manual/include/track-types.html

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