Importing audio
Sections of audio are known as Regions in Ardour. A Region can be an entire sound file or a portion of it. Here you will learn how to import audio files from the hard drive of your computer so they can be used in your Ardour session.
To import an audio file into your session, you will use the Add existing media
dialog. Use the shortcut Ctrl+I to get to this window, or alternatively go
to the Session > Import menu).
On the left side of this dialog you will see a file browser which allows you to search your hard drive for appropriate sound files to add (preferably, start with a common file format, such as WAV or AIFF).
At the lower left corner there is a menu which indicates how these files will be added. “Add files as new tracks” will import audio files and place them on a newly created track. “Add files to region list” will simply import audio files into the Region List, without creating any new tracks. Choose this option now, as we don’t want Ardour to create any tracks at this point.
If you do not have any suitable audio files on your hard drive to follow these steps, visit freesound.org), where you can find a large collection of Public Domain and Creative Commons–licensed samples in a variety of sample rates and formats.
On the right side of the Add existing media dialog you will see a section 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.
The Play button allows you to preview the file. You can also select Auto-play 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).
You will notice that the option Copy Files to Session is checked by default. This will make a copy of the imported file(s) into the folder of the current session. This is safer, but it uses more disk space. If you uncheck this option (not recommended!), Ardour will use the sound file from its current location on the hard drive. In this case, if the file is moved to a new location on the hard drive, you will run into trouble, because Ardour won’t be able to find it the next time you open this session. It is highly recommend that you leave this box checked (“Copy files to session”).
Click OK to proceed.
The file(s) you have imported will appear listed in your Region List. The Region List is located at the far right of the editor window. If you don’t see it, make sure “Show Editor List” is checked under the “View” menu.
An alternative method to access the Add Existing Media window is actually to Right-Click directly on the Editor List box. Make sure the Regions tab is selected. Right-Click on an empty part of the Editor List, then choose Import to Region List to open the same Add Existing Media dialog box that you have seen before.
Once you have successfully embedded your audio files in the Region List, they should all be listed there. In the screenshot below, three files were imported: “toaster_8”, “short-drone-mono”, and “wheels-mono”. The number [2] right after “toaster_8” indicates it is a stereo file. The other files without the number [2] are mono files.
By dragging and dropping an audio file listed on the Region List onto the Main Canvas, you can insert it in an existing 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.
Release the mouse-click to complete the drag-and-drop operation. The Region will be inserted at the exact time point where you dropped it.
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 were just trying to click to drag and drop the file onto a track. In order to click and drag a previously highlighted region from the list, you need to point and click in the empty space right before or after the name.
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 Mono Track. Notice that in the Mono Track only the left channel is displayed (and played back).Â
Importing Audio Directly to a Track
As mentioned earlier, the Add existing media dialogue also allows you to import audio files directly onto tracks.
Choose Add files: as new tracks in order to automatically create a new track and add the selected file to it. The track will be named after the sound file name.
If you have previously selected one or more tracks, the menu will display the additional option Add files: to selected tracks in order to add a sound file into the already existing selected track.
When adding files as new tracks, note that the Mapping options lets you choose between one track per channel or one track per file. For the purpose of this tutorial, choose one track per file, otherwise the left and right channels of a Stereo file will be split into two separate tracks.
Choose Insert Point
When using either one of the options above (“add as new track” or “add to selected tracks”), you should also specify where in the track you want the new Region to be placed. In the screenshot below, we are choosing “session start”.
The Region appears in a new track in the session. The new track automatically receives the name of the imported sound file.
The sound file will also appear in the Region List so that it can be inserted into other tracks as well (drag and drop).
Remove Regions from Tracks
To remove a region from a track, one can select it with the mouse and use the Cut function from the menu, the Control (or Apple) key and the X key, the Delete key or the key combination of fn and Backspace (which is used, for example, on a laptop keyboard that does not have a proper Delete key).
Save your work often! The shortcut “Control” + “S” is your friend. Use it a lot, all the time.
Continuing
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: Setting up the timeline or Recording audio