu Linux, you should expect it to work the same way on other operating systems and Linux flavors.
 
-![Session Setup](en/Ardour6_Session_Setup.png)
+## First-launch wizard
 
-You can click on **New Session** to create a brand new session, or you
-can open an existing session using the **Other Sessions** options. For now let's create a fresh session, so click on **New Session**. The window should now look like the screenshot below.
+When you first start Ardour, it will ask you a few questions to make a basic customization: user interface and font scale (if you have a HiDPI display), default folder where new sessions would be created, preferred way to monitor signal being recorded etc.
+
+{{< figure src="en/gui-and-font-scaling.png" alt="GUI and font scaling" >}}
+
+This dialog will never be shown again, unless you wipe all settings. You can change all the preferences you set there at any time later in the _Preferences_ dialog.
+
+## Create new session
+
+Once you get past the first-launch wizard, Ardour will suggest you create a new _session_ from one of a few available templates.
+
+{{< figure src="en/new-session-templates.png" alt="New session templates" >}}
+
+A session encompasses all the material you have: tracks with audio and MIDI data, effects associated with tracks and busses etc. Thus, a session is essentially a project file from which you can render a mono or a stereo audio file to deliver to a client, use in a video, or upload to a streaming service.
+
+For simplicity's sake let's go with an empty session as shown above.
+
+Ardour will always automatically suggest storing a new session in the default folder that you set at the previous step.
+
+When giving a new session a name, please avoid using any characters other than letters and numbers, like white spaces, accented letters, `!@#$%*()+`, periods, commas, etc. Use dashes or underscores if you like. For example, instead of "My Great Session!", prefer "My_Great_Session", or "MyGreatSession", or "my-great-session". Instead of "Açaí", write "Acai" (without accented letters), etc.
 
 Name your new project and click **Open** .
 
-![New Session](en/Ardour6_Session_Setup_2.png)
+Once you have created your Ardour session, do _not_ manually rename any folders or files that belong to the session. Otherwise, Ardour will fail to locate the files inside those folders and will ask you to point to them.
 
-{{% notice tip %}}
-Avoid using any characters other than letters and numbers when naming your session. Avoid white spaces, accented letters, !@#$%*()+, periods, commas, etc. Use dashes or underscores if you like. For example, instead of "My Great Session!", prefer "My_Great_Session", or "MyGreatSession", or "my-great-session". Instead of "Açaí", write "Acai" (without accented letters), etc. Once you have created your Ardour session, do **not** manually rename any folders or files that belong to the Session.
+{{% notice info %}}
+Once you saved at least one session, the _Session Setup_ dialog will look differently: there will be a list of recently opened sessions and a way to open an existing session that is not on that list.
 {{% /notice %}}
 
