---
name: "aubio"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "aubio"
version: "0.4.9-25"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/aubio"
---

# aubio(1)

a command line tool to extract information from sound files

## NAME

**aubio** - a command line tool to extract information from sound files

## SYNOPSIS

```
aubio [-h] [-V] <command> ...
```

## COMMANDS

**The general syntax is "aubio \<command\> \<soundfile\> \[options\]". The following** **commands are available:**

- **onset**

  **get onset times**

- **pitch**

  **extract fundamental frequency**

- **beat**

  **get locations of beats**

- **tempo**

  **get overall tempo in bpm**

- **notes**

  **get midi-like notes**

- **mfcc**

  **extract mel-frequency cepstrum coefficients**

- **melbands**

  **extract mel-frequency energies per band**

**For a list of available commands, use "aubio -h". For more info about each** **command, use "aubio \<command\> --help".**

## GENERAL OPTIONS

**These options can be used before any command has been specified.**

- **-h, --help**

  **show help message and exit**

- **-V, --version**

  **show version**

## COMMON OPTIONS

**The following options can be used with all commands:**

- **\<source\_uri\>, -i \<source\_uri\>, --input \<source\_uri\>**

  **input sound file to** **analyse (required)**

- **-r \<freq\>, --samplerate \<freq\>**

  **samplerate at which the file should be** **represented (default: 0, e.g. samplerate of the input sound)**

- **-H \<size\>, --hopsize \<size\>**

  **overlap size, number of samples between two** **consecutive analysis (default: 256)**

- **-B \<size\>, --bufsize \<size\>**

  **buffer size, number of samples used for each** **analysis, (e.g. FFT length, default: 512)**

- **-h, --help**

  **show help message and exit**

- **-T format, --time-format format**

  **select time values output format (samples,** **ms, seconds) (default: seconds)**

- **-v, --verbose**

  **be verbose (increment verbosity by 1, default: 1)**

- **-q, --quiet**

  **be quiet (set verbosity to 0)**

## ONSET

**The following additional options can be used with the "onset" subcommand.**

- **-m \<method\>, --method \<method\>**

  **onset novelty function** **\<default\|energy\|hfc\|complex\|phase\|specdiff\|kl\|mkl\|specflux\> (default:** **default)**

- **-t \<threshold\>, --threshold \<threshold\>**

  **threshold (default: unset)**

- **-s \<value\>, --silence \<value\>**

  **silence threshold, in dB (default: -70)**

- **-M \<value\>, --minioi \<value\>**

  **minimum Inter-Onset Interval (default: 12ms)**

## PITCH

**The following additional options can be used with the "pitch" subcommand.**

- **-m \<method\>, --method \<method\>**

  **pitch detection method** **\<default\|yinfft\|yin\|mcomb\|fcomb\|schmitt\> (default: default, e.g. yinfft)**

- **-t \<threshold\>, --threshold \<threshold\>**

  **tolerance (default: unset)**

- **-s \<value\>, --silence \<value\>**

  **silence threshold, in dB (default: -70)**

**The default buffer size for the beat algorithm is 2048. The default hop size** **is 256.**

## BEAT

**The "beat" command accepts all common options and no additional options.**

**The default buffer size for the beat algorithm is 1024. The default hop size** **is 512.**

## TEMPO

**The "tempo" command accepts all common options and no additional options.**

**The default buffer size for the beat algorithm is 1024. The default hop size** **is 512.**

## NOTES

**The following additional options can be used with the "notes" subcommand.**

- **-s \<value\>, --silence \<value\>**

  **silence threshold, in dB (default: -70)**

- **-d \<value\>, --release-drop \<value\>**

  **release drop level, in dB. If the level** **drops more than this amount since the last note started, the note will be** **turned off (default: 10).**

## MFCC

**The "mfcc" command accepts all common options and no additional options.**

## MELBANDS

**The "melbands" command accepts all common options and no additional options.**

## EXAMPLES

**Extract onsets using a minimum inter-onset interval of 30ms:**

```
    aubio onset /path/to/input_file -M 30ms
```

**Extract pitch with method "mcomb" and a silence threshold of -90dB:**

```
    aubio pitch /path/to/input_file -m mcomb -s -90.0
```

**Extract MFCC using the standard Slaney implementation:**

```
    aubio mfcc /path/to/input_file -r 44100
```

## SEE ALSO

**[aubiocut(1)](/aubiocut/1.md)**

## AUTHOR

**This manual page was written by Paul Brossier \<piem@aubio.org\>. Permission is** **granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of** **the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation,** **either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.**