How can I record sound from Linux?

Question

I have Linux (ubuntu). And I would like to record a sound. Does anybody know how to do it? I tried to use "Sound Recorder" program which I found in "Sound & Video" menu. First I press "Record". In several seconds I press "Stop". After that the whole window becomes dark and program does not respond. Does anybody know why it happens and how this problem can be solved?

Answer 1

You could try install Audacity.

Answer 2

Use gnome-sound-recorder.

To install it with apt, type

$ sudo apt install gnome-sound-recorder

Answer 3

If Sound Recorder does not work, maybe install Audacity and try to record from that?

Answer 4

mhWaveEdit is another one you can try. It's less featureful than Audacity, but more reliable in my experience.

I don't know why Sound Recorder would hang. I've never experienced that before.

Answer 5

Following How to Record Streaming Audio in Ubuntu and other Linux Distributions,

1. the gnome-sound-recorder is only for recordings with the microphone. I tested it and could not record my system sound (say, the sound of the Firefox output).

2. Then I checked the audio-recorder which was said to be for system sound, and it worked to choose Firefox as the output. Also taken from the link above:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:audio-recorder/ppa 
sudo apt update sudo
apt install audio-recorder

This is just a shortened copy and paste from that worthy guide! Have a closer look there for screenshots and more.

Answer 6

As a simple audio recording software there is Krecorder but that is not package on many distributions. Else you have Kwave which can record, play back, import and edit many sorts of audio files including multi channel files. It's a bit more complete and is a Qt alternative to Audacity.

apt install kwave