path: root/manual/xml/basic_recording.xml

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<section id="sn-basic-recording">
  <title>Basic Recording</title>
  <para>
    Recording audio is theoretically a very simple process. You have to make
    essentially 2 decisions: what are you going to record, and how many
    channels will you be recording, then press a couple of buttons and
    you're recording.
  </para>

  <para>
    Unfortunately, most recording also requires monitoring&mdash;providing
    some way to hear what you are recording as you record it, possibly with
    existing recorded material as well. Monitoring in Ardour is very
    flexible, but with flexibility comes complexity. If you want to try to
    skip ahead and record without reading about monitoring, you are welcome
    to do so. Ardour attempts to use reasonable defaults for monitoring, but
    the variety of hardware setups make it impossible to pick one default
    that will work for everyone.
  </para>

  <para>
    For this reason, you are strongly recommended to spend a few minutes
    understanding <xref linkend="sn-monitoring"/>, because otherwise you're
    going to get very confused and possibly irritated.
  </para>

  <section id="recording-a-single-track">
    <title>Recording a single audio track</title>
    <para>
      These steps can all be taken directly within the Editor window,
      although most of them can also be done via Mixer window if you prefer.
    </para>
  </section>

  <section id="setting-up-a-new-track-for-recording">
    <title>Setting up a new track for recording</title>
    <orderedlist>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Choose <menuchoice> <guimenu>Session</guimenu> <guisubmenu>Add
          Track/Bus</guisubmenu> </menuchoice>. This will popup a dialog
          allowing you to choose how many tracks to add, and what basic I/O
          configuration the track will have (mono, stereo, etc.). You can
          change I/O configurations for tracks at any time.
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Make the editor's dedicated mixer strip visible by clicking on the
          <guibutton>Editor Mixer</guibutton> button located at the left end
          of the transport bar.
          <note>
            <para>
              In Ardour2, there is no <guibutton>Editor Mixer</guibutton>
              button, but you can make the mixer strip visible by selecting
              <menuchoice> <guimenu>View</guimenu> <guisubmenu>Show Editor
              Mixer</guisubmenu> </menuchoice>, or by pressing
              <keycombo><keycap>Shift</keycap><keycap>E</keycap></keycombo>
              on the keyboard.
            </para>
          </note>
        </para>
      </listitem>
    </orderedlist>
    <section id="selecting-record-source">
      <title>Selecting the source to record</title>
      <orderedlist>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            Check the input configuration for the new track. Click on its
            control area. A mixer strip appears in the editor for this
            track. Click on the <guibutton>Input</guibutton> button near the
            top of the strip, and select <guimenuitem>Edit</guimenuitem>
            from the menu. The standard I/O dialog pops up to let you
            connect the track to whichever JACK port you want to record
            from.
          </para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            Rename the track. This is an important step in helping you make
            sense of your session, because track names are used when naming
            newly created regions.
          </para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            Click on the track's record-enable button to record enable the
            track. You can use the <guibutton>r</guibutton> button in the
            track control area or the <guibutton>record</guibutton> button
            of the mixer strip. The button will turn pink.
          </para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            Adjust the output level of the sound source to the a level where
            the loudest input drives the meter in the mixer strip close to,
            but not over, 0dB. The mixer strip will show the incoming signal
            level, along with peak indicators
          </para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            If you are using software monitoring, adjust the output volume
            and possibly panning if desired. These settings do not affect
            the recorded material.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </orderedlist>
      <para>
        Check the output configuration for the new track. Click on the
        <guibutton>Output</guibutton> button near the bottom of the strip,
        and select <guimenuitem>Edit</guimenuitem> from the menu. Make sure
        the track's output is connected as you intend.
      </para>

      <note>
        <para>
          by default (and when not using a session template that works
          otherwise) mono tracks have mono outputs, meaning that you cannot
          pan them.
        </para>
      </note>
    </section>
  </section>

  <section id="to-record-to-the-new-audio-track">
    <title>To record to the new audio track</title>
    <orderedlist>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          If necessary, setup the session's default meter and tempo by on
          the initial meter and tempo markers.
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          If desired, enable the click track in the transport bar.
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Click on the <guimenuitem>Record</guimenuitem> button of the
          transport window, which will start to flash.
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          When you are ready to record, click the
          <guibutton>Play</guibutton> button in the transport window.
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          When you have finished recording, click the
          <guibutton>Stop</guibutton> button in the transport window.
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          If desired, click the track's record-enable button to disengage
          record-enable for this track.
        </para>
      </listitem>
    </orderedlist>
    <para>
      The audio you recorded will be written to a new audio file stored on
      one of your disks. In the editor, a new region will appear in the
      track display area and also in the region list display.
    </para>
  </section>

  <section id="to-playback-the-new-audio-track">
    <title>To play back the new audio track</title>
    <orderedlist>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Press the <keycap>Home</keycap> key (or
          <keycombo><keycap>Ctrl</keycap><keycap>A</keycap></keycombo>) to
          return the playhead to the start of the track
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          In the transport bar click on the <guibutton>Play</guibutton>
          button, or press the <keycap>spacebar</keycap>.
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Adjust the track's volume as necessary, using either the mixer
          strip in the editor, or the corresponding strip in the mixer
          window.
        </para>
      </listitem>
    </orderedlist>
  </section>

  <section id="cancelling-a-take">
    <title>Cancelling a take</title>
    <para></para>
  </section>

  <section id="recording-multiple-tracks">
    <title>Recording multiple tracks</title>
    <para>
      Multiple tracks can easily be recorded simultaneously by
      record-enabling each track you would like to record.
    </para>
  </section>

  <section id="recording-additional-takes">
    <title>Recording additional takes</title>
    <para></para>
  </section>

  <section id="appending-new-material">
    <title>Appending new material</title>
    <para></para>
  </section>

  <section id="recording-into-a-new-playlist">
    <title>Recording into a new playlist</title>
    <para>
      There is a <guibutton>p</guibutton> button in the track controls. If
      you press it and select <guimenuitem>new playlist</guimenuitem>, the
      contents will be cleared, allowing you to construct a new arrangement
      of recordings. You can recall your playlist later by using the same
      button and selecting <guimenuitem>select...</guimenuitem>. This will
      open a window displaying all the playlists you have recorded on that
      track. Select the one you want and proceed. Playlists from other
      tracks can also be selected.. in fact you can have the same playlist
      on two different tracks if you feel it necessary.
    </para>
  </section>

  <section id="punch-recording">
    <title>Punch Recording</title>
    <para>
      You can automate the portion of a track to be recorded using the punch
      functions. This is most often implemented when a portion of a
      particular take is problematic but an adjacent portion is good. In
      order to punch record, the punch range must be set.
    </para>
  </section>

  <section id="loop-recording">
    <title>Loop Recording</title>
    <para></para>
  </section>

  <section id="setting-punch-loop-points">
    <title>Setting Punch/Loop Points</title>
    <para></para>
  </section>

  <section id="using-pre-and-post-roll">
    <title>Using Pre- and Post-Roll</title>
    <para></para>
  </section>
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