Hi, I am new to the Mac and Ardour world. I just bought a new iMac and need a good recording package so I thought I’d subscribe and try this one. Problem is I cannot find any detailed instructions on how to install it. I’ve installed a couple of programs on the iMac and had a couple of problems…
So my questions are:
What is Jack and why do I need it? Do I install Jack first?
How exactly do I install Ardour once it’s downloaded?
I have a Roland UA-30 D/A interface which works fine with Garageband and Audacity, so it should work fine with Ardour, right?
Are there any special system requirements, aside from Jack, that the new iMac would not have?
I’m not sure if I am just blind or stupid but I could not find installation instructions on the site anywhere, and in the forums I can only find snippets of information and don’t want to try and piece them together…I’ll surely go wrong!
What is Jack and why do I need it? Do I install Jack first?
Jack is an audio routing subsystem to get audio between various applications and hardware on your computer. Ardour uses it to get all audio in and out of it, so yes you need it, and yes you would install it first.
How exactly do I install Ardour once it's downloaded?
There are two types of ‘installers’ for OS X in general. Package installers (end in .pkg or .mpkg) you double click and it walks you through the installation. Disk Images (ends in .dmg) on the other hand, while they amy contain .pkg files, typically will just contain .app files, which are just the applications themselves. In Ardour’s case it falls in the latter category and to install is just drag and drop where you want it. Heck you could run it from the DMG itself if you wanted to.
I have a Roland UA-30 D/A interface which works fine with Garageband and Audacity, so it should work fine with Ardour, right?
If it works with your OS, and it sounds like it does, then it will work with Jack and thus Ardour. You should read the above manual and in particular the section about configuring Jack on OS X.
Are there any special system requirements, aside from Jack, that the new iMac would not have?
Not really, it sounds like you got everything.
I'm not sure if I am just blind or stupid but I could not find installation instructions on the site anywhere, and in the forums I can only find snippets of information and don't want to try and piece them together...I'll surely go wrong!
The above manual is linked to under the Support section and is well put together for newcomers to Ardour. In general most programs in OS X follow the same installation procedure so most people don’t spend a lot of time on how to install programs, assuming, perhaps wrongly, that most people would know how. However the above manual does walk you through it as well.