+## Choosing an audio system and its settings
+
+At the next step, you will need to choose and configure the _audio system_.
+
+On Linux, you have multiple audio systems (or _backends_) available. _ALSA_ is
+suggested by default. It is currently the recommended way to use Ardour in
+production. With ALSA, there are no convenience wrappers or abstractions. You
+connect to physical audio and MIDI ports directly. This means Ardour will take
+over the audio interface of your choice and won't share it with any other
+applications. As long as Ardour is running, any other desktop applications you
+are running too won't be able to connect to the audio interface and play any
+sound.
+
+{{< figure src="en/alsa-backend-settings.png" alt="Audio/MIDI setup" >}}
+
+The _PulseAudio_ backend currently only supports playback. This means you won't
+be able to record any audio as long as you use PulseAudio, but you can edit,
+mix, and export in e.g. Bluetooth headphones on the go. It's also the most
+convenient option when you want to follow a mixing or mastering tutorial on e.g.
+YouTube and be able to listen to the output from Ardour.
+
+{{< figure src="en/pulse-audio-settings.png" alt="PulseAudio settings" >}}
+
+Finally, there's JACK audio backend. It is designed following a client-server
+architecture pattern. JACK captures all physical ports of an audio interface and
+routes signal between its clients (e.g. a digital audio workstation, a software
+synthesizer, a drum sequencer etc.) and various ports. It is available on both
+Linux, Windows, and macOS.
+
+Today, the use of JACK audio server is discouraged by Ardour developers except
+for particular use cases like sophisticated signal routing. For simple
+multichannel recording your user experience will be vastly better when relying
+on native audio engine available in your operating system, like ALSA on Linux
+and CoreAudio on macOS. If you absolutely need JACK, it's best to start and
+control it from a separate program like
+[Qjackctl](https://qjackctl.sourceforge.io/) or
+[Cadence](https://kx.studio/Applications:Cadence).
+
+Most supported audio systems have a few common settings:
+
+- _Device_ — it's either your built-in sound card, or an external sound card if
+you have one (such as a USB interface).
+- _Sample Rate_ — 48K or 44.1K are common choices.
+- _Buffer Size_ — especially for external USB audio, try picking an option that
+results in a latency that is a multiple of 1ms (4ms, 6ms etc.) to produce less glitches.
+- _Periods_ — it's best to use 2 for a built-in sound card and 3 for an external
+USB audio interface.
+
+Once you've chosen, configured, and started the audio/MIDI backend, Ardour will
+try to discover any new plugins, and then you will be greeted with Ardour's main
+window:
+
+{{< figure src="en/ardour-empty-session.png" alt="Main Ardour window, empty session" >}}
+
 ## Continuing
 
+In the next chapter you'll familiarize yourself with Ardour's user interface and its main windows: Editor, Mixer, Recorder, and Cue.
+
 Next: [Overview of the interface](../overview-of-the-interface)

content/getting-started/starting-jack/index.en.md

@@ -1,46 +0,0 @@
-+++
-title = "Starting JACK"
-description = "What is JACK audio server and how to start it"
-chapter = false
-weight = 1
-#pre = "<b>1. </b>"
-+++
-
-Originally, [JACK audio server](http://jackaudio.org/) was designed to provide a
-low-latency audio workflow on Linux with complex routing and transport between
-audio and MIDI applications as well as physical audio interface ports. JACK is
-available on both Linux, Windows, and macOS.
-
-Today, the use of JACK audio server is discouraged by Ardour developers except
-for particular use cases like sophisticated signal routing. For simple
-multichannel recording your user experience will be vastly better when relying
-on native audio engine available in your operating system, like ALSA on Linux
-and Core Audio on macOS. If you do not need a sophisticated solution, feel free
-to skip this part of the tutorial.
-
-If you do need to use Ardour with JACK backend, you have two options: starting
-it separately using either Qjackctl or Cadence, or launching it from within
-Ardour. All user interfaces for JACK operate on the same terminology, you can
-refer to the [JACK
-configuration](https://kx.studio/Documentation:Manual:jack_configuration) page
-for details.
-
-## Using Cadence (Linux)
-
-Launch Cadence. If JACK is already running, you will see a window like this:
-
-![cadence](en/Ardour4_JACK_Cadence.png)
-
-More info on Cadence: [Cadence introduction](http://kxstudio.sourceforge.net/Documentation:Manual:cadence_introduction)
-
-## Using Qjackctl (Linux, Windows, macOS)
-
-If using Qjackctl instead, this is how it should look like:
-
-![qjackctl](en/Ardour4_JACK_qjackctl.png)
-
-If not yet running, use the _Setup_ button to configure JACK, and hit _Start_ to start JACK.
-
-## Continuing
-
-Next: [STARTING ARDOUR](../starting-ardour-on-ubuntu)

content/recording-audio/_index.en.md

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
++++
+title = "Recording"
+description = "Learn how to route signal and record audio and MIDI"
+chapter = true
+weight = 3
+pre = "<b>3. </b>"
++++
+
+### Chapter 3
+# Recording
+
+Learn how to route signal and record audio and MIDI