Range selection via master track's "sum"

Community Ideas for Ardour
#1

Hi. After a massive range-tooling operation, I got to thinking… In the editor:

When large-scale duplicating, say, it would be grand to make it easier in some way:

In “range mode” selecting a portion of the master track: all (active*) tracks would contribute to the range painted down in the master track…

So if one’s session had 12 (active*) tracks with 4 bars to duplicate, one would simply paint the pertinent 4 bars in the master track (lessening the vertical scrolling workload), and Ardour would automatically sum the contents of the tracks outputting to the master track.

*Active meaning what it means in Ardour glossary, or, in contrast, this type of operation could select all soloed tracks (& de-select muted tracks)… What do you think?

Thanks for your consideration, and heartfelt thanks for a kickass program.

#2

Also: the master track in the editor is kind of redundant visually. A rudimentary view of the entire session could be worked into the master track (just visuals). CPU hogging aside, it could be very lightweight: showcasing the fact that there’s something happening in the master track instead of being waveform accurate (think: Recorder). Any automation on the master track would be aided by this visual “cuing”, as well…
Peace

#3

Well, silence is a loud speaker. Happy summer to everyone.

Oh, and the “Summary” view is a work in progress, right or wrong? Why is it glued to the bottom of the screen? Bless you all.

#4

I did think quite carefully about your suggestion. There’s a lot of really deep technical problems with the core part of your idea that I suspect you wouldn’t be aware of (or maybe you are). So complex that I can’t see us wanting to try that out.

The summary view lives where it lives, and is considered finished (to the extent that anything is ever finished). Ardour does not provide a way for to re-arrange the various panes/panels in the GUI. We don’t consider that a particularly important feature for most users, and since we have limited developer resources, we don’t plan to change that any time in the foreseeable future.

#5

I’m not sure if this compares to what you wanted but had to think about a feature in Waveform. It is described here: Waveform - Arranger Track - YouTube

There’s also a section in @unfa’s MIDI Masterclass about restructuing a song. Hope that helps with your work.

1 Like
#6

You can easily hide it, but I regularly use it for automation or to show the editor-mixer view of its strip.

#7

Thank you kindly everyone for your input.

Paul Davis; your workload can get enormous, I believe, to feel that the “Arranger” type of track I described (thanks Thomas!) is too much work in the long run… I wish you well.

I quite feel that a simple, “floating” Summary view would address and alleviate some of the workflow issues brought up here and elsewhere. Colour tuning and track selection via the Summary would be grand, if workable.

It might also free up potential space for a proper scroll bar to be designed (horizontal and vertical). How do you see this?

Robin G.; you are right in the sense that where there’s a will, there’s a way. Where there isn’t; we veer toward chaos. Stay safe everyone in these changing times, and home is indeed where the heart is :hugs:

#8

Again: I would advise you to consider the benefits of having the Summary view (box) present in the mixer screen. Workflows can be very different for different people, and opening up Ardour for new possibilities cannot be considered a bad thing. Namaste.

#9

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