178 lines
7.1 KiB
Markdown
178 lines
7.1 KiB
Markdown
+++
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title = "Editor window"
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description = "Basics of Ardour's editor window"
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chapter = false
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weight = 1
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#pre = "<b>1. </b>"
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+++
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When you create a new session, Ardour opens an empty new window called
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the **Editor Window**. The Editor Window is the most important window in
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Ardour, as this is how you will control the program as well as see and
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edit the audio you have recorded or imported.
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At the top of the Editor Window are several main areas: the **Transport
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Menu**, the **Clocks**, the **Edit** **Modes/Cursor Modes** menu, the
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**Snap Mode** menu and the **Auxiliary Controls**. Below that area is
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the Main Canvas, which contains the **Tracks** and **Busses** used in
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the Session. The **Mixer Strips** for the Tracks appear on the left, and
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a set of tabs allowing for an overview of the **Regions**,
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**Tracks/Busses**, **Snapshots**, **Edit Groups** and **Chunks** appear
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on the right. The very bottom of the window is the **Summary** view,
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which is a miniature timeline view allowing for quick navigation through
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the session.
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We will introduce these controls briefly here and cover them more
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extensively in dedicated chapters later on.
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### Transport Menu
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The **Transport Menu** controls include the following buttons:
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- MIDI Panic
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- Enable/Disable audio click (metronome)
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- Rewind
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- Fast forward
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- Loop playback
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- Play range/selection
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- Play from playhead
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- Stop
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- Record-enable
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- Jog/shuttle controls
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### Clocks
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The main **Clocks** are located next to the transport controls. Clocks
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in Ardour can display time in 4 different formats: Time Code,
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Bars:Beats, Minutes:Seconds, and Samples. Right-click on the clock to
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select a format. You can also turn the clock off. The reason for having
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two transport clocks is that it allows you to see the playhead position
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in two different time units without having to change any settings.
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Please see the [**Setting Up the Timeline**](../setting-up-the-timeline) chapter for more details on the
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Clocks.
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### Edit Modes and Cursor Modes
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The **Edit Modes** and **Cursor Modes** controls define the behavior of
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the main canvas and the different functions the cursor can have. There
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are three Edit Modes in the drop-down menu: **Slide**, **Ripple**, and **Lock**. To the right of the Smart button are the
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Cursor Modes:
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- **Smart Mode** (shortcut *"Y"*)
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- **Grab Mode** (shortcut *"G"*)
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- **Range Mode** (shortcut *"R"*)
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- **Cut Mode** (shortcut *"C"*)
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- **Stretch Mode** (shortcut *"T"*)
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- **Audition Mode**
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- **Draw Mode** (shortcut *"D"*)
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- **Internal Edit Mode** (shortcut *"E"*)
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Most of them are discussed in the **Working With Regions** chapter. The last two
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are discussed in the **Using Automation** chapter.
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The **Smart Mode** is actually a combination of Grab Mode and Range Mode. When
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enabled, the mouse behaves as if it is in "Range Mode" in the upper half of a
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region, and in "Grab Mode" in the lower half.
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### Snap Options
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The **Snap Options** menu controls the **Grid**, **Grid Points** and
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**Edit Point**. Please see the chapters on **Setting Up the Meter**,
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**Using Ranges** and **Working With Regions** for more details.
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### Zoom Options
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In between **Cursor Modes** and **Snap Options** are the **Zoom
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Options**. Here you can define the behavior of zooming operations. You
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have standard **Zoom In** and **Zoom Out** buttons, plus a third called
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**Zoom to Session** (useful for having a quick overview of your entire
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session: it zooms it to fit the available space on the screen).
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{{% notice tip %}}
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Use the shortcuts **=** (the equal sign on your main keyboard) for zooming, and
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**-** (the dash key on your main keyboard) for zooming out.
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{{% /notice %}}
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The drop-down menu controls the **Zoom Focus**. It defines the focus
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point of zooming operations. Try zooming in and out
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with a different Zoom Focus each time. For example, choosing Playhead
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will cause zoom to behave in relation to the position of the
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Playhead. Mouse will take your current mouse position as the reference,
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and so on.
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The following drop-down menu and the last two buttons control "vertical zoom." They allow you to
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expand and shrink all tracks and busses vertically. Use the drop-down menu to choose a specific number of tracks you want to fit on the screen. Use the buttons to shrink or expand all tracks (or only selected tracks, if a selection is made).
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### Auxiliary Controls
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For further information on other buttons and displays on the main
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interface, please refer to the [Ardour Manual](http://manual.ardour.org/ "Ardour Manual").
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## Main Canvas
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The main canvas is just below the top rows of controls described above.
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It basically comprises the **Rulers**, the space where **Tracks** and
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**Busses** are displayed, and a **Summary** view at the bottom.
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At the very top of Ardour's Editor Window (to the right) you will find useful information such as sample rate of the session, available recording time, and DSP use.
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### Rulers
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Right-click on the names of rulers and you will see a menu with all the
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possible rulers at your disposition. You may uncheck rulers that you
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don't need in order to save screen space. More information on these
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operations can be found in the **Setting up the Timeline** and **Setting
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up the Meter** chapters.
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### Tracks and Busses
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Just below the Rulers is where Tracks and Busses are displayed. In the
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example below, you can see one Bus called "*Master*" and one Track
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called "*MyTrack*". MyTrack also contains one region, which
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represents an audio file with a drawing of its waveform. More
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information on Tracks and Busses can be found in the **Creating a Track
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or Bus** chapter.
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### Editor Mixer
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The Editor Mixer is located at the left of the Edit Window. It displays
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the **Mixer Strip** of the currently selected Track or Bus. It controls
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the volume, Plugins and Routing for the Track or Bus to which it
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corresponds. You can toggle to view or hide the Editor Mixer by clicking
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on the menu *View* > *Show Editor Mixer* (shortcut *"Shift"* + *"E"*).
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This Mixer is covered in the **Using the Mixer Strip** chapter.
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### Regions, Tracks/Busses, Snapshots, Groups, Ranges, Marks
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The space on the right of Ardour's Editor Window can have 5 different
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functions, depending on which tab is currently selected: **Regions**,
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**Tracks/Busses**, **Snapshots**, **Track & Bus Groups**, and **Ranges
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and Marks**. Regions is the tab selected by default. This part of the
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Editor Window is commonly referred to as **Regions List**. Regions
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represent audio files stored on the hard drive which can be dragged from
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the Regions List directly onto a track in the main canvas. More
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information on Regions can be found in the **Working With Regions**
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chapter. The Tracks tab is covered in the **Arranging Tracks** chapter,
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and Snapshots are discussed in the **Saving Snapshots** chapter.
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