1.. This is part of the Zrythm Manual. 2 Copyright (C) 2019-2020 Alexandros Theodotou <alex at zrythm dot org> 3 See the file index.rst for copying conditions. 4 5.. _ports: 6 7Ports 8===== 9 10Before getting into connections, it is necessary 11to understand some basic information about ports. 12 13Ports are the main building blocks used to 14route signals throughout Zrythm. A port 15does not process anything on its own, and is 16usually part of a `processor`, like a plugin 17or track. 18 19.. figure:: /_static/img/ports-and-processor.png 20 :align: center 21 22 2 input ports connected to a processor, which 23 produces output to 2 output ports 24 25For example, an instrument track has a `MIDI input` 26port it uses to read MIDI data and 2 27`Audio output` ports where it copies the 28stereo signal after being processed. 29 30Port Directions 31--------------- 32Input 33 The port receives signals 34Output 35 The port sends signals 36 37Port Types 38---------- 39 40Audio 41 Ports of this type receive or send raw 42 audio signals 43Event 44 Event ports are mainly used for routing MIDI 45 signals 46Control 47 Control ports are user-editable parameters that 48 can also be automated in automation lanes 49CV 50 :term:`CV` ports handle continuous signals and 51 can be used to modulate control ports 52 53Port Connections 54---------------- 55Ports can be connected with each other, as long 56as they are of the same type and opposite direction, 57with the exception of 58CV ports which may be routed to both CV 59ports and control ports. 60 61When ports are connected, the signal from the 62source port is added to the destination port 63during processing. 64 65.. figure:: /_static/img/audio-track-graph-emphasized.png 66 :align: center 67 68 Port connection graph for an audio track 69 70In the above example, the output audio port 71``TP Stereo out L`` is connected to the input audio 72port ``Ch Pre-Fader in L``. This connection is 73created automatically by Zrythm internally. 74