modification to the metronome and time signature functions

Community Ideas for Ardour
#1

I like Ardour so far. Seems to be a decent program. The one annoyance I have encountered so far is configuring the time signature and metronome. I am recording and working on a project with Gregorian Chant and Tibetan singing bowls. The songs are laid out without a time signature so we used a metronome speed of 42 bpm with each click representing one bar of music. The issue I encountered is I cannot set the time signature to 1/1 (1 whole note per bar) and have the metronome clicks line up on the start of each measure. Typing the metronome speed in as 42, the bars get laid out as though each click is a quarter note not a whole note. This is also troublesome if I am recording classical pieces where a dotted half note is given a metronome value of 72bpm… the music in the wave form just does not match up with how the bars/beats are laid out with the metronome speed. I would like to see an option added to the metronome where I can select the note value of each click (eighth note for 3/8 time, half notes for 2/2 time etc) and the option of applying a dot to the note so a dotted quarter for 6/8 or 9/8 pieces when that is what is called for on the score. I can get around this issue in my current project by setting my time signature to 2/4 and setting the metronome speed to 84, then the wave form lines up properly on the start of the measure.

As it stands I couldn’t use this program to record a classical piece with odd time signatures and compound time signatures. Not that I can really use the metronome function on any other DAW I have encountered so far either. They all seem to either lack it completely or assume that only a quarter note can represent a beat in music which is patently untrue. Until then I will have to not use the click track function when recording and try to convert the metronome speed and time signatures so that it adds up later while editing. Besides a mathematical conversion, is there any way to use ardour’s click track as a reference for the musicians in odd time signatures? (eg eighth note = 120bpm, etc.)

#2

Interesting, I posted some sort of the same idea in this forum part and also in Mantis:

tracker.ardour.org/view.php?id=2631

Maybe you can add a comment there

An solution on Linux is klick metronome, check

linuxmusicians.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1009

#3

Edit to my first post: The function of setting click value and time signatures is present in Digital Performer 6. I must have forgotten about that bit when I last used Digital Performer (about 4 years ago, when I was at music school). DP 6 allows me to set my time signature as 2/2 and to set the click value to half note, quarter, eighth and the dotted and double dotted versions of each. Pretty much an essential part of any good DAW. I hope to see it in future versions of Ardour as well.

I think my memory might have failed me on the other DAWs, all I recall is I really didn’t like PT version 6. I guess classical recording and mastering is a bit of a different beast than popular music (jazz, blues, rock etc).

My apologies if I sounded grouchy in my original post.

#4

Please add comments to my feature request in Issue Tracker (Mantis) or file one yourself, it’s a good request imo. You can even donate some money for it, which you pay when it is fixed

#5

They all seem to either lack it completely or assume that only a quarter note can represent a beat in music which is patently untrue steroids. same by me :((

hope you will handle this my friend

cheers