119 lines
5.1 KiB
Markdown
119 lines
5.1 KiB
Markdown
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title = "Creating tracks and busses"
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chapter = false
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weight = 3
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#pre = "<b>1. </b>"
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+++
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## What is an audio track?
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An _audio track_ is a place where you can drag a _region_ from your region
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list and where you can record sounds coming from an outside source.
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A region represents an audio clip, i.e., one of your sound files or just a
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portion of a sound file. In the image below, the horizontal strip areas marked
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"*MyTrack*" and "*short-drone-mono*" are tracks. The rectangles containing audio
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information are called regions (for example, the region "*wheels-mono.1*" is
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contained within *MyTrack*).
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## What is a bus?
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A _bus_ is similar to a track except that it does not contain its own regions.
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You cannot record directly into a bus or drag regions into it. However, you
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can add plugins to a bus and then feed the output of multiple tracks into that
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bus (see below for details).
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The area marked _Master_ in your session is an example of a bus. Typically
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every session has a _Master_ bus. All the audio to be exported from your
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session will be sent to the Master Bus.
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## How are tracks and busses used?
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Audio-processing _plugins_ and _automation_ can be applied to both tracks and
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busses.
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Audio tracks can be routed to busses. In fact, many tracks can be simultaneously
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routed to one bus. busses are traditionally used as a convenient way to apply
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any kind of signal processing to many tracks at once. For instance, you might
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find it useful to route all tracks that contain drum sounds to a single Bus that
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you would call '*drum bus*'. Then, if you decide that all your drum tracks are
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too loud, you can quickly adjust the level of the '*drum bus*' rather than
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adjusting each separate track that feeds into it.
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Another use of a Bus would be to have a common reverberation plugin, so that any
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audio track which requires the reverb effect could be routed to a single bus.
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## Adding tracks and busses
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**Right-click** in the empty area beneath any existing tracks and busses.
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Alternatively, click on the menu `Track > Add track, Bus, or VCA...` (shortcut
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**Ctrl + Shift + N**). The following window will appear:
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Ardour offers different track types depending on the type of data they contain.
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This tutorial will only cover audio tracks and busses. (see the [Ardour
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manual](http://manual.ardour.org/working-with-tracks/track-types/) for details
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on all track types or their brief explanation in a section below).
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Choose _Audio tracks_ or _Audio busses_ to specify whether you want to create
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tracks or busses.
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The _Add_ numeric input box lets you specify how many tracks (or busses) you would
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to like to create.
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You can optionally give a _Name_ to the track or bus being created. The
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_Configuration_ drop-down menu allows you to specify how many channels of audio
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you'd like the new track or Bus to handle. For example, if you will be recording
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your voice on this track using a single microphone, choose _Mono_. If you plan
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to import a clip from an existing song and place it on this track, choose
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_Stereo_. The choice made here will also affect which plugins you can use on the
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track (mono tracks cannot use stereo plugins and vice versa).
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The _Position_ menu lets you choose where you want the new track or bus to be
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placed: first, last, before or after the selection.
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You can safely ignore the other options for now. To learn more about each of
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them, please check [this page of the complete Ardour
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manual](http://manual.ardour.org/working-with-tracks/adding-tracks-and-busses/).
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Click the **Add and Close** button to create the tracks or busses you have just
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configured, and automatically close the _Add Track_ window. The tracks you just
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created will appear as new rows in the main canvas. If you want to add multiple
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tracks with different configuration, opt for **Add selected items (and leave
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dialog open)** instead.
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## Other types of tracks and busses
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When adding tracks and busses to your project, you'll see more options
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available. Here is a quick overview of them.
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**MIDI tracks** are similar to audio tracks: they have regions with MIDI data,
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they can have multiple plugins in a processor box, e.g. a software synthesizer
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or a sampler followed by a delay plugin followed by an EQ plugin.
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**MIDI busses** are similar to audio busses, but they can only transform
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incoming MIDI data.
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**Foldback busses** are meant for stage monitoring mixes where you might want
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giving each performer a customized mix that goes right into their earpiece.
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E.g. more rhythm section and less brass section in the mix for a solo
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guitarist. [See
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here](https://manual.ardour.org/ardours-interface/foldback-strip/) for more
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details.
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**VCA masters** are another way to group tracks. These mixer strips provide
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a single fader for multiple tracks. Please refer to the [user
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manual](https://manual.ardour.org/ardours-interface/control-masters/) for more
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information.
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## Continuing
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Once you've added one or more tracks, you will want to put some audio material
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into them to work with. Continue on to the **Importing Audio** and **Recording
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Audio** chapters to learn how to do this.
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Next: [Importing audio](../importing-audio)
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