arecord and aplay from the alsa 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 and other formats. The command arecord -d 10 -f cd -t wav mysong.wav records a WAV file of 10 seconds in CD quality (16 bit, 44.1 kHz). List all options of arecord and aplay by running them with the --help option.

qaRecord (package kalsatools) is a simple recording program with a graphical interface and level display. Because this program uses 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. 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 13.12. QARecord—A Simple Hard Disk Recording Application