Ardour

Ardour is an open source digital audio workstation (popularly known as DAW) graphical application that provides users with a state-of-the-art and very powerful solution for producing electronic music. It is supported on Linux and Mac OS X operating systems. The program can be used to record, edit and mix multi-track and multi-channel audio, as well as to produce CDs, and even to mix video soundtracks. Panning, automation, mix groups, inline plugin control, monitor section, listen or solo model, and routing capabilities are also implemented in Ardour.

Features at a glance

Among some of its major highlights, we can mention multi-channel recording, non-destructive and non-linear region based editing with unlimited redo and undo, in-window editing, strip silence, overlapping regions, transparent regions, push-pull trimming, opaque regions, vertical stacking mode, and Rhythm Ferret support. It also comes with a mixer component whose capabilities are much better than the ones of high-end hardware consoles, and a wide range of plugins that will greatly extend the default functionality.

Supports numerous interface

Whether you own a cheap audio interface or a very expensive one, Ardour can use it, but only if its supported by your Linux distribution. In addition it supports network audio, as well as USB, Firewire and PCI interfaces.

Imports and exports numerous audio file formats

It can import or export to/from major audio formats, including FLAC, OGG Vorbis, WAV, AIFF, BWF and CAF, it supports the Freesound.org repository, export multi-channel files and multiple sample rates and formats simulateneously, as well as to create TOC and CUE files. There’s no limit on how many tracks, busses, sample rates, channels, plugins per track or inserts/sends per track you can use, but it will require a high-end computer when you operate over 30 tracks at once.

Bottom line

Considering the fact that it’s 100% free and runs on open source Linux-based operating systems, this is the best ever DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) for music enthusiasts and even professional music producers.

What is new in this release:

• New Features:
• Improvements to the template manager dialog.
• Lua templates for tracks and sessions can now be created/scripted.
• New session dialog functionality improved, with new templates and track wizards.
• New track dialog functionality improved, with new templates and track wizards.
• Expose Lua bindings for VCA create/delete/assign/unassign.
• New patch selector dialog for MIDI tracks. This can be accessed by right clicking in the track header area.
• Ardour's generic GUI for instrument plugins now includes a keyboard to allow auditioning the plugin settings.
• Display playback-only devices when using JACK.
• Support for a new LV2 extension to notify the host about MIDI bank/program changes (e.g. driven by the plugin's own GUI).
• Faderport 8: double-click on select button resets gain to 0dB.
• General Fixes and Improvements:
• Fix MIDI quantization when not using US English.
• Fix selection of quantization note-end grid size.
• Catch exceptions thrown from Lua scripts.
• Fix handling of MIDI channels in the Transform dialog.
• Improve the heuristic used to display track/bus I/O connections in a compact form, as well a connection menus.
• Clicks on I/O menus now always connect, rather than toggle connected status.
• OSC: gracefully handle the user sending the wrong number of parameters.
• OSC: changing jog mode no longer stops transport unless started by scrub/shuttle.
• Secondary clock visibility is now a global preference rather than a per-session setting.
• The editor's summary view is now constrained to the extent of actual regions, rather than the session extent, by default. This can be reset from a right-click on the summary.
• New configuration setting for playhead auto-scroll speed. If you want to scroll quickly, it is preferred to zoom out first, then scroll.
• New configuraton setting to define how much zooming will be easily allowed beyond the extents of actual regions in the session.
• Generic plugin GUI: fix sizing and layout for automation state controls in plugins with many controls.
• Increase priority of the thread involved in automation recording. This fixes an issue with sparse automation recording when the CPU is busy.
• Update the included version of NSS (a secure networking library), to provide some features required by some plugins.
• Fix the way MIDI filenames are "bumped" during snapshots and playlist copying.
• Fix crash bug in Ableton Push 2 support, introduced in a recent version.
• Fix various tooltips to avoid problems with special characters in their text.
• Catch some exceptions during session loading.
• Relax some restrictions imposed by the Lua sandbox (for scripts).

