arecord and aplay from the kalsatools package provide a simple and flexible interface to the PCM devices. arecord and aplay can be used to record and play audio data in the WAV format among other formats. The command arecord -d 10 -f cd -t wav mysong.wav records a WAV file of ten seconds in CD quality (16 bit, 44.1 kHz). List all options of arecord and aplay by running them with the --help option.

qaRecord is a simple recording program with a graphical interface and level display. As this program makes use of an internal buffer of about 1 MB (configurable with --buffersize), it enables uninterrupted recordings even on slow hardware, especially if it is run with real-time priority (for more information, see 15.4. “Buffering and Latencies”). During the recording, the currently-used buffer size is displayed in the status line under ‘Buffer’ and the maximum buffer size required so far for this recording is displayed under ‘Peak’.

Figure 15.10. QARecord — A Simple Hard Disk Recording Application