Hello!
I’m using Ardour (8.12 on LinuxMint) for example to record me playing the piano (classical), and I like it a lot! Thank you!
Now, I’m trying to get a setup where I can play along with one part of four-handed music, with the other part pre-recorded. Similarly for the orchestral part in concertos: in this case, a pre-generated midi orchestra.
Since the timing is variable, for example during cadenzas or other solo parts, it’s impossible to pre-record longer rests correctly. For that reason, I’d like to create the sounding parts (separated by long rests) individually. I imagine playing along with one part which ends at some time, and then, after I finish playing the solo part, I press a foot switch so playback of the next portion of the accompaniment starts at the correct time.
I’d like to repeat this after each solo part. So, the foot switch should play the first accompaniment section, and when pressing again, the second section, then the third, etc.
Is such a thing possible? I have read the documentation about clips and cues, but as far as I found out, there’s always a fixed assignment between a key/pad press and one specific cue.
I have not succeeded to find some hint if cycling through playing multiple cues once is possible using the same switch.
Not exactly what you’re asking for, but there is Menu > Transport > Record with Preroll:
That locates backwards (by default [1]) 2 seconds, plays and then starts recording.
That way you hear the accompaniment context before you record.
If I understand you correctly you then want an additional step: jump to the next section after recording.
There is no built-in function that does this all on one button press. It is possible to use a Lua script that does this (and you can trigger that using a shortcut or MIDI control), but I think you want at least 2 foot-switches.
In some case you may want to re-record before you move on to the next.
Thanks for your suggestion. If I understand correctly, you suggest recording the solo part in several takes. However, I need/want to record it in one go.
Suppose the accompaniment has part A — rest — part B — rest — part C prerecorded, and the solo part is uninterrupted (or, in some cases, has rests when the accompaniment doesn’t). I’d like to record the solo part in one go while playing back the prerecorded accompaniment, controlling with the foot switch the entry of the accompaniment after its rest at exactly the time when the solo has reached that point in time.
I’ll investigate what can be done with LUA scripting. Thanks!
That seems like maybe the cue playback could work for that, but I don’t know if there are length limits on cues. I also don’t know if you can switch to another cue with a single pedal, or if you would need something that can send different MIDI notes to switch to the next cue (like a pad controller, or MIDI pedal controller with multiple pedals). Might be something for you to experiment with.