The Transport Menu

The [Transport]{.dfn} menu handles how Ardour handles the playback and playhead.

Start/Stop	Starts or stops the playhead, and recording if it is armed
Play
Play Selection	Only plays the selected duration of the session, based on the current range or selected region(s)
Solo Selection	Only plays the selected regions of the session. Regions that are not selected, even on a track with selected regions, wont be played
Play w/Preroll	As the previous menu, except it starts the playback a few bars or seconds before the beginning of the selection (the amount of time can be set in the [Preferences](@@preferences#preferences-transport))
Start/Continue/Stop	Leaves loop play or range play mode but without stopping the transport
Play from Edit Point and Return	Starts the playback at the [Edit point](@@edit-point-control), and when stopped, goes back to the original location
Play Loop Range	If a [Loop range](@@the-loop-range) is defined, play it and loop until stopped
Start Recording	This is a shortcut to trigger the global recording, and start playback at once
Stop and Forget Capture	Stops the recording, removes the newly created material, and goes back to the original position
Enable Record	Triggers the global recording. Next time "Play" is pressed, it will record on the track(s) that are armed for recording
Record w/Preroll	As the Start Recording menu, except it starts the recording a few bars or seconds before the playhead's position (the amount of time can be set in the [Preferences](@@preferences#preferences-transport))
Record w/Count-In	As the Start Recording menu, except it waits for 2 bars before the playhead's position. The Metronome will tick (even if disabled) during the count-in
Forward	Plays the audio forwards from the playhead on. If the audio is already playing forwards, increment its speed by 50%.
Rewind	Plays the audio backwards from the playhead on. If the audio is already playing backwards, increment its speed by 50%.
Transition to Roll	Plays the audio forwards, with a speed of 1 (real time)
Transition to Reverse	Plays the audio backwards, with a speed of 1 (real time)
Set Loop from Selection	Converts the selection into a [Loop range](@@the-loop-range) by placing loop markers at the start and end of the selected range
Set Punch from Selection	Same thing, for [Punch](@@punch-range)
Set Session Start/End from Selection	Same thing, for the start and end markers of the session, defining the session's length
Playhead
Playhead to Mouse	Set the position of the playhead at the current position of the mouse cursor
Playhead to Active Mark	If a marker is selected, set the position of the playhead at the position of the marker
Center Playhead	Centers the view on the playhead without changing the zoom level (putting the playhead in the middle of the screen)
Nudge Playhead Forward	Shifts the position of the playhead to the right by the amount shown in the [nudge timer](@@nudge-controls)
Nudge Playhead Backward	Same thing, to the left
Move to Next Transient	When transient have been set, moves the playhead to the next one to the right
Move to Previous Transient	Same, to the left
Playhead to Next Grid	Regardless of the state of the Grid Mode, goes to the next grid to the right, as set by the [Snap/Grid unit](@@grid-controls)
Playhead to Previous Grid	Same, to the left
Playhead to Next Region Boundary	Moves the playhead to the right to the next beginning or end of region on the selected track or, if no track is selected, on all tracks
Playhead to Previous Region Boundary	Same, to the left
Playhead to Next Region Boundary (No Track Selection)	Moves the playhead to next beginning or end of region, be it on the selected track or any other
Playhead to Previous Region Boundary (No Track Selection)	Same, to the left
Playhead to Next Region Sync	Moves the playhead to next Region Sync Point, that is by default the beginning of a region but [can be moved](@@grid-controls)
Playhead to Previous Region Sync	Same, to the left
Jump to Next Mark	moves the playhead to the next [marker](@@creating-location-markers) on the Ruler
Jump to Previous Mark	Same, to the left
Jump to Loop Start	moves the playhead to the [loop](@@the-loop-range) start marker if a loop exists
Jump to Loop End	Same, for the loop end marker
Go to Zero	Sends the playhead to the 00:00:00:00 time, regardless of the sessions Start marker
Go to Start	Sends the playhead to the Start marker of the session
Go to End	Sends the playhead to the End marker of the session
Go to Wall Clock	Sends the playhead to the current value of system time, as shown on the top right of the [Status bar](@@status-bar)
Active Mark
To Next Region Boundary	Moves the currently selected [marker](@@working-with-markers) to the next region beginning or end
To Previous Region Boundary	Same, to the left
To Next Region Sync	Moves the currently selected to the next region sync point (by default: beginning or end of the region)
To Previous Region Sync	Same, to the left
Markers
Add Mark from Playhead	Creates a Marker at the position of the playhead
Remove Mark at Playhead	Removes any marker at the position of the playhead
Toggle Mark at Playhead	Combine the 2 previous: if a marker exists, deletes it, otherwise create it
Locate to Mark n	If it exists, goes to the n-th marker
Set Session Start from Playhead	Puts the Start of the session marker at the playhead's position
Set Session End from Playhead	Puts the End of the session marker at the playhead's position
Cues
Trigger Cue A → H	Starts the playback and triggers the A → H line of the [Cue grid](@@cue-window-elements#cue_window_grid)
□ Time Master	Sets Ardour as the Time master, i.e. Ardour sends the time information to the audio system
□ Punch In/Out	Based on the Punch in and Punch out markers if they exist, tells Ardour to record only between those two points
□ Punch In	Based on the Punch in marker, only allow to record from this point on
□ Punch Out	Based on the Punch out marker, forbids recording before this point
□ Auto Input	If checked, automatically switch the [monitor](@@monitor-setup-in-ardour) from input to *playback*mode when playing
□ Follow Range	If checked, selecting a range moves the playhead to its beginning
□ Auto Play	If checked, moving the playhead in the ruler starts the playback
□ Auto Return	If checked, when the playback is stopped, go back to the previous position of the playhead. If not, the playhead stays where it is when the playback is stopped
□ Click	Activates/deactivates the click track (metronome)
□ Follow Playhead	If checked, while playing, when the playhead reaches the right of the screen, Ardour scrolls one screen to the right to keep the playhead visible at all times
□ Stationary Playhead	If checked and if [Follow playhead]{.kbd .menu} is checked, on playback, the playhead stays at the center of the screen, and the session scrolls
□ Use External Positional Sync Source	If checked, allows Ardour to be controlled by external program
Panic (Send MIDI all-notes-off)	Immediately stops all MIDI playback (useful e.g. when a MIDI bug in encountered)