Ubuntu Manpage: qarecord - an audio recording tool

Provided by: qarecord_0.5.0-0ubuntu7_amd64

NAME

       qarecord - an audio recording tool

SYNOPSIS

       qarecord [ alsa-options ] [ general-options ]
       qarecord --jack [ general-options ]
       qarecord { --help | --version }

DESCRIPTION

       qarecord  is  a  simple  but solid recording tool.  qarecord works well with both stereo and multichannel
       recordings, with both ALSA and JACK, and in both 16 bit and 32 bit mode.  By using a large ringbuffer for
       the captured data, buffer overruns are avoided.  qarecord has a Qt based GUI with graphical peak meters.

   MIDI trigger
       In addition to the buttons in the GUI, recording can be started and stopped via MIDI.  qarecord uses  the
       ALSA sequencer for this purpose.

   File naming
       A save file dialog appears the first time recording is activated, or through selecting New... in the File
       menu.   If  that  file already exists, the old file will be renamed (to filename.oldx.wav), where x is an
       incrementing number.  Should the file grow larger than the split limit,  the  file  will  be  closed  and
       recording will continue in a new file filename.partx.wav, where x is an incrementing number.

   Scheduling and priorities
       qarecord  has  one  high-priority  thread that fetches data from ALSA and one normal priority thread that
       writes the data to disk.  This will work best if the user is allowed to run  realtime  priority  (rtprio)
       threads,  see  limits.conf(5)  for  more information. In JACK mode, the same reasoning applies, but it is
       handled by JACK, see jackd(1) for more information.

       A ringbuffer is used to buffer the data before it is written to disk.

OPTIONS

General options
--32bit
If specified, a 32 bit WAVE will be the output format. If not specified, a 16 bit WAVE file will
be recorded.

--buffersize bytes
The size of the ringbuffer in bytes. The default (1048576) should be sufficient for most purposes.
It must be a multiple of the frame size (channels * bytes per channel).

--channels num
Number of channels to record. The default is 2, which means a stereo recording.

--jack If specified, qarecord works as a JACK client. If not specified, qarecord uses ALSA for recording.

--meterrange dB
Specifies the dynamic range of the peak meters. The default value of 85 means that the meter will
show signals between -85 dB and 0 dB.

--midiChannel channel
Specifies what MIDI channel the MIDI trigger should listen to. The default is 16, the valid range
is 1..16.

--midiNote num
Specifies what MIDI notes the MIDI trigger should listen to. This note will be used to trigger
recording, the next note will trigger pause, and note+2 will trigger stop. The default is 21,
which translates to note A1 being used to record, A#1 for pause, and B1 for stop.

--split MB
Start a new wave file every MB megabytes. Default is 2000.

ALSA specific options
--device ALSA device
The ALSA device name to use for capture. The default is plughw:0, which means the first soundcard.

--fragments num
Number of fragments, or periods. Used with the periodsize option to determine the hardware buffer
size. The default is 2.

--periodsize frames
Number of frames between ALSA signals that new data is available. The hardware buffer size will
be periodsize * fragments. A large hardware buffer size might decrease the risc for a buffer
underrun. The default is 2048.

--rate Hz
Sample rate. The default is 44100.

Standard options
--help Print possible command-line options and exit.

--version
Print version information and exit.

NOTES

       Errors and warnings are written to stderr(3).

       Due to limitations in the WAVE file format, larger files than 4 GB cannot be recorded.

AUTHORS