Ardour
Record, edit, and mix audio and MIDI on Linux, macOS and Windows
Ardour is a free and open-source digital audio workstation for recording, editing, mixing, and mastering audio and MIDI projects. It supports unlimited tracks and busses, non-destructive editing with unlimited undo/redo, plugin automation, transport sync, complex signal routing, and a video timeline for soundtrack work. It runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Features include flexible recording with punch in/out, voice-activated capture, playlist-based comping, and step entry or pianoroll MIDI editing. It supports AudioUnit, LV2, VST2/VST3, and LADSPA plugins, MIDI Machine Control, LTC and MIDI timecode sync, Mackie Control protocol, OSC, and Lua scripting. The video timeline supports frame-by-frame viewing, timecode sync, and soundtrack export. Mixing includes matrix-style patching, VCA faders, mixer scenes, and control surface support. Mastering tools include loudness metering, spectrogram analysis, and a Loudness Assistant. Export supports common formats via FFmpeg, stem exporting, and FLAC session archiving.
Ardour is aimed at audio engineers, musicians, soundtrack editors, composers, podcasters, and radio producers. It is licensed under the GNU Public License v2 and is developed as a collaborative open-source project.
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