Read and write AIFF and AIFC files using Python (aifc)

The aifc module in Python provides functionality for reading and writing AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format) and AIFF-C files. AIFF is a standard format for storing digital audio samples, while AIFF-C is an extended version that supports audio compression.

Audio File Parameters

Audio files contain several key parameters that describe the audio data ?

• Sampling rate (frame rate): Number of times per second the sound is sampled
• Number of channels: Indicates mono (1), stereo (2), or quadro (4) audio
• Frame: Consists of one sample per channel
• Sample size: Size in bytes of each sample

A frame consists of channels × sample size bytes. Audio data for 1 second requires channels × sample size × frame rate bytes.

Opening AIFF Files with aifc.open()

The aifc.open() function opens AIFF or AIFF-C files and returns an object for reading or writing audio data ?

import aifc

# Open for reading
audio_file = aifc.open('sound.aiff', 'r')

# Open for writing  
audio_file = aifc.open('sound.aiff', 'w')

Writing AIFF Files

When opening a file in write mode, you can use these methods to configure and write audio data ?

Creating an AIFF File

import aifc
import struct
import random

# Configure audio parameters
sample_rate = 44100.0  # Hz
duration = 1.0  # seconds
frequency = 440.0  # Hz

# Create AIFF file
audio_file = aifc.open('sound.aiff', 'w')
audio_file.setnchannels(1)  # mono
audio_file.setsampwidth(2)  # 2 bytes per sample
audio_file.setframerate(sample_rate)

# Write audio data
for i in range(44100):  # 1 second of audio
    value = random.randint(-32767, 32767)
    data = struct.pack('<h', value)
    audio_file.writeframesraw(data)

audio_file.close()

Reading AIFF Files

When opening a file in read mode, you can use these methods to extract audio information ?

Reading AIFF File Properties

import aifc

# Open and read AIFF file properties
audio_file = aifc.open('sound.aiff', 'r')

print("Number of channels:", audio_file.getnchannels())
print("Sample width:", audio_file.getsampwidth())
print("Frame rate:", audio_file.getframerate())
print("Number of frames:", audio_file.getnframes())
print("Parameters:", audio_file.getparams())

audio_file.close()

The output would be ?

Number of channels: 1
Sample width: 2
Frame rate: 44100
Number of frames: 44100
Parameters: _aifc_params(nchannels=1, sampwidth=2, framerate=44100, nframes=44100, comptype=b'NONE', compname=b'not compressed')

Common Methods

These methods work with both readable and writable AIFF objects ?

Conclusion

The aifc module provides comprehensive support for AIFF and AIFF-C audio files in Python. Use write mode methods to create audio files with specific parameters, and read mode methods to extract audio properties and data from existing files.