minimal_spectrum_analyzer

A tiny, embeddable command-line sound visualizer.

Supports Linux (PulseAudio) and Windows (WASAPI).

Building

Ubuntu

• C++ compiler that supports C++17
• CMake
• PulseAudio development library

Install required packages.

$ sudo apt install cmake libpulse-dev

Clone and build source code.

$ git clone --recursive https://github.com/agehama/minimal_spectrum_analyzer.git
$ mkdir build
$ cd build
$ cmake ../minimal_spectrum_analyzer .
$ make

Windows

Download and install prerequisites.

• Visual Studio 2019 https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/
• CMake https://cmake.org/download/
• Git for Windows https://gitforwindows.org/

Clone source code with Git.

$ git clone --recursive https://github.com/agehama/minimal_spectrum_analyzer.git

Configure and Generate Visual Studio project.

Open generated project and build with Visual Studio.

Embedding

To embed the spectrum display into other software, you can receive the text via standard output.

Here is an example of how to pass it through a temporary file.

First, start a background process that redirects the stdout of analyzer to a log file. Make sure to turn off the axis display and set the delimiter to LF.

$ analyzer --axis off --line_feed LF > analyzer_log &

Then analyzer_log will contain time-series spectral data separated by LF, as shown below.

$ tail -n 10 ./analyzer_log
⣀⣠⣶⣾⣿⣷⣦⣤⣀⣠⣄⡀⢀⡀⣠⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⠀⠀⡀⣀⠀⠀⠀
⣠⣤⣶⣾⣿⣷⣦⣤⣀⣀⣀⡀⢀⠀⣀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⠀⠀⠀⣀⠀⠀⠀
⣤⣴⣶⣶⣶⣦⣤⣤⣀⣀⢀⡀⠀⠀⣀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⡀⠀⠀⠀
⣴⣶⣶⣶⣶⣦⣤⣤⣀⣀⢀⠀⠀⠀⣀⠀⠀⠀⠀⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⡀⠀⠀⠀
⣴⣶⣶⣶⣶⣦⣤⣤⣀⢀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⡀⠀⠀⠀
⣴⣶⣶⣶⣶⣤⣤⣄⣀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⠀⠀⡀⠀⠀⠀⢀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⡀⠀⠀⠀
⣴⣶⣶⣶⣶⣤⣤⣄⣀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⠀⠀⡀⠀⠀⠀⢀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⡀⠀⠀⠀
⣴⣶⣶⣶⣶⣦⣤⣤⣀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⠀⢀⡀⠀⠀⠀⢀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⡀⠀⠀⠀
⣤⣴⣶⣶⣶⣦⣤⣤⣀⣀⠀⠀⢀⣀⣤⣀⣀⡀⢀⣀⡀⢀⡀⣀⢀⣀⣀⣀⣄⣀⣀⣀
⣤⣤⣶⣶⣦⣤⣄⣤⣀⣀⡀⠀⣀⣠⣤⣤⣤⣀⣠⣄⣤⣠⣄⣤⣀⣤⣤⣠⣦⣤⣤⣤

Then, call tail -n 1 analyzer_log from shell, python, or any other environment you like to embed the spectrum display into your program.