What is new in version :

• General Changes and Improvements:
• Prevent adding Master Bus to a Track/Bus group and make group button insensitive.
• Re/Add send options in the Processor box context menu and an option to allow feedback loop via Aux sends.
• Improvements to behaviour of Track/Bus/VCA Color Selection dialog.
• Consistent Color Selection dialogs with customizable color palette.
• Update Track/Bus/VCA colors while choosing color in Color Selection dialog.
• Use Shift key to toggle gain-grouping on a Fader, ctrl to override solo/mute grouping.
• Update Selection Clock when selected Region properties change.
• Hide SoundCloud upload in Export Dialog until fixed.
• Use OpenGL backed rendering/drawing for several Widgets on OS X/macOS including main Track Canvas to improve performance.
• Add ability to drop Group from VCA via right click on Group tab.
• Add preference to disable blinking of alert buttons.
• Various improvements to Audio Setup dialog.
• Add preference to only enable Click when recording is enabled.
• Updates to Blueberry Milk colors/theme.
• Merge most of the string-convert branch (see ardour-dev list for overview).
• Remove no longer necessary LocaleMode preference.
• Make -b/--bindings command line option output key bindings to HTML and launch in browser.
• Add -A/--actions command line option to output actions' names in HTML and open in browser.
• Deselect WASAPI support by default in Windows installer.
• Make Track/Bus XML node order in Session file independent of display order [#7327]
• Add action to select the topmost track and use in Faderport8 surface.
• Make Group color property accessible to surfaces and scripts.
• Improve Tap Tempo and allow tapping with keyboard (Space or Enter).
• Add configurable limit to clock display range.
• Restore visibility of Monitor Section and whether attached/detached.
• Tempo:
• Allow tempo discontinuities at the beginning of ramped tempo section.
• Changes to Tempo marker operations and modifiers.
• Add 'Ramp to Next' to Tempo Marker menu, when next tempo is different.
• Add 'Continue' to Tempo Marker menu to continue end tempo value of previous Tempo Marker.
• Display red Tempo Mark pointer if tempo jumps more than 1 NTPM.
• Display note type in marker text if note type is non-quarter.
• Add entry for end bpm when creating a ramped Tempo in the Tempo Dialog.
• MIDI:
• Use a Patch Change dialog to send immediate patch changes via the MIDI Track Controls context/right-click menu.
• Support note name editing in the MIDI List Editor.
• Plugins:
• Add support for VST effSetBypass. [#7266]
• Cut reverb tail in a-reverb when deactivating plugin.
• Improve a-delay to follow tempo-ramps and BPM changes.
• Increase VST scan timeout and set default of Verbose Plugin Scan to false.
• Changes to plugin categories to improve consistency across plugin API's/standards.
• Scripting:
• Add action script to bypass all plugins.
• Add action script to mute all Tracks.
• Add script to installers/bundles to save a Session snapshot on export.
• Add '==' instance equality operator and update scripts to use it.
• Add bindings for transient analysis and add a script to print transients of selected regions.
• Add Lua bindings to access MIDI Region note events and example script.
• Optimize garbage collection (affecting performance of serialization).
• Improve bindings for RouteGroupList and Plugin classes.
• Add bindings for FileSource.
• Add example script to convert MIDI-CC to Plugin Automation.
• Add LuaDialog and derived Widgets as well as an example script.
• Add bindings for setting group color.
• Control Surfaces:
• Use "Mix" and "Proj" buttons on the Faderport to present the Mixer and Editor rather than a toggle.
• Various improvements to the OSC surface.
• Add support for Faderport8 control surface.
• Update preferences when control surfaces change with session.
• Retain the state of disabled control surfaces.
• Add scrub and multi-mode jog commands to OSC surface.
• Add automation mode feeback to OSC surface.
• Support gain automation feeback in OSC surface [#7160]
• Assign some default actions for the function select (F-keys) in the Mackie MCP user profile.
• Updates to Korg Nano Kontrol2 MIDI map by Philippe Demartin.
• Add MIDI map for Korg Studio and Arturia KeyLab 49.
• Add MIDI map for Alesis QX25 from Nathan Stewart [#7345]
• Fixes:
