git-svn-id: svn://localhost/ardour2/trunk@1823 d708f5d6-7413-0410-9779-e7cbd77b26cf
511 lines
23 KiB
XML
511 lines
23 KiB
XML
<?xml version="1.0" standalone="no"?>
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<!DOCTYPE section PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.4//EN" "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.4/docbookx.dtd" [
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]>
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<!-- XXX lots to do on this page -->
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<section id="mixer-strips">
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<title>Mixer Strips</title>
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<para>
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Each track and bus is represented in the mixer window by a
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<emphasis>mixer strip</emphasis> that contains various controls related
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to signal flow. There are two places in Ardour in which you can see
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mixer strips. The mixer window is the obvious one (and the one we deal
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with here), but you can also view a single mixer strip in the editor
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window by clicking the <guibutton>editor mixer</guibutton> button.
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</para>
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<mediaobject>
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<imageobject>
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<imagedata fileref="images/mixerstrip.png"/>
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</imageobject>
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</mediaobject>
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<para>
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this image needs replacing with labels and better resolution The mixer
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strip for a bus is essentially identical to the one for an audio track,
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but it is missing certain controls that make no sense - you cannot
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record into a bus, so there is no record enable button, for example.
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</para>
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<para>
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The mixer strips are designed to visually model signal flow. The input
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button selects the input of the track that this mixer strip monitors.
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The outputs of the track (the 'tape recorder') are 'hard-wired' to the
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inputs of the mixer strip. Think of the input to the strip starting at
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the polarity switch, flowing down through the prefader
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inserts/plugins/sends section, through the gain fader, past the
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postfader inserts/plugins/sends section, the panner, and out through the
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output selector. In the case of a bus, there is no 'tape machine'
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inserted between the input selector and the actual input of the strip,
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but the signal flow is identical otherwise.
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</para>
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<section id="mixer-strip-narrow-strip-button">
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<title>Narrow Mixer Strip Button</title>
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<para>
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the button on the top left of the mixer strip is labelled with two
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arrows separated by a line. Left clicking this button will reduce the
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horizontal size of the mixer strip. Clicking it again will restore the
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previous size. The first click also has the effect of shortening the
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names of controls. Plugin lists become very small in this mode,
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however more faders are accessible without scrolling. Your needs may
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vary, hence the existence of this button.
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="mixer-strip-hide-button">
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<title>Hide Button</title>
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<para>
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The button opposite the <emphasis>Narrow Mixer Strip Button</emphasis>
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hides the mixer strip from view. this button has no effect on signal
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flow or muting. When a mixer strip is hidden, it's entry in the strips
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list is darkened. To restore the mixer strip to the visible state,
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click it's entry in the strip list with the left mouse button.
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="mixer-strip-track-name">
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<title>Track Name</title>
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<para>
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The track name displays the current name of the track as displayed in
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the editor window. right-clicking on the name brings up a drop-down
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menu that allows you to rename, activate, deactivate and remove the
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track. Selecting <guimenuitem>Rename</guimenuitem> opens a new window
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displaying the name of the track. to change it, type your change and
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press ok. to leave it unaltered, press cancel. Selecting
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<guimenuitem>remove</guimenuitem> opens a new window asking for
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confirmation of your track removal request. removing a track removes
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that track from the project. If the playlist used by the removed track
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is not used by any other track, it will also be removed.
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="mixer-strip-group-button">
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<title>Group Button</title>
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<para>
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The group button displays the name of the currently selected mix
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group. if no group is selected, it will read no group. when clicked, a
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drop-down menu appears which lists the current mixer groups, along
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with the option no group. if a group is selected, any fader movement
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on one of the group member faders will be translated to the other
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members of the group.
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="mixer-strip-input-selector">
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<title>Input Selector</title>
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<para>
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The input selector allows you to assign hardware or software inputs to
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the track that this mixer strip monitors. clicking on the input box
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makes a drop-down menu appear which lists ready-made combinations of
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jack ports, along with the options disconnect and edit. You can either
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select a preset hardware input combination from the drop-down list, or
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select <guimenuitem>edit</guimenuitem> to open the input selector
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window which allows finer control, such as changing the number of
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inputs to the track or using software devices as inputs. For more
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information on this window, see <xref linkend="sn-other-windows"/>.
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<guibutton>Disconnect</guibutton> removes all input assignments while
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leaving the number of ports untouched.
