NAME

       ossrecord - Open Sound System recording program.

SYNOPSIS

       ossrecord [-ORhlv] [-F cntname | ? ] [ -c channels ] [ -d devname ]
               [ -f fmtname | ? ] [ -g gain ] [ -i recsource | ? ] [ -m nfiles ]
               [ -r command ] [ -s rate ] [ -t maxsecs ] filename | - ...

DESCRIPTION

       The  ossrecord  program  records audio in Microsoft RIFF (wav) format. It will record from
       any input that's currently set  as  the  recording  source  by  the  ossxmix/ossmix  mixer
       programs.  With the -l option, you also get a level meter that will display VU levels in a
       character mode.

       The filename parameter is name of the (.wav) file to be produced. Output can  be  sent  to
       stdout by giving - as the file name.

OPTIONS

       -s<rate>
              Select the recording rate for raw PCM audio (eg -s48000).

       -c<channels>
              Select the number of channels 1=mono 2=stereo, 4, 6, 8, etc.

       -d<devname>
              Select <devname> as the device (eg -d/dev/dsp2).

       -f<fmt>
              Select the input sample format (eg -fS32_LE or -fMU_LAW)

       -f?    Prints the list of supported format names.

       -F<cnt>
              Select the container format (eg WAV or AU). Default is WAV.

       -F?    Prints the list of supported container formats.

       -R     Open  audio  device  in  raw  mode to disable virtual mixing and sample rate/format
              conversions. Can be used when recording from a digital source (S/PDIF input).

       -v     Verbose output.

       -l     Display level meters (character based).

       -i<recsrc|?>
              Select the recording source or  display  available  recording  sources  if  '?'  is
              supplied.   e.g.  ossrecord  -i?  may display: vol line (currently selected) mic cd
              aux1 phone mono video

       -m<nfiles>
              Repeat the recording operation <nfiles> times. The filename argument must  have  %d
              (or  %02d)  somewhere  in the file to guarantee unique filenames. If no %d is given
              then subsequent recordings will overwrite  the  previous  one(s).  This  option  is
              useful only with loopback audio devices or if the -t option is used.

       -r<command>
              This  option  launches  the  <command>  in  background after recording the file has
              completed. The name of the recorded file will be given as the (only)  command  line
              argument.  When  the  -m  option  is  used  the  script  will run in parallel while
              recording the next file. See the COMMAND SCRIPT section (below) for more info.

       -g<gain>
              Amplify recorded samples by percentage given  as  argument.   100  (default)  means
              normal  signal  level,  200  means  double  level.  Only supported in 16 and 32 bit
              modes.

       -t<maxsecs>
              Do not record more than <maxsecs> seconds in a single recording operation.

       -L<level>
              Set the recording level to <level>.

       -O     Do not allow ossrecord to overwrite the output file.

       -h     Display usage instructions.

COMMAND SCRIPT

       The -r command line argument makes it possible  to  execute  a  script  or  program  after
       recording  of  the  wave  file  is finished.  Below is a simple scell script that does MP3
       encoding using lame.

       #!/bin/sh

              WAVENAME=$1

              MP3NAME=$1.mp3

              lame -m s -h --preset studio $WAVENAME $MP3NAME

              exit 0

              Another example script for ossrecord is a simple CGI script for live MP3  streaming
              (from /dev/dsp).

              #!/bin/sh

              echo Content-Type: audio/mp3

              echo

              ossrecord -S -b16 -s48 - | lame -m j - -

              exit 0

NOTES

       The  ossrecord  executable is the same as the ossplay executable.  Behaviour is decided by
       the name used to invoke the program.

       Some file formats allocate only 32 bits to record the file length, which may prevent  some
       programs from reading a too large file properly.  If a recording may pass the 4GB limit (a
       bit more then 6 hours and 10 minutes of sound assuming [48Khz/16bit/stereo] quality), it's
       best to have ossrecord use the AU or RAW containers (via -F switch) which do not have this
       restriction.

SEE ALSO

       ossplay(1), ossmix(1), ossxmix(1)

FILES

       /usr/bin/ossrecord

AUTHOR

       4Front Technologies

                                         23 January 2023                             ossrecord(1)