Free and open-source digital audio workstation Ardour is updated to version 8.0, including several new features and improvements.
Fans of the free and open-source digital audio workstation Ardour have plenty to celebrate this week! October 8th marks the release of Ardour 8, and the new version brings a bevy of interesting and useful features to the mix.
With Cakewalk by Bandlab not being free anymore, the free DAW market is dominated by Waveform Free. However, it still has a fair share of competitors, one of which is Ardour.
If you’re unfamiliar, Ardour is a freely available DAW that runs on the likes of Linux, Windows, and Mac computers. There isn’t an implicit need for any donation, but you’re certainly aiding development when making any sort of monetary contribution.
With that out of the way, let’s take a look at what is new in the world of Ardour.
First up on the feature list is the support of lollipops for MIDI velocity control.
Ardour has had a variety of different ways of adjusting velocity in previous iterations, but the lollipop inclusion is a quick workflow for users swapping from other DAWs. They’re particularly easy for controlling things like crescendos.
A ruler has been introduced for marking sections of an arrangement, which is always a helpful thing. I really enjoyed making markers for regions with the ruler, it reminds me quite a bit of how Reaper has implemented a similar system.
The MIDI header for the piano roll has been revamped, with easily seen MIDI note values as well as their actual names visible at all times.
Ardour 8 also comes with support for the Launchpad Pro, letting users use it to control clips and cues, and use it as a general interface for recording note data. Functionality hasn’t yet been extended to the Launchpad Pro X or Mini, sadly.
However, perhaps my favorite inclusion for this update is the quick groups. Ardour has previously had bus groups that allow users to quickly solo, enable record, and most other functions you can think of.
The new quick groups allow for a faster selection of tracks or elements of a group. It also comes with a redesigned VCA that can operate in parallel or in a hierarchical fashion.
Now, it remains to be seen when the newest features will migrate to the likes of Harrison Mixbus, but you can test out the new functions in Ardour for yourself today.
Download: Ardour 8.0 (FREE)
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Last Updated on October 12, 2023 by Tomislav Zlatic.
