track vs. channel

[jester171]

what is the difference between a track and a channel? thanks

 

[Shailat]

Tracks are what you have on your multitrack.

Channals are what you have on your mixer.

 

[drstawl]

It gets confusing I suppose.

You can send the output of a particular channel to be recorded onto a particular track. You can send the output of a particular track to a particular channel on a mixer.
The channel represents the instantaneous path for a signal;
The track is the cumulative content recorded to that track or a virtual space to record an incoming signal.

Clear as Mud.

 

[nave]

the easiest way to look at it is that you have to pick a channel inorder to record a track.... and you can't pick a track to record a channel cause that doesn't make any sense.....


-nave

 

[Chriss]

and you can't pick a track to record a channel cause that doesn't make any sense.....

-nave

unless you record the output of a channel on an audio track.. say putting a guitar into a channel and then recording it onto an audio track.. but since that audio track would be the same as the guitar, it's actually the same track, and thus you are in a sense right anyway...

yup.. just think of every track as an individual instrument, while a channel is an audio channel into which you can route your tracks.. i.e. you can have multiple tracks on one channel..

 

[AlChuck]

Then there are MIDI channels...

 

[TexRoadkill]

A track is for horses and channels are for boats.

 

[Speeddemon]

Horses?

Now I'M confused! I thought tracks were for race cars? And channels for T.V?

And perfume....That Channel #5 stuff....

cheerz

 

[tdukex]

I think of tracks as tributaries that flow into larger rivers (channels) that eventually dump into the sea (final mixdown).