• Allow changing track colours with older 4.X Sessions.
• Fix for touch mute automation.
• Allow loading of SMF meta data with size greater than 127 bytes.
• Fix implicit selection when operating Track header control buttons.
• Fix audition with monitor section.
• Don't display channel selector for instrument plugins with zero audio outputs.
• Don't automatically open generic UIs for plugins without controls.
• Fix crash when adding a plugin immediately after re-order (via script).
• Fix issue with mouse button event ordering in EngineDialog.
• Prevent an empty system config and ship the system_config in bundles again.
• Fix crash when inserting time with split intersected regions.
• Offset linked regions to compensate for negative start after trim drag [#7105]
• Restore screen position when undoing creation of a MIDI note.
• Prevent the General MIDI Control Protocol surface from overriding Session version.
• Ensure no horizontal movement occurs when dragging regions with the x-constrain modifier enabled [#7260]
• Fix AFL/PFL from MIDI tracks without audio
• Work around a crash at exit with some Linux VST UIs.
• Prevent creation of MIDI regions with length less than a pixel [#7271]
• Fixes to VST Window re/sizing.
• Prevent crash when removing time from track with automation. [#7287]
• Fix issue when undoing of Fade range operation [#7283]
• Use Tempo Curve color for measure line beats [#4930]
• Correctly restore clock modes in Location Window and other AudioClocks.
• Restore Solo/Mute when loading old 4.X Sessions.
• Avoid possible crash with multi-bus AudioUnit plugins.
• Prevent issue with automation playback setting Session as modified.
• Fix issue with Pan stuck at center in OSC surface.
• Fix toggling Monitor Mute/Dim/Mono actions with OSC.
• Prevent MIDI tracks from drawing into the Ruler area.
• Make Peak display in MixerStrip insensitive to mouse clicks/drags.
• Update Patch Change Naming when plugins change.
• Fix count-in for non 4/4 time signatures.
• Hide eye-dropper color picker on OS X/macOS builds due to it not working.
• Correctly load Track templates with inserts [#5778]
• Fix crash when dragging playhead or mouse in ruler area [#7304]
• Fix `set-*-from-edit-range` actions, when accessed from control surfaces
• Fixes to reset keybindings.
• Prevent crash during extreme timestretch. [#7305]
• Fixes for performance issues with region selection. [#7274]
• Retain order of concurrent MIDI events.
• Prevent truncation of concurrent events with ALSA raw MIDI buffers.
• Restore Track/Bus polarity invert state from older Sessions.
• Use correct action path names in several midi-maps.
• Prevent crash when loading MIDI port info where ports no longer exist.
• Fix crash when clicking on the canvas while unloading a Session.
• Avoid a possible deadlock in the control surface manager.
• Prevent possible freeze when clicking on canvas without a AudioBackend running.
• Fixes to performance issues when restoring Region selection state [#7274]
• Fix nested VCA assigns and mixer-layout.
• Fixes to copy/paste of MIDI automation from/to Parameter automation.
• Corrections to latency measurement and Audio Setup dialog behaviour.
• In smart-mode, don't switch to range-mode after "set range selection" and similar operations. [#7332]
• Fix vari-speed and non-locked slave modes.
• Use correct descriptions and typos in --help output.
• Prevent MIDI learn handling events intended for other operations like temporary un/solo/mute.
• Make exclusive solo work again via ctrl+alt+click on solo button.
• Correctly restore track monitoring state from older Sessions. [#7336]
• Correctly scale ruler for HiDPI. [#7226]
• Scale text correctly in group tabs for HiDPI. [#7331]
• Allow Session end marker to move correctly when a Session is created from a template. [#7348]
• Prevent crash when replacing some LV2 plugins on a MIDI Track. [#7341]
• Update the profile name in the Mackie control panel to reflect the profile being edited when assigning actions.
• Make Save As and switch work correctly with a read-only Session. [#7352]
• Remove duplicate "Tape" menu item in Record Mode drop down in the Add Track/Bus/VCA dialog.
• Prevent creation of out-of-bounds image sizes during waveform rendering with high samplerates and high zoom levels.
• Translation Updates:
• Updated Japanese translation by Hiroki Inagaki.
• Updated German translation by Edgar Aichinger.

