126 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
126 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
+++
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title = "Overview of the Interface"
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description = "Basics of Ardour's user interface"
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weight = 2
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#pre = "<b>1. </b>"
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+++
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This section will give you a basic overview of Ardour's user interface.
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We will take a look at shared elements of the interface, main windows, and focus
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on the _Editor_ window and the _Mixer_ window. Later chapters will give more
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detailed information on each feature listed here.
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## Ardour's window
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Here is a typical view of a project opened in Ardour:
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{{< figure src="en/ardour7-main-window-parts.png" alt="Main window of Ardour 7" >}}
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There are two larger parts of the user interface:
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1. Static part that contains program's menu, transport panel, clocks, navigation
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timeline, and various controls. We'll talk about it later on this page.
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2. Dynamic part that changes depending on the currently opened window. We'll
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talk about that on further pages covering every window (Editor, Mixer, Recorder,
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Cue).
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Let's get on with the static part and focus on features that will be of
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immediate use to you.
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## Program's menu
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This is a fairly straightforward way of accessing features in any program, you
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shouldn't have any problems navigating it. Session-specific commands are in the
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_Session_ menu, everything that is related to playing and recording is in the
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_Transport_ menu, most editing features are in _Edit_ and so on.
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{{< figure src="en/ardour7-program-menu.png" alt="Ardour program menu" >}}
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For convenience, item-specific features are duplicated in the right-click menu.
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For instance, you'll find the contents of the _Region_ menu in the right-click
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menu for a selected region (a clip that you can see on the timeline, see further
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pages of the tutorial).
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## Info Panel
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This panel displays useful information about the currently opened project
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(sampling rate, latency, DSP load) as well as how many estimated minutes of
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recording are available given the current amount of free disk space.
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{{< figure src="en/ardour7-info-panel.png" alt="Ardour info panel" >}}
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If you right-click on it, you will see more options such as name of the current
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project snapshot (more on that later) and wall clock (as seen on the screenshot
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above).
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## Transport panel
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The transport panel allows easily navigating the project: going to session
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start/end, playing entire session or just a selection (called 'range' in
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Ardour), initiating recording.
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The bottom of the panel has jog/shuttle controls for skipping backward and
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forward at various speed while playing back the contents of the session.
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In case you want the transport panel sans jog-shuttle controls somewhere else on
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the screen, you can open a floating window called _Transport Controls_
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(`Window > Transport Controls`). You can move this window anywhere on the
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screen and resize it.
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## Clocks
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{{< figure src="en/Ardour6_Clocks.png" alt="Clocks" >}}
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The main _clocks_ are located next to the transport controls. Clocks in Ardour
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can display time in 4 different formats: Time Code, Bars:Beats, Minutes:Seconds,
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and Samples. Right-click on the clock to select a format. You can also turn the
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clock off. The reason for having two transport clocks is that it allows you to
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see the playhead position in two different time units without having to change
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any settings.
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If you are working in a home studio where you use a footswitch to toggle
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recording and you are a few meters away from the screen, you might want a bigger
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clock. Use `Window > Big Clock` to open a clock window that will float on top of
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all other windows and resize it to your liking.
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{{< figure src="en/ardour7-big-clock.png" alt="Big Clock" >}}
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Please see the [Setting Up the Timeline](../setting-up-the-timeline) chapter
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for more details on the clocks.
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## Navigation timeline
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To the right of these two clocks you can see the _mini-timeline_, also called
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_Navigation Timeline_. It's a convenient way to be reminded of cues and location
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markers, especially when you are in the _Recorder_ window where the timeline
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doesn't have those rulers.
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{{< figure src="en/ardour7-navigation-timeline.png" alt="Navigation timeline" >}}
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Please check the Ardour manual for more information on the
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[mini-timeline](https://manual.ardour.org/ardours-interface/mini-timeline/).
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## Switching Between Windows
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To the right of the global toolbar, right after the _Navigation Timeline_ and
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the master bus output meter, you'll find a convenient widget to switch between
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major Ardour windows — Editor, Mixer, Recorder, and Cue.
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{{< figure src="en/ardour7-window-switcher.png" alt="Window switcher" >}}
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You can also use the **Alt+M** shortcut to switch between _Editor_ and _Mixer_
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windows. If you are currently in either _Recorder_ or _Cue_ window, pressing
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that shortcut for the first time will take you to the _Mixer_ window, and the
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another one will take you to the _Editor_ window.
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## Continuing
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The next sections will explain basics of main Ardour's windows:
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[Editor](editor-window) | [Mixer](mixer-window) | [Recorder](recorder-window) |
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[Cue](cue-window)
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