Often for drums I want to record them in multiple passes since it’s hard to input all the notes I want at once. However rerecording just adds more regions on top, which are separate and cannot be played simultaneously. Is there a way to do this without using multiple tracks?
Changing the Rec mode from Layered to Snd on Snd should do what you need.
Alas, no. Ardour does not offer any way to overdub MIDI regions at this time (in the specific sense of adding new MIDI data to an existing region; it can be drawn in, but that’s different too).
However, regions can be transparent and thus be heard as desired.
Hmm it’s unfortunate to not be able to overdub since I want to process the entire thing as one recording eventually.
Snd on Snd does have a similar effect, but when I enter edit mode I can only edit the notes on the topmost layer (in both layered and stacked track layout). I do not see a way to move layers up and down either, so I don’t know how it’s possible to edit previously entered notes.
This is a major issue for many MIDI workflows, and I hope to address it for some 9.x release.
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It is not a bad thing at all to record your drums onto separate tracks. It gives you way more control and is more like recording a real drum kit. It’s also very handy to be able to EQ or compress each percussion track when needed. Something you cannot do when the drums are all on one track.
Is there a design consensus for this feature? I can open a discussion and if the decision is not too complicated to implement I could work on this. Main unknowns are for example which region to edit if overdub is enabled (I don’t think Ardour has a notion of default/main region?).
There is no design consensus for this feature. The underlying code to merge incoming MIDI into a MIDI region/model/source already exists. Yes, the central problem is identifying the region to use and how to handle overdubbing before the start of that region or after its end.
Before leaving, I will list all possible workflows that would work for me after some quick thinking, in case it is useful for future reference. Of course each with pros and cons and dependent on personal preference
- Overdub only adds notes to existing regions, input is ignored if none exist
- Overdub modifies regions if they exist, creates new to fill in gaps
- Snd on Snd is used for overdub, but to make it more usable Ardour allows you to merge layers, or at least edit older layers
Thank you for your work
AFAIK this is already possible: select all regions (layers), then in the right-click-menu select “combine”. At times this gave me a too small region as result, but it was possible to stretch the borders of the combined region to make all the content visible / audible
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Yes, it is possible, but it is cumbersome if your workflow is just overdubbing.