71 lines
3.6 KiB
HTML
71 lines
3.6 KiB
HTML
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<p>
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Ardour offers three <dfn>track types</dfn> depending on the type of
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data they contain, and differentiates between three <dfn>track modes</dfn>,
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depending on their recording behaviour.
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</p>
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<h2>Track types</h2>
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<p>
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An Ardour track can be of type <dfn>audio</dfn> or <dfn>MIDI</dfn>,
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depending on the <dfn>data</dfn> that the track will primarily record
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and play back. <em>However, either type of track can pass either
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type of data.</em> Hence, for example, one might have a MIDI track that
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contains an instrument plugin; such a track would record and play back
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MIDI data from disk but would produce audio, since the instrument plugin
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would turn MIDI data into audio data.
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</p>
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<p>
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Nevertheless, when adding tracks to a session, its content is typically
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known, and Ardour offers three choices:
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</p>
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<table class="dl">
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<tr><th>Audio</th>
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<td>An <dfn>Audio Track</dfn> is created with a user-specified number of
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inputs. The number of outputs is defined by the master bus channel count
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(for details see <a href="@@channel-configuration">Channel Configuration</a>).
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This is the type of track to use when planning to work with
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existing or newly recorded audio.</td></tr>
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<tr><th>MIDI</th>
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<td>A <dfn>MIDI track</dfn> is created with a single MIDI input, and a
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single MIDI output. This is the type of track to use when planning to
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record and play back MIDI. There are several methods to enable playback
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of a MIDI track: add an instrument plugin to the track, connect the
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track to a software synthesizer, or connect it to external MIDI hardware.
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<p class="note">
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If an instrument plugin is added, the MIDI track outputs audio alongside
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MIDI data.
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</p></td></tr>
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<tr><th>Audio/MIDI</th>
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<td>There are a few notable plugins that can usefully accept both <dfn>Audio
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and MIDI</dfn> data (Reaktor is one, and various "auto-tune" like plugins
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are another). It can be tricky to configure this type of track manually,
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so Ardour allows to select this type specifically for use with such
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plugins. It is <em>not</em> generally the right choice when working normal
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MIDI tracks, and a dialog will warn of this.</td></tr>
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<tr><th>Audio or MIDI Bus</th>
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<td>A bus is a pseudo-track where multiple audio tracks can be mixed together
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for some common processing before being routed to the Master Bus (which itself
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is a bus). A bus doesn't contain any regions or audio/MIDI data, it is fed a
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signal by <a href="@@aux-sends">sends</a> from one or multiple other tracks, or
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by <a href="@@audiomidi-busses-mixer-strips">connecting tracks outputs</a> to
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the bus' input. Busses are often used to apply one effect on multiple tracks,
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with the benefits of having the same parameters and less computer processing
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required as only one instance of the plugin is used.<br>
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Ardour can differentiate Audio busses from MIDI busses, allowing e.g. one
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instrument plugin to be used for several MIDI tracks.<br>
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A bus output can also be routed to another bus.
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</td></tr>
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<tr><th>VCA</th>
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<td>A <abbr title="Voltage-Controlled Amplifier">VCA</abbr> is a way to group
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together tracks or busses to enable grouped-control over gain, solo and mute.
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Like the Bus, it does not contain regions, but unlike it, it does not contain
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effects either. VCAs are commonly used to group together related tracks (e.g. "drums"
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or "vocals") to allow controlling the gain of all those tracks at once in the
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mix while retaining their relative gain.<br>
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VCAs are fed audio by <a href="@@control-masters-mixer-strips">assigning them</a>
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to one or more tracks or busses.
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</td></tr>
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</table>
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