123 lines
6.0 KiB
HTML
123 lines
6.0 KiB
HTML
|
|
<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 —
|
|
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
|
|
— 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 — 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 > Preferences > Audio
|
|
> 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>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|