SoX CLI for preparing samples for various hardware samplers

This shell script is designed to perform various audio processing tasks using command-line tools such as SoX and FFmpeg. It provides functionality for cloning directories, converting audio files, normalizing audio levels, and checking the integrity of WAV files, made specifically for preparing samples for hardware samplers.

This is is a WIP. I created this for use on MacOS

Prerequisites

To use this shell script, make sure you have the following dependencies installed on your system:

• SoX (Sound eXchange) - for audio file manipulation and analysis
• FFmpeg - for audio file conversion
• rsync version of at least 3.1.0 - used to show progress when cloning directories

Installation

To install and use this CLI tool, follow these steps:

1. Choose a directory where you want to store the application, and go to that directory

2. Clone the repository to your local machine:

   git clone https://github.com/nkear003/sox-cli

3. Change into the cloned directory:

   cd sox-cli

4. Make the script executable

   chmod +x sox-cli

5. Create a symbolic link to the tool in the /usr/local/bin directory:

   # -f option will replace the link, if it already exists, in case you move the CLI
   sudo ln -sf "$(pwd)/sox-cli" /usr/local/bin/sox-cli

   This will allow you to execute the CLI tool from anywhere in your terminal.

Usage

To run the script, open a terminal and execute the script using the following command:

sox-cli <command> <TARGET_PATH>

Replace <command> with one of the following available commands:

• clone-and-convert-ot: Clones a directory with -ot appended to it and converts audio files within it to 44100 sample rate, and any file with a bit depth higher than 24 to a bit depth of 24. The <TARGET_PATH> should point to the source directory. When cloning, if the destination folder exists, it will be removed, but you will get a prompt to comfirm

• convert: Converts audio files in target directory (without cloning the directory first) for Octatrack recursively within a directory specified by <TARGET_PATH>. See clone-and-convert-ot for more details.

• clone-and-normalize: Clones a directory with -normal appended to it, and normalizes audio files within it. The <TARGET_PATH> should point to the source directory. When cloning, if the destination folder exists, it will be removed, but you will get a prompt to comfirm

• normalize: Normalizes audio files recursively within a directory specified by <TARGET_PATH>.

• check-files-ot: Checks the sample rate and bit depth of WAV files within a directory specified by <TARGET_PATH>. It reports any files with a sample rate different from 44100 Hz or a bit depth higher than 24.

Note: Replace <TARGET_PATH> with the path to the target directory where the operations will be performed.

Additional Details

• The script utilizes the rsync command to clone directories and soxi to retrieve audio file information.

• The clone_dir function clones a directory by copying its contents to a destination directory specified as <TARGET_PATH>-ot.

• The check_and_fix_file_with_ffmpeg_if_needed function checks if a WAV file has a malformed or missing WAV header and re-encodes it using FFmpeg if necessary.

• The normalize_audio function normalizes the audio levels of a WAV file using SoX. If the peak level is already within the acceptable range (-1 dBFS or lower), the file is considered already normalized. Otherwise, it normalizes the file and replaces the original file with the normalized version.

• The convert_audio_file function checks the sample rate and bit depth of an audio file. If the sample rate is different from 44100 Hz, it converts the sample rate to 44100 Hz using SoX. If the bit depth is higher than 24, it converts the bit depth to 24 bits.

• The process_files function recursively processes all files and directories within a given directory, performing necessary operations based on file types.

• The normalize_all_files function recursively normalizes all WAV files within a given directory.

• The check_files function recursively checks the sample rate and bit depth of WAV files within a given directory and reports any files with issues.

Feel free to modify and adapt the script according to your specific requirements.

Updating

Currently the best way to update would be to simply change to source code directory and run git pull. You may need to make the file executable again by using chmod +x sox-cli

License

This script is provided under the MIT License.

Please refer to the individual dependencies (SoX and FFmpeg) for their respective licenses.

Note: Ensure that you have the necessary permissions to execute the script and make any modifications to the audio files.