manual/include/master-bus-strip.html

<figure class="right">
  <img src="/images/master-strip.png" alt="The Master strip in the mixer">
  <figcaption>
		The Master strip in the mixer
  </figcaption>
</figure>

<p>
  The <dfn>Master strip</dfn> in Ardour is very similar to the other 
  <a href="@@audiomidi-busses-mixer-strips">busses mixer strips</a>.
  There are nevertheless a few differences due to the nature of the 
  Master strip, that is being the last point of treatment before the 
  output or rendering:
</p>

<ul>
  <li>
	There is no color affected to the master strip
  </li>
  <li>
	There is exactly one and only one Master Bus Strip for a session, so
	it cannot be saved as a template, duplicated or removed in the context
	menu, although it can be renamed.
  </li>
  <li>
	The master strip cannot be hidden or disabled, so there is not 
	<kbd>X</kbd> in the top right, nor an
	<kbd class="option">Active</kbd> checkbox in the context menu.
  </li>
  <li>
	It is by definition always solo, so there is no <kbd >Solo</kbd> button,
	and <kbd>Iso</kbd> and <kbd>Lock</kbd> are disabled.
  </li>
  <li>
	If the <a href="@@loudness-analyzer">Master bus output gain control</a>
	is enabled, two controls are visible:
	<ul>
		<li>
			a <kbd>LAN</kbd> button, to start the Loudness Analyzer &amp; Normalizer,
		</li>
		<li>
			a volume slider to that can be controlled manually or set by
			the Normalizer.
		</li>
	</ul>
  </li>
  <li>
	If the session has a <a href="@@session-properties#properties-monitoring">Monitoring section</a>,
	two buttons are visible:
	<ul>
		<li>
			<kbd>Mute</kbd> to mute the Master bus while the monitoring 
			is still active,
		</li>
		<li>
			<kbd>Mon</kbd> to show/hide the monitoring section in the Mixer
			view.
		</li>
	</ul>
  </li>
  <li>
	It cannot belong to a mix group, so the <kbd>Grp</kbd> button is missing.
  </li>
</ul>

<p class="note">
  The Master bus strip is <em>always</em> fixed, at the right end of the
  mixer, regardless of the scrolling position.
</p>