Install SoX and some of its handlers for different audio formats. Also you need a GD module or other extension providing imagecreatetruecolor() functionality. For example, on Ubuntu:

sudo apt install sox libsox-fmt-all
sudo apt install php-gd

Install this package using the Composer require command:

composer require maximal/audio-waveform '~1.0'

or add the package name to the require section in your composer.json file:

"require": {
	"maximal/audio-waveform": "~1.0"
}

and then run:

composer update

In your PHP source:

// Include `maximal\audio` namespace
use maximal\audio\Waveform;

// Open an audio file `track.mp3`
$waveform = new Waveform('track.mp3');

// Save its waveform to the `thumbnail.png` image file which size is 1024×512 pixels
$success = $waveform->getWaveform('thumbnail.png', 1024, 512);

To get positive waveform only (i.e. one phase) pass onePhase parameter set to true:

$waveform->getWaveform('one-phase.png', 800, 400, true);

Stereo source:

Mono source:

All settings are public static members of Waveform class:

• $linesPerPixel is the count of lines per each pixel in horizontal axis. Default is 8.
• $samplesPerLine is the count of samples per each line. Default is 512.
• $color is the color of each line. Default is [95, 95, 95, 0.5] meaning the dark grey color with 50% opacity.
• $backgroundColor is the background color of the waveform file. Default is [245, 245, 245, 1] meaning the light grey opaque background with 100% opacity.
• $axisColor is the color of each axis. Default is [0, 0, 0, 0.15] meaning the black color with 15% opacity.

Red waveform with half-transparent peaks:

$waveform = new Waveform('track.mp3');
Waveform::$color = [255, 0, 0, 0.5];
$success = $waveform->getWaveform('thumbnail.png', 1024, 512);

Red waveform and fully transparent background:

$waveform = new Waveform('track.mp3');
Waveform::$color = [255, 0, 0, 0.5];
Waveform::$backgroundColor = [0, 0, 0, 0];
$success = $waveform->getWaveform('thumbnail.png', 1024, 512);

1. Install the package to some directory. For example: /opt/maximal/audio-waveform-php

2. Place the following code in the file /usr/share/thumbnailers/waveform.thumbnailer

   [Thumbnailer Entry]
   Exec=/opt/maximal/audio-waveform-php/thumbnailer.php %i %o %sx%s
   MimeType=audio/wave;audio/x-wav;audio/mpeg;audio/ogg
   

   This repository contains an example thumbnailer file. See: usr/share/thumbnailers/waveform.thumbnailer.

   Also you can add other MIME types to the MimeType section of your thumbnaler file as long as they are supportable by SoX utility.

3. Clear thumbnail cache and restart Nautilus:

   rm  -rf  ~/.thumbnails
   nautilus  -q

4. Since then all your audio files with specified MIME types will be shown in Nautilus using its small waveforms. By default they are WAV, MP3 and OGG files.

Waveform class has getWaveformData() method for retrieving the waveform data without generating the image. You can use it to integrate with different libraries, for instance, with the great wavesurfer.js.

$waveform = new Waveform('track.mp3');
$width = 1024;
$data = $waveform->getWaveformData($width);
// $data['lines1'] and $data['lines2'] now have the waveform data for channels 1 and 2

To get positive values only (i.e. one phase) pass onePhase parameter set to true:

$data = $waveform->getWaveformData($width, true);

• Website: https://maximals.ru (Russian)
• Sijeko Company: https://sijeko.ru (web, mobile, desktop applications development and graphic design)
• Personal GitHub: https://github.com/maximal
• Company’s GitHub: https://github.com/sijeko