What is new in version 5.6:

• General Changes and Improvements:
• Speed up unloading large Sessions
• Speed up recent Session display, with many large Sessions and or snapshots.
• Transport control area layout changes.
• Add a mini-timeline to the Toolbar.
• Follow Edits has been renamed Follow Range and has changed behaviour.
• Allow customization of Toolbar via Preferences -> Appearance -> Toolbar
• Add ability to archive Session.
• Normalize audio when archiving to a fixed point format.
• Add more precise localization options to Preferences -> General -> Translation.
• Enable all types of Range locations (loop, start, end) to be glued to BBT.
• Allow preference for tempo to be expressed in divisions per minute or quarter notes per minute (General -> Tempo).
• Preference layout, grouping, wording/naming and tooltip changes.
• Add button to reset keyboard modifiers to recommended defaults in preferences (Editor -> Modifiers).
• Minor updates to Blueberry Milk, Caineville, Clear Gray and Cubasish Themes.
• Support added to compile on macOS 10.12 (Sierra).
• Modify playlist option labels in Duplicate Track/Bus dialog. [#7149]
• Support import of Tempo maps during MIDI import at selected position.
• Show context menu on right click on VCA track header.
• Support all drive letters on windows (with harvid version >= 0.8.2).
• Rename Bindings Window to Keyboard Shortcuts.
• Display name of conflicting keyboard shortcut.
• Allow automation line fill opacity themable.
• Add global monitoring controls to toolbar, enable visibility via Preferences -> Appearance -> Toolbar.
• Implement count-in before recording with fixed BPM, enable via Session -> Properties -> Misc.
• Implement record with pre-roll, accessible via Transport menu.
• Allow Editor toolbar and background to be themable.
• Allow changing Metronome level via Mouse Wheel on Metronome button in Toolbar.
• Display application version Session was last modified/saved with tooltip in recent session list.
• Scale Gain automation by masters current value if slaved.
• Add scripts to run Ardour under rr debugging tool.
• Disable VST scan in safe mode.
• Mark Session dirty when moving range/tempo markers. [#7217]
• Add undo/redo for changing marker lock style.
• Mark Loop button insensitive when no loop range is defined. [#7195]
• Name VCA's by number and user defined name if set.
• Add two export format specifications for stems.
• Include gmsynth.lv2 in application bundles/installers.
• Add option to use snapshot name instead of Session name when exporting.
• Save-As now working again as intended (no longer incorrectly asks about saving and does not incorrectly switch to new version unless asked)
• Actions/Binding Changes:
• This release changes the name of several Ardour actions that may be used by OSC & MIDI bindings and by customized key bindings. The affected action names are listed below. The old full action names began with "Editor/" - this has been changed to they all begin with "Common/".
• You can ignore this change unless you use OSC, or MIDI binding maps or customized key bindings.
• If you do use any of these features, you will need to either/or modify your OSC or MIDI bindings and redefine your key bindings after removing or renaming the customized ones. Failure to do this will mean that existing bindings to these actions will not function as intended.
• These changes were made in order to make these actions available from within the Mixer tab, rather than just the Editor.
• Affected Actions:
• alternate-jump-forward-to-mark
• alternate-jump-backward-to-mark
• set-session-start-from-playhead
• set-session-end-from-playhead
• toggle-location-at-playhead
• add-location-from-playhead
• alternate-add-location-from-playhead
• remove-location-from-playhead
• alternate-remove-location-from-playhead
• nudge-next-forward
• nudge-next-backward
• nudge-playhead-forward
• nudge-playhead-backward
• playhead-forward-to-grid
• playhead-backward-to-grid
• start-range-from-playhead
• finish-range-from-playhead
• start-range
• finish-range
• start-punch-range
• finish-punch-range
• start-loop-range
• finish-loop-range
• alt-start-range
• alt-finish-range
• Editor Improvements:
• Duplicate action now works in Range Selection mode.
• Multi-Duplicate now works for Range Selections.
• Zoom to selection (z key) now zooms on both axes.
• Add zoom to selection (horizontal) action.
• Add preference (editor -> general) to zoom to selection in object mode.
• Left and right arrow keys move playhead to next/previous grid point instead of region boundary (old behaviour can be accessed with modifiers)
• Speed up patch change redisplay.
• Don't locate when clicking on region fade handles in smart mode with follow edits enabled.
• Add actions to set current meter/tempo.
• Display boost/cut gain after audio region name.
• Mixer Improvements:
