Command line

Every bx-audio command and its options.

bx-audio is installed by install-bx-module bx-audio, together with its bash tab completion. Without the installer the same commands run as boxlang module:bxaudio <command>. Paths are relative to the folder you run the command in. bx-audio help <command> prints the usage of one command.

info

Show the format, length and level of a WAV or MP3 file.

bx-audio info <file>

convert

Convert between WAV and MP3, and change the sample rate or channels.

bx-audio convert <in> <out> [--bitrate=N] [--bitDepth=16] [--sampleRate=N] [--channels=1|2]

normalize

Scale the peak of a file to a level in decibels.

bx-audio normalize <in> <out> [--db=-1]

trim

Cut a section out of a file.

bx-audio trim <in> <out> [--start=0] [--end=SECONDS]

loudness

Measure the loudness in LUFS (EBU R128), the loudness range and the true peak.

bx-audio loudness <file>

master

Reach a loudness target with a true-peak ceiling, ready to publish.

bx-audio master <in> <out> [--target=streaming|podcast|broadcast|-14] [--truePeak=-1] [--glue]

stretch

Change the speed or fit the length, keeping the pitch.

bx-audio stretch <in> <out> --rate=1.1 | --seconds=30

pitch

Change the pitch, keeping the length.

bx-audio pitch <in> <out> --semitones=2

bpm

Detect the tempo, and with --beats list where the beats fall.

bx-audio bpm <file> [--beats]

silence

List the silent stretches, or write a copy with the silence cut off both ends.

bx-audio silence <file> [--db=-50] [--min=0.3] [--trim=OUT]

waveform

Draw the loudness of a file on one line, with block characters if you add --unicode.

bx-audio waveform <file> [--width=60] [--unicode]

speak

Say a text with an open license voice, installing the engine and the voice the first time.

bx-audio speak <text> --voice=NAME [--out=FILE] [--file=TEXTFILE] [--speed=1] [--captions=FILE.srt|.vtt] [--no-install]

  --voice=NAME         A voice id or short name (see `bx-audio voices`)
  --out=FILE           Where to write the audio: .wav, .mp3, .flac, or .ogg/.opus/.m4a with FFmpeg (default speech.wav)
  --file=TEXTFILE      Read the text from a file instead of the command line
  --speed=1            1 is the voice's own pace, 1.2 faster, 0.85 slower (0.25 to 4)
  --captions=FILE      Also write captions timed to the voice: .srt or .vtt
  --offset=0           Seconds added to every caption time
  --max-chars=80       Longest caption line
  --by-clause          Speak and time clause by clause (at commas), for more natural pauses and shorter captions
  --sentence-pause=0.35  --clause-pause=0.15  --paragraph-pause=0.8   Seconds of quiet between the pieces
  --no-install         Fail instead of downloading the engine or the voice

Giving captions, a pause or --by-clause speaks the text piece by piece. Without them the voice phrases the whole text itself.

voices

List voices with their licenses, what is installed, and why some are not offered.

bx-audio voices [voice] [--lang=en_US] [--installed|--downloadable|--excluded|--all] [--license=ID]

Without options it lists the voices you can use. Each row says whether it is installed or still to download.
  <voice>         Full details of one voice: license, what the license asks, size, training data, where it is stored
  --installed     Only voices on disk
  --downloadable  Only offered voices you have not downloaded yet
  --excluded      Voices that are NOT offered, each with the reason (license, GPL dictionary, several speakers, language)
  --all           Offered and excluded together
  --lang=en_US    One language (--lang=all is the default)
  --license=ID    One license, for example CC0-1.0 or Apache-2.0

See `bx-audio licenses` for what each license asks of you.

licenses

Show the voice licenses and what each one asks of you.

bx-audio licenses

install

Download a voice, or the speech engine every voice needs.

bx-audio install <voice|engine> [...]

remove

Delete a downloaded voice, or the speech engine.

bx-audio remove <voice|engine> [...]

where

Show where bx-audio keeps its downloads, and how much space they take.

bx-audio where

clean

Delete downloaded files to free space, after asking.

bx-audio clean [engine|voices|ffmpeg|cache|all] [--yes]

play

Play a file through the speakers.

bx-audio play <file> [--volume=1] [--output=speakers|null]

loopify

Make a sound loop seamlessly by blending its end into its start.

bx-audio loopify <in> <out> [--crossfade=0.25]

sprite

Join sounds into one audio sprite with a Howler.js map next to it (named by file name).

bx-audio sprite <out> <file> <file> ... [--gap=0.1]

ffmpeg

Show whether FFmpeg is available (OGG, Opus, AAC and video need it), or download it.

bx-audio ffmpeg [status|install]

probe

Describe any audio or video file: length, size, video and audio streams.

bx-audio probe <file>

mux

Put an audio file on a video, copying the picture without re-encoding.

bx-audio mux <video> <audio> <out> [--keep-original] [--offset=0]

pieces

List the example pieces of music you can render.

bx-audio pieces

render

Synthesize an example piece to a WAV or MP3 file.

bx-audio render <piece> [--out=FILE] [--bars=N] [--bpm=N] ...

explorer

Start the web explorer on the BoxLang MiniServer.

bx-audio explorer [--port=8080]

doctor

Check that MP3, FFmpeg, audio output, the examples and the explorer will work here.

bx-audio doctor

version

Show the module version.

bx-audio version

help

Show this help.

bx-audio help [command]