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, you typically have an idea
of what you need to use the new tracks for, and Ardour offers you three
choices:
</p>
<dl class="narrower-table">
<dt>Audio</dt>
<dd>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.</dd>
<dt>MIDI</dt>
<dd>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 you add an instrument plugin, the MIDI track outputs audio instead
of MIDI data.
</p></dd>
<dt>Audio/MIDI</dt>
<dd>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 you 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 you of this.</dd>
</dl>
<h2 id="trackmodes">Track Modes</h2>
<p>
Audio tracks in Ardour have a <dfn>mode</dfn> which affects how they behave
when recording:
</p>
<dl class="narrower-table">
<dt>Normal</dt>
<dd>Tracks in <dfn>normal mode</dfn> will record non-destructively&mdash;new
data is written to new files, and when overdubbing, new regions will be
layered on top of existing ones. This is the recommended mode for most
workflows.
</dd>
<dt>Non-Layered</dt>
<dd>Tracks using <dfn>non-layered mode</dfn> will record
non-destructively&mdash;new data is written to new files, but when
overdubbing, the existing regions are trimmed so that there are no overlaps.
This does not affect the previously recorded audio data, and trimmed regions
can be expanded again at will. Non-layered mode can be very useful for spoken
word material, especially in combination with
<a href="/editing-and-arranging/change-region-lengths/pushpull-trimming/">push/pull trimming</a>.
</dd>
<dt>Tape</dt>
<dd><dfn>Tape-mode</dfn> tracks do <strong>destructive</strong> recording:
all data is recorded to a single file and if you overdub a section of
existing data, the existing data is destroyed irrevocably&mdash;there is no
undo. Fixed crossfades are added at every punch in and out point. This mode
can be useful for certain kinds of re-recording workflows, but it not
suggested for normal
use.</dd>
</dl>
<img class="right" src="/images/a3_nonlayered_example.png" alt="normal and non-layered overdubbing comparision"
/>
<p>
The screenshot on the right shows the subtle difference between an overdub
in <dfn>normal mode</dfn> (upper track) and one in <dfn>non-layered mode</dfn>
(lower track). Both tracks were created using identical audio data. <br>
The upper track shows a new region which has been <dfn>layered on
top</dfn> of the the existing (longer) region. You can see this if you look
carefully at the region name strips.<br>
The lower track has split the existing region in two, trimmed each new
region to create space for the new overdub, and inserted the overdub region
in between.
</p>
<h2 id="channelconfiguration">Channel Configuration</h2>
<p>
Ardour tracks can have any number of inputs and any number of outputs, and the
number of either can be changed at any time (subject to restrictions caused by
any plugins in a track). However it is useful to not have to configure this sort
of thing for the most common cases, and so the
<a href="/working-with-tracks/adding-tracks-and-busses/">Add Tracks</a> dialog allows you to
select "Mono", "Stereo" and few other typical multichannel presets<br>
The name of the preset describes the number of <dfn>input channels</dfn>
of the track or bus.
</p>
<p>
If you have configured Ardour to automatically connect new tracks and
busses for you, the number of outputs will be determined by the number of
inputs of the <dfn>master <a
href="/introducing-ardour/understanding-basic-concepts-and-terminology/#busses">bus</a></dfn>,
to which the track outputs will be connected.<br>
For example, if you have a two-channel master bus, then a Mono track has one
input and two outputs; a Stereo track has two inputs and two outputs.
</p>
<p class="note">
If you you set <kbd class="menu">Edit &gt; Preferences &gt; Audio
&gt; Connection of Tracks and Busses</kbd> to <kbd
class="menu">manual</kbd>, then tracks will be left disconnected by default
and there will be as many outputs as there are inputs. It is up to you to connect
them as you wish. This is not a particularly useful way to work unless you are doing
something fairly unusual with signal routing and processing. It is almost always
preferable to leave Ardour to make connections automatically, even if you later
change some of them manually.
</p>