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</para>
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</section>
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<xi:include xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
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href="invert_polarity.xml" />
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<section id="mixer-strip-solo-button">
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<title>Solo Button</title>
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<para>
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The solo button puts the mixer strip in solo mode. the solo indicator
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in the editor window will flash if any mixer strip is set to solo, and
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only those tracks that are set in solo will be routed through the
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system.
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="mixer-strip-mute-button">
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<title>Mute Button</title>
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<para>
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The mute button mutes the output of the mixer strip.
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="mixer-strip-track-speed-control">
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<title>Track Speed Control</title>
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<para>
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The track speed allows a varispeed setting to be applied to the track.
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a setting of <literal>1.0</literal> corresponds to the normal playback
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speed of the session. a setting of <literal>0.5</literal> will play at
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half normal playback speed. when altered, the track will be redrawn to
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reflect the new position of the audio resulting from the speed change.
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The Track Speed Control has three decimal places of precision. A left
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or right click on the displayed number will raise or lower the track
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speed by 0.1%. when the speed is not exactly 1, the display will be
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coloured red. Hovering over the displayed number will allow you to use
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the mouse wheel to set the desired speed. A middle click on the
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displayed number will return the speed to exactly 1.
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</para>
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<para></para>
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</section>
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<section id="mixer-strip-record-enable-button">
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<title>Record Enable Button</title>
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<para>
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The record enable button arms the track for recording. pressing this
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will change the way you monitor and meter the selected input signal
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depending on the state of the monitoring settings in the options
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editor, as well as the auto input setting in the editor.
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="mixer-strip-automation-mode-buttons">
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<title>Automation Mode Buttons</title>
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<para>
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The automation mode buttons allow you to select a fader or pan
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automation mode from a drop-down list. see
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<xref linkend="sn-automation"/> for more information about automation
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modes.
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="mixer-strip-redirect-boxes">
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<title>Redirect Boxes</title>
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<para>
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These dark areas above and below the fader allow you to place inserts,
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sends and plugins into the signal path before and after the fader
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respectively. you may also easily reorder them whilst playing.
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collectively, the objects that belong in these boxes are called
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redirects. If there are redirects present in the channel, they can be
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reordered by dragging them vertically. because plugins and inserts can
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have different numbers of inputs to outputs, sometimes you may reach a
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situation where the inputs and outputs cannot be all connected
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sensibly. in this case, your reordering change will be disallowed by
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the program.
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</para>
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<para>
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Right clicking within the dark area will bring up a drop-down menu
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which allows you to manipulate the redirects in various ways.
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</para>
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<variablelist>
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<title>Redirect Boxes</title>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><guimenuitem>new plugin</guimenuitem></term>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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selecting new plugin will open a dialog which lists the plugins
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available on your system. selecting a plugin which is compatible
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with the number of streams in the channel at that point will
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result in the plugin being placed in the redirect box in an
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inactive state. this is indicated by the brackets around the
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plugin name. double-clicking the plugin name will bring up a
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window that allows you to control the parameters of the plugin
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statically (including bypass) or using automation. all plugins
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that report their latency are time-compensated automatically in
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ardour.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><guimenuitem>new insert</guimenuitem></term>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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places at least two new jack ports at that point in the mixer
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strip (one input, one output). these ports will then be
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available to any jack client (including Ardour itself), allowing
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another program (or channels within another program) to be
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inserted across the channel. hardware ports may also, of course,
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be used, allowing the insertion of outboard equipment. the
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insert will then appear in the redirect box in brackets
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indicating that it is inactive. to activate or deactivate an
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insert, right-click on it and select activate. double-clicking
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on the insert will bring up a dialog which allows to to assign
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its inputs and outputs to other jack ports.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><guimenuitem>new send</guimenuitem></term>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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selecting new send will first bring up a dialog box that enables
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you to select the number of outputs the send has, along with the
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destination of each output. closing this dialog will reveal the
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name of the send in brackets, indicating that it is inactive. to
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activate the send, right click on it and select Activate.
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double-clicking on the send brings up the previous dialog, which
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will now include a fader which is provided for level control.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><guimenuitem>clear</guimenuitem></term>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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selecting clear in the menu removes all redirects from the mixer
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strip (pre and post fader). you can remove an individual
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redirect by holding the shift key and right clicking it.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><guimenuitem>cut</guimenuitem>, <guimenuitem>copy</guimenuitem>, <guimenuitem>paste</guimenuitem></term>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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these items allow you to cut, copy and paste plugins, including
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their current settings, between Redirect Boxes.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><guimenuitem>rename</guimenuitem></term>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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selecting rename will bring up a dialog displaying the name of
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the selected redirect. change the name by typing into the text
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area and pressing ok.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><guimenuitem>select all/deselect all</guimenuitem></term>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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these two options select or deselect all plugins in the channel.
