David Robillard
99904735e0
git-svn-id: svn://localhost/ardour2/branches/midi@1614 d708f5d6-7413-0410-9779-e7cbd77b26cf
134 lines
6.1 KiB
XML
134 lines
6.1 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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<section id="sn-what-is-different-about-ardour">
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<title>What's Different about Ardour</title>
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<para>
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If you are someone who has used other audio software, particularly
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software generally referred to as a Digital Audio Workstation (or
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"DAW"), then there will be a number of things about Ardour that may
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puzzle you on your initial and early encounters with the program.
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</para>
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<section id="no-default-session">
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<title>No default session</title>
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<para>
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You must explicitly create a
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<glossterm linkend="gt-session">Session</glossterm> before you can do
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anything else, and if you choose not to use one of the provided
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<glossterm linkend="gt-session-template">session templates</glossterm>
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, you will also have to create
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<glossterm linkend="gt-track">tracks</glossterm> and
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<glossterm linkend="gt-bus">busses</glossterm> in order to record
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and/or edit existing audio material.
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="where-do-plugins-and-sends-go">
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<title>Where do plugins and sends go?</title>
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<para>
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Ardour doesn't have any fixed number of "slots" for
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<glossterm linkend="gt-plugin">plugins</glossterm>, or
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<glossterm linkend="gt-send">sends</glossterm>, or
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<glossterm linkend="gt-insert">inserts</glossterm> : you can have as
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many per-track as your system has the horsepower handle. The two black
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boxes above and below the mixer strip's gain fader are
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<glossterm linkend="gt-redirect">redirect</glossterm> lists where you
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can add, reorder, remove and generally control plugins, sends, and
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inserts, both pre- and post-fader.
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="no-builtin-eq">
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<title>No builtin EQ</title>
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<para>
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Most people don't think much of the EQ's built into other DAWs.
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Moreover, you cannot meaningfully do equalization with 3 knobs marked
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"Lo", "Mid" and "Hi". Since good-quality EQ plugins are available for
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no-cost on Linux, Ardour prefers to allow you to choose one which you
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prefer. Of course, you can save your session configurations as
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templates, so if you have a particular EQ that you prefer, you only
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need do this once.
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="no-visible-send-controls">
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<title>No visible send controls</title>
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<para>
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Although Ardour supports sends, there is no way to control them
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directly from the mixer interface - you don't get a dedicated knob on
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the mixer strip. However, if you bring up the send's own editor (for
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example, by double-clicking on its name in the redirect list), you
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will find a richer set of functionality than most other DAWs offer for
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controlling the behaviour of a send.
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="a-smaller-set-of-tools">
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<title>A smaller set of tools</title>
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<para>
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Most DAWs have evolved towards providing the so-called "smart tool"
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which allows you to use the mouse for several different kinds of
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operations without changing to a different tool. Ardour has taken this
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approach from the beginning, so that the "Object" tool actually allows
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you to carry out many different operations depending on how and where
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the mouse is used. Ardour does not provide a destructive "pencil" tool
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as some other DAWs do, for some fairly deep technical reasons. Needing
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to use a "pencil" tool for waveform repair nearly always indicates a
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problem with the setup of your session and/or recording hardware. The
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different tools that ardour does offer include the "Object" tool which
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has many different uses including region trimming/moving/copying,
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automation editing, and more; a "Range" tool for defining ranges of
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time; a "TimeFX" tool for timestretching; a "Gain" tool used
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exclusively for editing region gain envelopes; and a "Zoom" tool to
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manipulate temporal zoom. Many other operations are accessible via
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context menus or <link linkend="sn-key-bindings">keyboard
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bindings</link>
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<!--
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a href="/manual/intro/mouse_and_keyboard">keyboard bindings/a
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-->
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.
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="no-restrictions-on-track-io-configuration">
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<title>No restrictions on track I/O configuration</title>
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<para>
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Tracks and busses in ardour do not come in pre-determined
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configurations. You can create a mono track, and convert it to a
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stereo track at any time. You can convert it to a track with 3 inputs
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and 7 outputs if you want, because Ardour also doesn't restrict track
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I/O configurations to a fixed set of mono/stereo/5.1/7.1 etc. In
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addition, because of Ardour's use of
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<link linkend="sn-configuring-jack">JACK</link> , a track with one
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input can actually receive data from many different locations. You can
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also connect any track to any number of other tracks and busses. In
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Ardour, the only difference between a track and a bus is that a track
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plays back pre-recorded material from your disk drives and can record
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to them. Both tracks and busses can have plugins, sends, inserts,
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automation data and more.
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</para>
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</section>
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<section id="your-audio-hardware-is-not-the-only-io-option">
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<title>Your audio hardware is not the only I/O option</title>
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<para>
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Because Ardour uses <glossterm linkend="gt-jack">JACK</glossterm> ,
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your session isn't limited to receiving and sending audio to and from
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your audio interface. It can freely send and receive audio signals to
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any other JACK application, in some cases even JACK applications
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running on other computers. On the one hand, this makes understanding
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the I/O options for a track or bus a little more complex than in a
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conventional program, but it also adds incredible power to Ardour, as
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you will see later.
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</para>
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</section>
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