Released version Ardour 9.7 — a free digital audio workstation for recording, mixing, and mastering sound. The release took place on June 5, 2026, and is described as a corrective update, but along with the fixes, it brings several noticeable improvements to the interface and MIDI editing. Version 9.6 was skipped by the developers due to last-minute issues. Ardour is distributed under the license GPLv2.
The main change is the transfer of the MIDI Tools panel from a separate pianoroll editor to the main Ardour editor. Now, tools for editing chords and quantization are available directly in the Editor List, which is activated through Shift+L. The separate Quantize dialog has been removed: the built-in MIDI editor uses quantization settings from the MIDI Tools sidebar. Additionally, an enabled-by-default crosshair cursor for MIDI and automation has been added to the inline editor.
Key changes in Ardour 9.7:
MIDI Tools in the main editor. Tools that appeared in Ardour 9.5 for pianoroll windows are now also available in the standard session editor. This simplifies working with MIDI regions without switching to a separate window.
Redesigned control surface list. In the control device settings, devices are now grouped by manufacturers rather than mixed with protocol names. Each active device now has a separate settings button, and a blank Generic MIDI mapping file and generic file for Mackie have been added for unknown MIDI controllers.
Hot-plug fix for several control devices. Supported control surfaces should now automatically activate when connected to the computer. The developers call this an important regression fix and plan to expand the list of devices for which this works.
Vertical session overview. An optional vertical summary panel has been added to the editor, which is disabled by default. It uses track colors to display content and allows for quick navigation up and down the session but intentionally does not change the display scale.
Natural sorting in the interface. Ardour now more frequently uses a 'human' sorting order. For example, plugin options with 8, 16, and 32 channels will be arranged in numerical order rather than as strings.
Retention of auxiliary ports for different backends/devices. When switching audio and MIDI backends, Ardour now restores not just regular connections, but also auxiliary ports: auditioner, metronome/click out, and LTC generator output. A separate setting to choose the port for the LTC generator has been removed as unnecessary.
Improvements in LTC synchronization. Recording should no longer stop when LTC synchronization is lost or FPS changes.
Enhancements to the pianoroll. Automation tracks in the pianoroll now better account for HiDPI scaling, and the detection of the visible note range has become more accurate.
MIDI chase cleanup. Hanging notes have been fixed when the playback position coincides with the start of a note, and MIDI CC and parameters like pitch bend are now more accurately caught when moving within a region.
Additionally, fixed instant crashes when opening MIDI Tools in an empty pianoroll, re-exporting MP3 after playback in Windows, resetting MIDI AutomationControl values when navigating sessions, building with clang on macOS, functioning translations in supplied bundles, and several minor issues in the menu, download logging, PipeWire checks, and tests. The translation in this release has been updated for Swedish.
Source: linux.org.ru
