111 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
111 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
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title = "Using ranges"
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description = "How to create and edit range selection in Ardour"
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chapter = false
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weight = 4
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+++
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A _range_ is a selection of the timeline that can include one or more tracks. It
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has many uses like selecting a portion of audio/MIDI data to cut it.
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{{< figure src="en/ardour7-range-example.png" alt="Range example" >}}
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## Creating ranges
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There are two common ways to create a range:
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1. You can do it with the _Grab_ tool (**G** shortcut) when the _Smart_ mode is
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enabled. In that case you need to position the mouse pointer around the middle
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of a track vertically to start selecting data rather than picking and moving a
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region. The mouse pointer looking like a vertical line means you are good to
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start selecting.
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2. You can also use the dedicated _Range_ tool (**R** shortcut). In this case,
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just click and drag anywhere on the canvas to start selecting.
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You can select data of multiple tracks at once as seen on the screenshot above.
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To do that, just drag the mouse pointer upwards or downwards crossing the
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border between tracks.
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When the _Editor List_ dock is available, you can see range properties on top of
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it: start/end times of the range as well as its duration. When a range is
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created, the _Tracks & Busses_ tab will also select tracks that the range
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crosses.
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It can be useful to create ranges that align with the edges of regions on your
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timeline. To do that, enable the _Snap_ option in the toolbar and select _No
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Grid_ in the drop-down list next to it.
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## Editing ranges
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Once you created a range, you can easily tweak it's start and end positions by
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hovering range boundaries with the mouse pointer, grabbing them and dragging to
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the left or to the right.
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{{< figure src="en/ardour7-editing-ranges.gif" alt="Editing ranges" >}}
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If you forgot to include a track into a range, you don't need to redo the range
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selection. Just hold **Ctrl** button and click on the track's header on the
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canvas. Alternatively, hold **Ctrl** and click on track's name in the _Tracks &
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Busses_ tab of the _Editor List_ dock.
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{{< figure src="en/ardour7-adding-track-to-range.gif" alt="Adding track to range" >}}
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## Playing back ranges in a loop
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Returning to our rhythmic passage example, we will want to hear the passage we
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are composing, perhaps as a loop, while we are moving the samples around. To do
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that, we must create a range to listen to within our session, so that we can
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return to exactly this point in the session again and again.
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{{< figure src="en/ardour7-loop-range-menu-command.png" alt="Loop Range in the right-click menu" >}}
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Zoom out if needed (**-**) to see full bars in the timeline. Use the _Range_
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tool to select an entire bar, then right-click inside a range and pick one of
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the two commands:
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1. _Loop Range_ (on the screenshot above) to create a loop and start playing it
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immediately.
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2. _Set loop from selection_ to only create loop markers withut immediate
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playback.
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{{< figure src="en/ardour7-looped-range-playback.png" alt="Looped range playback" >}}
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As long as loop markers are there, you can start playing back that portion of
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the timeline in a loop whenever you like (on the screenshot above). To do that,
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either click the **Play loop range** button in the _Transport_ toolbar or press
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the **L** shortcut.
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You can also tweak the position of loop markers while playing the range in a
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loop. Just grab a marker and drag it to the left or to the right.
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## More editing options for ranges
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There are more operations you can do on ranges, all available in the right-click
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menu:
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- _Separate_ will cut the original regions at range borders.
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- _Duplicate_ will create one copy of the range and place it starting at the
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right border of the range. Any existing data will be overlaid, so you can still
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access it.
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- _Crop Region To Range_ will trim affected regions to the extent of the range.
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You can also inspect loudness and spectral characteristics of data in a range or
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export just the data inside a range rather than the entire session (see [this
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chapter](../../exporting-sessions/exporting-a-range/) for more info on exporting
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ranges).
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## Continuing
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In the next step, we will learn about working with regions to compose a rhythm
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with these samples.
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Next: [WORKING WITH REGIONS](../working-with-regions)
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