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this could be used, for instance, in preparation to copy all
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plugins from a channel to another one, along with the current
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settings.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><guimenuitem>activate/deactivate</guimenuitem></term>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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selecting either of these will activate or deactivate the
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currently selected redirect(s) respectively. deactivate is the
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equivalent of <guimenuitem>bypass</guimenuitem>.
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</para>
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<note>
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<para>
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note that you can bypass a plugin from it's parameter window
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as well as from here.
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</para>
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</note>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><guimenuitem>activate all/deactivate all</guimenuitem></term>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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selecting either of these will activate or deactivate all
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redirect(s) in the mixer strip respectively. deactivate is the
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equivalent of <guimenuitem>bypass</guimenuitem> if you're a
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plugin.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><guimenuitem>edit</guimenuitem></term>
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<listitem>
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<para>
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selecting edit brings up the controls relevent to the selected
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redirect. this is the equivalent to holding control and
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right-clicking on a redirect. note that the right click method
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will not bring up the controls of the selected redirect, only
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the one beneath the mouse pointer.
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</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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</variablelist>
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</section>
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<section id="mixer-strip-pre-post-input-button">
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<title>Pre/Post/Input Button</title>
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<para>
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This button cycles between three metering modes, which determine which
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signal is fed to the meters. the modes are pre-fader (the signal at
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the input to the fader), post-fader and input (the level at the track
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input). left clicking cycles through the three modes one step at a
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time, while middle-clicking alternates between the current setting and
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the setting two steps ahead. this allows one-click direct a/b
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comparison between all available monitoring points.
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="mixer-strip-gain-display">
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<title>Gain Display</title>
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<para>
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this control displays the current gain of the fader to the nearest
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0.1dB. left clicking on the value will lower the gain by an amount
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dependent upon the fader position the graduations become smaller as
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the fader nears 0dB gain. right clicking increases the gain by the
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same amount. middle clicking resets the gain to 0dB.
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="mixer-strip-unit-selector">
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<title>Unit Selector</title>
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<para>
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Right clicking on the meter bars allows you to select the range of
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signal levels displayed by the meters. the selected range will be
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displayed as a column of numbers next to the meter. /*XXX this feature
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is currently not working*/ Gain Level Display
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="mixer-strip-peak-meter">
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<title>Peak Meter</title>
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<para>
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This control displays the highest peak since the last peak meter
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reset. Resetting the peak meter is achieved by left-clicking the
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displayed number. The peak meter monitors the signal selected by the
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<emphasis>Pre/Post/Input Button</emphasis> .. the same signal as the
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meters. It should be noted here that 0dBfs corresponds a value equal
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to the maximum input or output level of your audio hardware,
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independent of it's bit depth.
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="mixer-strip-gain-fader">
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<title>Gain Fader</title>
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<para>
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The fader changes the signal level within the mixer strip before the
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post-fader plugins, which are before the output ports. 6dB of gain is
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allowed. there are several shortcuts available for the fader. Using
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the scroll wheel of your mouse while hovering above the fader will
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coarsely change its position. Holding the control key whilst mouse
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wheeling will give you finer control. Holding the shift key and
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clicking the fader will reset it to unity gain. Holding control and
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pressing the middle mouse button whilst over the fader will allow you
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to bind a midi control to it, provided you have an available midi
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device set in the options menu.
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="mixer-strip-meters">
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<title>Meters</title>
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<para>
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The number of meters displayed next to the fader is dependent on the
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number of inputs or outputs the channel has, whichever is greater. The
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meters provide a colour-graduated scale from -50 dBfs to +6dBfs. They
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display the instantaneous value of the signal at the monitoring point
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selected by the Pre/Post/Input button. 0dBfs corresponds a value equal
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to the maximum input or output level of your audio hardware,
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independent of it's bit depth. Exceeding 0dBfs does not correspond to
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running out of headroom within the mixer, or in any signal path
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subsequent to that point within the Jack server. It merely means that
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if that signal is connected directly to a hardware port whose
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resolution is less than the 32-bit floating point resolution that
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Ardour uses (i.e. a soundcard), then that port will exceed it's
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maximum output level, resulting in distortion. hitting 0dB within the
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mixer (or any point in the Jack server) means that you have
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approximately 100dB of headroom remaining. as it is unlikely that you
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will reach this point, it is not represented in any special way by the
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meter. Naturally, if the input is selected as the monitoring point for
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the meter, exceeding 0dBfs means that the input of your a/d converter
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has clipped.
