The popular digital sound studio known as Ardour, a favored digital sound workstation (DAW) catering to music producers, audio engineers, and musicians looking to mix, edit, and record music across Linux, Windows, and macOS platforms, has recently launched its most recent version, Ardour 8.7, dubbed “Sonora Portraits.”

This latest release comes as a surprise addition to the ongoing 8.x series, initially anticipated to conclude with version 8.6. However, due to substantial bug fixes and feature improvements accumulated in recent months, the developers opted to push out another update.

Fresh Additions in Ardour 8.7

Advanced Track Organization: Ardour 8.7 brings in a user-friendly enhancement that enables users to rearrange tracks and buses through simple mouse dragging. This new functionality caters to individuals who prefer a hands-on approach to track organization amidst the existing methods.

Streamlined Ruler Presentation: To simplify the interface and minimize potential mistakes, Ardour has reduced the variety of rulers displaying different markers to three primary types: locations, ranges, and arrangements. This alteration aims to declutter the workspace while retaining the ability to show all required markers.

MIDI Scenario Markings: Ardour now permits the direct recording of MIDI program and bank alterations from external MIDI devices into the Scene In port to support live performance equipment. This feature targets users utilizing hardware to manage comprehensive scene adjustments.

Concurrent Disk I/O: In anticipation of version 9.0, Ardour 8.7 incorporates an enhancement in how audio and MIDI data are managed, introducing parallel disk I/O. This enables the DAW to leverage multiple CPU cores more efficiently, boosting overall efficiency and data processing speed.

Enhancements and Resolutions

Ardour 8.7 doesn’t just introduce new features; it also brings a plethora of enhancements and bug fixes aimed at enriching the overall user experience and performance:

• The default drag and drop behavior in arrangements has been altered to move instead of copy.
• New theming choices and enhancements in graphical user interface elements such as mixer strips and session dialogs improve visual clarity and user engagement.
• Diverse backend updates, including support for disks larger than 16TB and improved management of MIDI bindings, ensure Ardour remains in sync with the latest hardware and software standards.
• Multiple bug fixes tackle issues spanning from GUI crashes to audio processing optimizations, highlighting Ardour’s dedication to stability and dependability.

Lastly, this update introduces a fresh “Captain Light” theme and implements various tweaks throughout the system to provide a smoother, more user-friendly experience.

A Flatpak package of the Ardour 8.7 Digital Sound Studio is expected to be accessible on Flathub in the near future. The detailed announcement offers a comprehensive breakdown of all modifications.

Source: https://linuxiac.com/ardour-8-7-digital-audio-workstation/