ardour/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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