Command line audio players

sudo apt install ffmpeg gives you an industry standard in playing music and videos from the command line. Two tools I use in my own GUI music player I’m starting to develop are called from the command line:

• ffprobe gives details on songs
• ffplay plays a song

ffprobe

```$ ffprobe “15 Mr. Roboto.m4a”

ffprobe version 2.8.17-0ubuntu0.1 Copyright (c) 2007-2020 the FFmpeg developers built with gcc 5.4.0 (Ubuntu 5.4.0-6ubuntu1~16.04.12) 20160609 configuration: –prefix=/usr –extra-version=0ubuntu0.1 –build-suffix=-ffmpeg –toolchain=hardened –libdir=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu –incdir=/usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu –cc=cc –cxx=g++ –enable-gpl –enable-shared –disable-stripping –disable-decoder=libopenjpeg –disable-decoder=libschroedinger –enable-avresample –enable-avisynth –enable-gnutls –enable-ladspa –enable-libass –enable-libbluray –enable-libbs2b –enable-libcaca –enable-libcdio –enable-libflite –enable-libfontconfig –enable-libfreetype –enable-libfribidi –enable-libgme –enable-libgsm –enable-libmodplug –enable-libmp3lame –enable-libopenjpeg –enable-libopus –enable-libpulse –enable-librtmp –enable-libschroedinger –enable-libshine –enable-libsnappy –enable-libsoxr –enable-libspeex –enable-libssh –enable-libtheora –enable-libtwolame –enable-libvorbis –enable-libvpx –enable-libwavpack –enable-libwebp –enable-libx265 –enable-libxvid –enable-libzvbi –enable-openal –enable-opengl –enable-x11grab –enable-libdc1394 –enable-libiec61883 –enable-libzmq –enable-frei0r –enable-libx264 –enable-libopencv libavutil 54. 31.100 / 54. 31.100 libavcodec 56. 60.100 / 56. 60.100 libavformat 56. 40.101 / 56. 40.101 libavdevice 56. 4.100 / 56. 4.100 libavfilter 5. 40.101 / 5. 40.101 libavresample 2. 1. 0 / 2. 1. 0 libswscale 3. 1.101 / 3. 1.101 libswresample 1. 2.101 / 1. 2.101 libpostproc 53. 3.100 / 53. 3.100 [mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0x1f88060] stream 0, timescale not set [mjpeg @ 0x1f8aa80] Changeing bps to 8 Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from ‘15 Mr. Roboto.m4a’: Metadata: major_brand : M4A minor_version : 0 compatible_brands: M4A mp42isom creation_time : 2012-05-16 16:41:23 Encoding Params : vers iTunNORM : 00000CD2 00000BFE 000072CF 00006BB6 0004C2DD 0004C2DD 00007FEE 00007F9B 000139A6 0001A6C4 iTunSMPB : 00000000 00000840 00000248 0000000000DE9978 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 iTunes_CDDB_IDs : 16++ compilation : 0 disc : 1/1 gapless_playback: 0 track : 15/16 artist : Styx album : Greatest Hits date : 1983 genre : Rock title : Mr. Roboto encoder : iTunes 10.6.1.7 composer : Dennis DeYoung Duration: 00:05:30.86, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 280 kb/s Stream #0:0(und): Audio: aac (LC) (mp4a / 0x6134706D), 44100 Hz, stereo, fltp, 276 kb/s (default) Metadata: creation_time : 2012-05-16 16:41:23 Stream #0:1: Video: mjpeg, yuvj420p(pc, bt470bg/unknown/unknown), 316x316 [SAR 144:144 DAR 1:1], 90k tbr, 90k tbn, 90k tbc

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## ffplay

$ ffplay “15 Mr. Roboto.m4a”

ffplay version 2.8.17-0ubuntu0.1 Copyright (c) 2003-2020 the FFmpeg developers built with gcc 5.4.0 (Ubuntu 5.4.0-6ubuntu1~16.04.12) 20160609 configuration: –prefix=/usr –extra-version=0ubuntu0.1 –build-suffix=-ffmpeg –toolchain=hardened –libdir=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu –incdir=/usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu –cc=cc –cxx=g++ –enable-gpl –enable-shared –disable-stripping –disable-decoder=libopenjpeg –disable-decoder=libschroedinger –enable-avresample –enable-avisynth –enable-gnutls –enable-ladspa –enable-libass –enable-libbluray –enable-libbs2b –enable-libcaca –enable-libcdio –enable-libflite –enable-libfontconfig –enable-libfreetype –enable-libfribidi –enable-libgme –enable-libgsm –enable-libmodplug –enable-libmp3lame –enable-libopenjpeg –enable-libopus –enable-libpulse –enable-librtmp –enable-libschroedinger –enable-libshine –enable-libsnappy –enable-libsoxr –enable-libspeex –enable-libssh –enable-libtheora –enable-libtwolame –enable-libvorbis –enable-libvpx –enable-libwavpack –enable-libwebp –enable-libx265 –enable-libxvid –enable-libzvbi –enable-openal –enable-opengl –enable-x11grab –enable-libdc1394 –enable-libiec61883 –enable-libzmq –enable-frei0r –enable-libx264 –enable-libopencv libavutil 54. 31.100 / 54. 31.100 libavcodec 56. 60.100 / 56. 60.100 libavformat 56. 40.101 / 56. 40.101 libavdevice 56. 4.100 / 56. 4.100 libavfilter 5. 40.101 / 5. 40.101 libavresample 2. 1. 0 / 2. 1. 0 libswscale 3. 1.101 / 3. 1.101 libswresample 1. 2.101 / 1. 2.101 libpostproc 53. 3.100 / 53. 3.100 [mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0x7f796c0092a0] stream 0, timescale not set [mjpeg @ 0x7f796c00b680] Changeing bps to 8 Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from ‘15 Mr. Roboto.m4a’: Metadata: major_brand : M4A minor_version : 0 compatible_brands: M4A mp42isom creation_time : 2012-05-16 16:41:23 Encoding Params : vers iTunNORM : 00000CD2 00000BFE 000072CF 00006BB6 0004C2DD 0004C2DD 00007FEE 00007F9B 000139A6 0001A6C4 iTunSMPB : 00000000 00000840 00000248 0000000000DE9978 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 iTunes_CDDB_IDs : 16++ compilation : 0 disc : 1/1 gapless_playback: 0 track : 15/16 artist : Styx album : Greatest Hits date : 1983 genre : Rock title : Mr. Roboto encoder : iTunes 10.6.1.7 composer : Dennis DeYoung Duration: 00:05:30.86, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 280 kb/s Stream #0:0(und): Audio: aac (LC) (mp4a / 0x6134706D), 44100 Hz, stereo, fltp, 276 kb/s (default) Metadata: creation_time : 2012-05-16 16:41:23 Stream #0:1: Video: mjpeg, yuvj420p(pc, bt470bg/unknown/unknown), 316x316 [SAR 144:144 DAR 1:1], 90k tbr, 90k tbn, 90k tbc [swscaler @ 0x7f7958033ae0] deprecated pixel format used, make sure you did set range correctly ```

ffplay in action

A progress counter is displayed whilst ffplay is operating and a GUI pop-up window is displayed with the song art (if X11 is not available to command line, such as console, or over ssh, then the GUI can be suppressed by adding the ‘-nodisp’ flag:

Incorporate ffprobe and ffplay into your own GUI

I took these tools and am starting to develop my own GUI music player: