Selecting corresponding regions across multiple tracks

[automaciej (Maciej Bliziński)]

I’m currently editing a multitrack recording. I created a group containing all the tracks I want to edit, so that clicking one region selects all regions from the group. Region splits work across all regions, I can drag them, extend/contract them, and cross-fade them all together. It’s an amazing way to work with it.

There’s one wrinkle I don’t know how to solve. Let’s say I want to edit something inside one region (Audio 2 for example). I need to make a few cuts, let’s say. I select the Audio 2 track and I edit it.

Now when I click, say, the top track, my “edit group” doesn’t include Audio 2, which is only natural – there’s no corresponding region anymore.

But from now on I’d like to continue my editing editing all the tracks together, including Audio 2. I can combine all the regions in Audio 2, so it’s a single region again.

Now Ardour selects all the tracks together again. So this works in a small example. But in my project, with more channels and more work going on, this doesn’t work anymore. I created a combined region which aligns perfectly with other tracks / regions in the group, and Ardour won’t select them together anymore. In some cases I managed to bring the regions back in sync, especially when layering made it difficult to see where certain regions being and end.

That’s enough background for my question:

What controls the “togetherness” of regions in a group?

1. Matching beginning and ending times?
2. Matching beginning, ending, and cross-fades?
3. Something else?

[BenLoftis (Ben)]

You’ll find that this behavior is significantly different in the upcoming v8.

Regions will be assigned a ‘group-id’ when they are recorded or imported. In the case where you’ve assigned a track group (like your Edit example) selecting a region will select all the regions with the same group-id. When you split one of those regions, the left-side and right-sides of the split will maintain their relationship. This works even if you’ve tweaked the start and end, as you’ve shown in your example.

You can also ‘group’ or ‘ungroup’ regions explicitly. Regions grouped in this way will have an even stronger affiliation, and you can group regions on the same track, or on tracks that aren’t in a (track) group themselves.

I think you’ll find this meets your needs much better!