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="mixer-strip-panner">
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<title>Panner</title>
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<para>
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The panner in Ardour is actually two panners. Because any mixer strip
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in Ardour can route any number of streams of audio anywhere, the idea
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of panning can be a complex one. To allow for the current
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stereo-centric mainstream world as well as the multi-speaker
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experimental one, one of two styles of panner will appear here
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depending on the number of outputs the channel strip has. In the
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simple case of mono channel input / stereo output, a single panner
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will be present. The current pan position is represented by a dot (the
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dot is the audio stream) which lies between the letters 'L' and 'R',
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which represent the left and right outputs respectively. To change the
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panning position of the stream, move the mouse while holding down the
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left mouse button. the dot will follow your mouse pointer. To
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introduce sudden changes to the pan setting, place the mouse pointer
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over the desired position and click the middle mouse button. The pan
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control will immediately snap to the mouse pointer position. The
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panner may be bypassed by right-clicking the control and selecting
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<guimenuitem>bypass</guimenuitem> from the drop-down menu. The panner
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will immediately be bypassed. The increased level you notice when the
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panner is bypassed is due to the way panning works. It is not a bug.
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<emphasis>XXX what gain law is used in the panner?</emphasis>
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</para>
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<para>
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In the case of a stereo input / stereo output combination, two panning
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controls will appear, one corresponding to each audio stream. You can
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<emphasis>link</emphasis> the controls together in two different ways
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in this situation, using the direction arrows next to the
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<guibutton>link</guibutton> button. Panners can be linked to travel
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either in opposite directions or to maintain a consistent stereo width
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across the travel of the control. These two modes are represented by
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the orientation of the two arrows next to the
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<guibutton>link</guibutton> button, which point in either the same or
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opposite directions. The <guibutton>link</guibutton> button must be
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engaged before you can change the <emphasis>link</emphasis> mode. To
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link all the panners in a mixer strip, left-click the
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<guibutton>link</guibutton> button, then select the desired link mode
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by pressing the button marked with arrows.
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</para>
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<para>
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Let's get a little more complicated by adding another output to the
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mixer strip. From this point onwards, the panning positions are
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represented with numbered dots on a square field. Orange dots
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represent the outputs, and the numbered dots represent the streams.
|
|
the position of the outputs change according to the number of outputs
|
|
in the strip. This happens in order to allow the most useful
|
|
arrangement of the available space. At some point, adding an output
|
|
will cause the outputs to line up from the top left of the panning
|
|
square towards the centre. this is to allow for the 'multi-speaker big
|
|
sweep' to occur - where the sound is panned from speaker to speaker
|
|
around the room in sequence.
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
Don't forget that you can bypass the panner by right clicking and
|
|
selecting <guimenuitem>bypass</guimenuitem> from the drop-down menu.
|
|
this may simplify your multi-speaker setup, as often in this type of
|
|
project panning between all speakers or outputs is not required on all
|
|
tracks.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</section>
|
|
|
|
<section id="mixer-strip-output-selector">
|
|
<title>Output Selector</title>
|
|
<para>
|
|
The output selector allows you to assign the outputs of each mixer
|
|
strip. left-clicking the output selector causes a ready-made list of
|
|
output ports to appear in a drop-down menu, along with edit and
|
|
disconnect options. Selecting <guimenuitem>Edit</guimenuitem> will
|
|
allow you to change the number of outputs the channel has, as well as
|
|
select software and hardware ports to route signals to. For more
|
|
information on the window that appears when you select this option,
|
|
see the <xref linkend="sn-other-windows"/>.
|
|
<guimenuitem>Disconnect</guimenuitem> will leave the number of output
|
|
ports unchanged, but remove all assignments to output ports.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</section>
|
|
|
|
<section id="mixer-strip-scratch-pad">
|
|
<title>Scratch Pad</title>
|
|
<para>
|
|
This is the text area below the <guibutton>output</guibutton> button.
|
|
it allows you to enter any notes that you feel may be relevant to that
|
|
track. The notes are stored when you save the session.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</section>
|
|
</section>
|