The Transport menu handles how Ardour handles the playback and playhead.

Start/Stop

Starts or stops the playhead, and recording if it's armed

Play

Play Selection

Only plays the selected part of the session, be it a range or selected regions

Play Selection w/Preroll

As the previous menu, except it starts the playback 1/2 bar before the beginning of the selection

Start/Continue/Stop

FIXME

Play from Edit Point and Return

Starts the playback at the Edit point, and when stopped, goes back to the orginial location

Play Loop Range

If a Loop range is defined, play it and loop until stopped

Start Recording

This is a shortcut to trigger the global recording, and start playback at once

Stop and Forget Capture

Stops the recording, removes the newly created material, and goes back to the original position

Enable Record

Triggers the global recording. Next time "Play" is pressed, it will record on the track(s) that are armed for recording

Set Loop from Selection

Converts the selection into a Loop range by placing loop markers at the start and end of the selected range

Set Punch from Selection

Same thing, for Punch

Set Session Start/End from Selection

Same thing, for the start and end markers of the session, defining the sessions length

Forward

FIXME

Rewind

Plays the audio backwards from the playhead on

Transition to Roll

FIXME

Transition to Reverse

FIXME

Playhead

Playhead to Mouse

Set the position of the playhead at the current position of the mouse cursor

Playhead to Active Mark

If a marker is selected, set the position of the playhead at the position of the marker

Center Playhead

Centers the view on the playhead without changing the zoom level (putting the playhead in the middle of the screen)

Nudge Playhead Forward

Shifts the position of the playhead to the right by the amount shown in the nudge timer

Nudge Playhead Backward

Same thing, to the left

Move to Next Transient

When transient have been set, moves the playhead to the next one to the right

Move to Previous Transient

Same, to the left

Playhead to Next Grid

Regardless of the state of the Grid Mode, goes to the next grid to the right, as set by the Snap/Grid unit

Playhead to Previous Grid

Same, to the left

Playhead to Next Region Boundary

Moves the playhead to the right to the next beginning or end of region on the selected track or, if no track is selected, on all tracks

Playhead to Previous Region Boundary

Same, to the left

Playhead to Next Region Boundary (No Track Selection)

Moves the playhead to next beginning or end of region, be it on the selected track or any other

Playhead to Previous Region Boundary (No Track Selection)

Same, to the left

Playhead to Next Region Sync

Moves the playhead to next Region Sync Point, that is by default the beginning of a region but can be moved

Playhead to Previous Region Sync

Same, to the left

Jump to Next Mark

moves the playhead to the next marker on the Ruler

Jump to Previous Mark

Same, to the left

Go to Zero

Sends the playhead to the 00:00:00:00 time, regardless of the sessions Start marker

Go to Start

Sends the playhead to the Start marker of the session

Go to End

Sends the playhead to the End marker of the session

Go to Wall Clock

Sends the playhead to the current value of system time, as shown on the top right of the Status bar

Active Mark

To Next Region Boundary

Moves the currently selected marker to the next region beginning or end

To Previous Region Boundary

Same, to the left

To Next Region Sync

Moves the currently selected to the next region sync point (by default: beginning or end of the region)

To Previous Region Sync

Same, to the left

Markers

Add Mark from Playhead

Creates a Marker at the position of the playhead

Remove Mark at Playhead

Removes any marker at the position of the playhead

Toggle Mark at Playhead

Combine the 2 previous: if a marker exists, deletes it, otherwise create it

Locate to Mark n

If it exists, goes to the n-th marker

Set Session Start from Playhead

Puts the Start of the session marker at the playhead's position

Set Session End from Playhead

Puts the End of the session marker at the playhead's position

[] Time Master

Sets Ardour as the Time master, i.e. Ardour sends the time information to the audio system

[] Punch In/Out

Based on the Punch in and Punch out markers if they exist, tells Ardour to record only between those two points

[] Punch In

Based on the Punch in marker, only allow to record from this point on

[] Punch Out

Based on the Punch out marker, forbids recording before this point

[] Audio Input

If checked, automatically switch the monitor from input to playbackmode when playing

[] Follow Edits

If checked, selecting a region moves the playhead to its beginning

[] Auto Play

If checked, moving the playhead in the ruler starts the playback

[] Auto Return

If checked, when the playback is stopped, go back to the previous position of the playhead. If not, the playhead stays where it is when the playback is stopped

[] Click

Activates/desactivates the click track (metronome)

[] Follow Playhead

If checked, while playing, when the playhead reaches the right of the screen, Ardour scrolls one screen to the right to keep the playhead visible at all times

[] Stationary Playhead

If checked and if Follow playhead is checked, on playback, the playhead stays at the center of the screen, and the session scrolls

Panic

Immediately stops all MIDI playback (usefull e.g. when a MIDI bug in encountered)