110 lines
4.3 KiB
Markdown
110 lines
4.3 KiB
Markdown
+++
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title = "Creating looped sections"
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chapter = false
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weight = 7
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#pre = "<b>1. </b>"
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+++
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You can easily repeat sections of audio in your Ardour session.
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Here, we take the short rhythmic passage we created in **Working with Regions**
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and duplicate it to make a loop.
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Before duplicating the passage, it is a good idea to combine individual
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regions in the same track into a single one: it is easier to move them
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around this way, and it prevents you from accidentally moving a single
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hihat out of place, for example. There are two ways of doing this:
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**Combine Regions** (allows you to "uncombine" later on), and
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**Consolidate Range** ("writes it in stone", does not allow you to
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separate them later).
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If you are still planning on making alterations to the rhythm (adding,
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removing, or moving individual regions), it may be better to use the
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**Combine** regions option. If you like the sequence the way it is and
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don't want or don't care to have the ability to separate them later, use
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**Consolidate Range** option.
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## Combine Regions
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Simply select all the regions you want to combine:
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Then go to menu *Region > Edit > Combine* (or right-click on the
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selected regions and find the same option through the context menu, as
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shown below):
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The combined regions will look like this (note the word "compound"
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appended to the name):
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Should you need to separate them again in the future, simply select the
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compound region and go to the same menu and choose the option
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"*Uncombine*".
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## Consolidating the Range
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A more permanent alternative to **Combine** is to use **Consolidate**.
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When you've arranged your Regions into a single "loop cycle" and you're
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satisfied with the sound, create a **Range** with all the regions that
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will make up the loop. First, make sure every Track used in the loop is
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selected. Unselected Tracks are gray, and selected ones are blue. If any
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of the Tracks you used are not selected, hold down the *Shift* key while
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clicking on them to add them to the selected group. Finally, use the
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Range tool to select the entire loop.
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Once again, the **Grid** setting will help you to set the range
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precisely to the start and end points of your metric bar. Once you have
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the entire loop selected, Right-Click on the range and select
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"*Consolidate range*". If you would like any Automation or Plugin
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effects you have added to the loop to be included, select "*Consolidate
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range with processing*".
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When the range is **Consolidated**, new Regions will appear in each
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Track, each containing all the repetitions of the samples which you set
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up in the previous steps. Remember, once the range is consolidated,
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there is no way to undo this operation. In any case, if you find that
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you need to alter the rhythm in any way, you can always retrieve the
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original individual samples from the Region List and rebuild the pattern
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with them.
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## Duplicating the Range
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After you have merged individual regions that form your pattern (using
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either **Combine** or **Consolidate**), it's time to duplicate the
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pattern to make it loop for several bars.
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The **Multi-Duplicate** feature (seen in the
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[Working with regions](../working-with-regions/) chapter) is a good way
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to accomplish this. Go back to Grab mode (shortcut **G**), select all regions,
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and hit **Shift + D**. Choose how many times you want to duplicate the pattern
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(for example, 16). After duplication our session looks something like this:
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Just for review, other options you could have used for duplication are:
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- The **Fill Track** command from menu *Region > Duplicate > Fill
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Track*. This would fill the entire track with copies of the selected
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regions, all the way up to the **End Marker**.
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- The single **Duplicate** command from the same menu (shortcut
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"*Alt*" + "*D*"). This lets you make a single copy at a time.
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- The single duplicate action with "*Control*" + *Click on the region* + *Drag a copy*.
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## Continuing
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In the next tutorial we will learn about **Stretching/Shrinking
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Regions** that are longer or shorter than one bar in order to fit the
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rhythm of our passage.
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Next: [STRETCHING/SHRINKING REGIONS](../stretching-shrinking-regions)
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