Ardour is a professional multi-track digital audio workstation designed for recording, editing, mixing, and mastering audio and MIDI. The product is developed by an open community of musicians, programmers, and sound engineers, ensuring transparency, flexibility, and continuous improvement. Ardour is suitable for both home studios and professional work: it supports an unlimited number of tracks, recording at any bit depth and sample rate, as well as importing audio and MIDI from various sources, including the Freesound.org library. Editing in Ardour is non-linear and non-destructive: you can cut, move, stretch clips, create crossfades, quantize and transpose MIDI, with all actions being undoable and redoable. The mixer operates in floating-point precision, supports flexible routing of any complexity-from simple sends to multi-level chains with returns-and allows automation of virtually any parameter with sample-accurate precision.

The software is compatible with popular plugin formats: LV2, VST2, VST3, and AudioUnit, providing access to thousands of virtual instruments and effects. Ardour can also work with video: you can import a video clip, synchronize audio to it via timecode or frame-by-frame, and export the final result with the new mix. Integration with JACK enables connecting Ardour to other audio applications in real time, which is especially valuable for complex studio setups. The interface is designed to keep you focused on creativity: most tasks are handled in a single window without switching modes, and support for external controllers (Mackie Control, OSC, MIDI Learn) makes workflow even smoother. Ardour is available on Linux, macOS, and Windows; on Linux it can be built from source for free, while official builds for other platforms are offered via subscription, including updates and technical support. The program is resource-demanding: a multi-core processor, at least 16 GB of RAM, and an SSD are recommended for comfortable work with large projects, along with a compatible audio interface.

Thanks to its open-source license, absence of vendor lock-in, and focus on professional needs, Ardour is chosen by those who want full control over their sound, understand the importance of stability, and value the ability to customize their tools. Whether you are a sound engineer, musician, sound designer, composer, or podcaster-Ardour offers tools that won't limit your creativity.

Learn more, download the software, or join the community at ardour.org, with comprehensive documentation available at manual.ardour.org.