Major New Features
Pianoroll Windows
Double-click on a MIDI region to edit it in its own dedicated
window, or in a pane at the bottom of the main window. Editing in
that window will work almost identically to the way it does in the
main timeline, but without the distractions of the rest of the user
interface. You can also see MIDI automation (velocity, CC parameters
etc.), optionally overlaid.
MIDI and Audio Cue Editing
The Cue page now allows direct editing of the contents of MIDI cues
(“clips” for Live & Bitwig users). A pianoroll area opens that
allows precisely the same MIDI editing operations as would be
available on the editor timeline.
Cue Recording
You can now record directly into cue slots, making Ardour a “looper”
in the same sense that Live, Bitwig and several other contemporary
DAWs are. You can pre-specificy the recording duration (e.g. “Record
4 bars”) or you can record until you think you’re done. Whatever you
recorded will start playing at the next quantization point (e.g.
bar/beat).
Region FX
If you’ve ever asked “how do I add some delay to just this part of
my vocal?”, then region FX are what you’ve been looking for. Similar
to region gain it allows to apply any plugin a given audio region
only. The effect and its automation remains with the region, even
when it is moved around on the timeline. While the same result can
be achieved with channels-strip plugins in the mixer (using bypass
automation), applying effects directly to regions on the timeline is
convenient for many workflows. The given effect is applied offline,
when reading the region from disk and does not add any additional
DSP load.
Realtime Perceptual Analyzer
A dedicated perceptual analyzer window is now available within
Ardour which allows one to visualize the live spectrum of multiple
signals. A key feature is that one can overlay individual sources
(tracks and busses) on top of each other. This allows one to see
which track contributes a given of frequency range to the
overall mix, find conflicting ranges or holes in the spectrum.
Note Brushing
Want to set up a pattern of hihats every 1/16th notes? 1/8th
note pizzicato strings every 1/4 note? Just hold down the
shift key and drag the mouse while draw MIDI notes, and Ardour
will fill according to your grid and note settings. Hold down
Alt as well, and get only every other note drawn. Engage caps
lock, and you can pick the notes that are drawn from a MIDI
keyboard or pad device. A fast, easy way to draw melodies and
rhythms.
Keyboard-Driven Automation Editing
You can now use keyboard modifiers, arrow keys, and the Enter key
to add new automation control points and change their position and value.
Mixer Strips Importing and Exporting
You can now import mixer strips from arbitrary Ardour sessions as new track or map existing track to processing in mixer strips of external sessions. You can also export strips as local (session-level) or global presets for reuse.
Multi-Touch GUI
On Linux and Windows, Ardour now supports multi-touch interaction as
provided by the operating system. This may come for macOS
eventually, but the way multi-touch works there is significantly
different and will need more work.