arecord
, aplay command-line sound recorder and player for ALSA soundcard driver
see also :
aplay - alsamixer - amixer
Synopsis
arecord
[flags] [filename]
aplay [flags] [filename [filename]] ...
add an example, a script, a trick and tips
examples
source
arecord -r 48000 | ./input
aplay -c 1 -t raw -r 22050 -f mu_law foobar
will play the raw file "foobar" as a 22050-Hz, mono, 8-bit,
Mu-Law .au file.
arecord -d 10 -f cd -t wav -D copy foobar.wav
will record foobar.wav as a 10-second, CD-quality wave file,
using the PCM "copy" (which might be defined in the user’s
.asoundrc file as:
pcm.copy {
type plug
slave {
pcm hw
}
route_policy copy
}
arecord -t wav -max-file_time 30 mon.wav
Record from the default audio source in monaural, 8,000 samples
per second, 8 bits per sample. Start a new file every 30 seconds.
File names are mon-nn.wav, where nn increases from 01. The file
after mon-99.wav is mon-100.wav.
arecord -f cd -t wav -max-file-time 3600 --use-strftime
%Y/%m/%d/listen-%H-%M-%v.wav
Record in stereo from the default audio source. Create a new file
every hour. The files are placed in directories based on their
start dates and have names which include their start times and
file numbers.
description
arecord
is a command-line soundfile recorder for the ALSA soundcard
driver. It supports several file formats and multiple
soundcards with multiple devices. If recording with
interleaved mode samples the file is automatically split
before the 2GB filesize.
aplay is
much the same, only it plays instead of recording. For
supported soundfile formats, the sampling rate, bit depth,
and so forth can be automatically determined from the
soundfile header.
If filename is
not specified, the standard output or input is used. The
aplay utility accepts multiple filenames.
options
-h,
--help
Help: show syntax.
--version
Print current version.
-l,
--list-devices
List all soundcards and digital
audio devices
-L,
--list-pcms
List all PCMs defined
-D,
--device=NAME
Select PCM by name
-q
--quiet
Quiet mode. Suppress messages
(not sound :))
-t,
--file-type TYPE
File type (voc, wav, raw or
au). If this parameter is omitted the WAVE format is
used.
-c,
--channels=#
The number of channels. The
default is one channel. Valid values are 1 through 32.
-f
--format=FORMAT
Sample format
Recognized sample formats are: S8 U8 S16_LE S16_BE U16_LE
U16_BE S24_LE S24_BE U24_LE U24_BE S32_LE S32_BE U32_LE
U32_BE FLOAT_LE FLOAT_BE FLOAT64_LE FLOAT64_BE
IEC958_SUBFRAME_LE IEC958_SUBFRAME_BE MU_LAW A_LAW IMA_ADPCM
MPEG GSM SPECIAL S24_3LE S24_3BE U24_3LE U24_3BE S20_3LE
S20_3BE U20_3LE U20_3BE S18_3LE S18_3BE U18_3LE
Some of these may not be available on selected hardware
The available format shortcuts are:
-f cd (16 bit little endian, 44100, stereo) [-f
S16_LE -c2 -r44100]
-f cdr (16 bit big endian, 44100, stereo) [-f
S16_BE -c2 -f44100]
-f dat (16 bit little endian, 48000, stereo) [-f
S16_LE -c2 -r48000]
If no format is given U8 is used.
-r,
--rate=#<Hz>
Sampling rate in Hertz. The
default rate is 8000 Hertz. If the value specified is less
than 300, it is taken as the rate in kilohertz. Valid values
are 2000 through 192000 Hertz.
-d,
--duration=#
Interrupt after # seconds. A
value of zero means infinity. The default is zero, so if
this option is omitted then the arecord process will run
until it is killed.
-s,
--sleep-min=#
Min ticks to sleep. The default
is not to sleep.
-M,
--mmap
Use memory-mapped (mmap) I/O
mode for the audio stream. If this option is not set, the
read/write I/O mode will be used.
-N,
--nonblock
Open the audio device in
non-blocking mode. If the device is busy the program will
exit immediately. If this option is not set the program will
block until the audio device is available again.
-F,
--period-time=#
Distance between interrupts is
# microseconds. If no period time and no period size is
given then a quarter of the buffer time is set.
-B,
--buffer-time=#
Buffer duration is #
microseconds If no buffer time and no buffer size is given
then the maximal allowed buffer time but not more than 500ms
is set.
--period-size=#
Distance between interrupts is
# frames If no period size and no period time is given then
a quarter of the buffer size is set.
--buffer-size=#
Buffer duration is # frames If
no buffer time and no buffer size is given then the maximal
allowed buffer time but not more than 500ms is set.
-A,
--avail-min=#
Min available space for wakeup
is # microseconds
-R,
--start-delay=#
Delay for automatic PCM start
is # microseconds (relative to buffer size if <= 0)
-T,
--stop-delay=#
Delay for automatic PCM stop is
# microseconds from xrun
-v,
--verbose
Show PCM structure and setup.
This option is accumulative. The VU meter is displayed when
this is given twice or three times.
-V,
--vumeter=TYPE
Specifies the VU-meter type,
either stereo or mono. The stereo VU-meter is
available only for 2-channel stereo samples with interleaved
format.
-I,
--separate-channels
One file for each channel. This
option disables max-file-time and
use-strftime, and ignores SIGUSR1. The stereo VU meter
is not available with separate channels.
-P
Playback. This is the default if the program is invoked
by typing aplay.
-C
Record. This is the default if the program is invoked by
typing arecord.
-i,
--interactive
Allow interactive operation via
stdin. Currently only pause/resume via space or enter key is
implemented.
--disable-resample
Disable automatic rate
resample.
--disable-channels
Disable automatic channel
conversions.
--disable-format
Disable automatic format
conversions.
--disable-softvol
Disable software volume control
(softvol).
--test-position
Test ring buffer position.
--test-coef=<coef>
Test coefficient for ring
buffer position; default is 8. Expression for validation is:
coef * (buffer_size / 2). Minimum value is 1.
--test-nowait
Do not wait for the ring
buffer--eats the whole CPU.
--max-file-time
While recording, when the
output file has been accumulating sound for this long, close
it and open a new output file. Default is the maximum size
supported by the file format: 2 GiB for WAV files. This
option has no effect if
--separate-channels is specified.
--process-id-file
<file name>
aplay writes its process ID
here, so other programs can send signals to it.
--use-strftime
When recording, interpret
%-codes in the file name parameter using the strftime
facility whenever the output file is opened. The important
strftime codes are: %Y is the year, %m month, %d day of the
month, %H hour, %M minute and %S second. In addition, %v is
the file number, starting at 1. When this option is
specified, intermediate directories for the output file are
created automatically. This option has no effect if
--separate-channels is specified.
signals
When recording, SIGINT, SIGTERM and SIGABRT will close the output
file and exit. SIGUSR1 will close the output file, open a new
one, and continue recording. However, SIGUSR1 does not work with
--separate-channels.
bugs
Note that .aiff
files are not currently supported.
see also
alsamixer ,
amixer
author
arecord
and aplay are by Jaroslav Kysela
<perex[:at:]perex[:dot:]cz> This document is by Paul Winkler
<zarmzarm[:at:]erols[:dot:]com>. Updated for Alsa 0.9 by James
Tappin <james[:at:]xena.uklinux[:dot:]net>