• Display vca's at the end of track/bus list.
• Show isolate solo and lock solo status buttons in master mixer strip but keep de-sensitized to preserve mixer strip layout between track/bus types.
• Fix update of group color in mixer strip header.
• Show vca color on number label and top of the mixer strip.
• Fixes to visual alignment of gui elements in the mixer.
• Use a popup menu to select meter point instead of cycling through modes.
• Fix assign record enabled/soloed to control master. [#7204]
• Assign/unassign selected mixer strips to vca using right click/context menu.
• MIDI Improvements:
• Increase midi related test coverage and refactoring.
• Add midnam support for a-fluid synth.
• Allow sending immediate patch changes via midi track context menu. [#6830]
• Speed up midi ghost note redisplay.
• Save and restore midi automation controls.
• Add option to use track numbers, track names or instrument names from smf files when importing.
• Add track and instrument names to smf files.
• Add option to use tempo map from smf file on import.
• Access to midi track channel settings now only via context menu.
• Improved canvas redraw performance with many midi notes.
• Add the midi channel number to controller names.
• Implement copy drag for midi notes. [#5570]
• Prefer general midi synth (gmsynth) as the default instrument.
• Performance improvements related to display of sysex data.
• Plugins Improvements:
• Add support for mac vst hidden/favorites.
• Show plugin format (lv2/ladspa/vst/etc) in menus to differentiate between the same plugin with several formats installed (e.g au/vst).
• Allow to directly fan-out when adding multichannel instruments.
• Scripting Improvements:
• Add bindings for track/bus groups, miditrack::midicontrol, timecode conversion and audioregion rms/peak.
• Extend bindings for plugininsert.
• Add fader to trims script.
• Add script to add a-high/low pass filter to all tracks.
• Add create drum tracks script.
• Add example script to start recording on a midi event.
• Add script to delete x-run markers.
• Allow lua bindings up to 10 arguments.
• Add example script/snippet for importing file/s.
• Add script to save snapshot after exporting.
• Control Surfaces:
• Remove unused feedback option from osc surface controls.
• Add talent individual monitor controls to osc surface.
• Make surface numbering the same as port numbering in mackie gui. [#7219]
• Fixes:
• Fix update of Track/Bus color in the Summary and Connection Manager.
• Fix loading of Blueberry Milk and Clear Grey themes. [#7155]
• Fix issues in Export with trim enabled. [#6412]
• Fix crash when creating track via region drag when exceeding JACK connection limit. [#6496]
• Fix crash at stop when recording in non-layered mode.
• Fix parsing export trim threshold config variable.
• Fixes for MSVC compiler
• Fix video-monitor "sync-source" changes
• Fix a source of hangs when closing Session with ALSA backend.
• Fix possible crash when naming tracks with reserved I/O names. [#7171]
• Fix flickering in tempo curve when Markers are reordered.
• Fixes for sample locked Meter and Tempo sections?
• Fix crash when dragging sample locked tempo over a music locked Tempo while snapped to grid.
• Fix potential crash in peak file building.
• Fix possible crash when removing ports with JACK1.
• Fix layered record undo to include changes to existing regions.
• Fixes to ensure Command key generates MOD2 on OS X.
• Fix region position when dragging multiple regions to respect time base/lock style.
• Fix thread safety issues with invalidation requests in event loops.
• Fix inaccessible controls in Pin Connections window. [#7177]
• Fix crash when resetting with VCA peak-meters.
• Fix patch changes appearing outside of Region bounds.
• Fix toggling between Editor and Mixer using Korg nanoKontrol2.
• Fix Solo button on Faderport.
• Fix management/ownership of shared playlists. [#7150]
• Fixes to inactive Tempo sections.
• Fix possibly incorrect start position of MIDI regions after split.
• Fix crash when changing Pane widgets. [#7198]
• Fix MTC slave implicit return on transport stop.
• Fix some memory leaks in libpbd, libardour and GUI code.
• Fix undo/redo for Regions -> Edit -> Close Gaps.
• Fix continuous multi-selection in the Mixer.
• Fix a-fluidsynth bank select.
• Fix Generic MIDI controls so changes are propagated to the group (if in one).
• Fix a number of issues related snap with music locked regions.
• Fix a few issues with dragging MIDI notes including across tempo changes.
• Fix state restoration of VCA slaves.
• Fix saving state of Solo and Mute controls when slaved.
• Updated translations:
• Italian translation. [#7180]
• German translation by Edgar Aichinger.
• French translation by Olivier Humbert.
• Japanese translation by Hiroki Inagaki.
• Russian translation by Alexandre Prokoudine