How do I play a music(MP3) or .Wav file using C libraries?

Question

I have tried using the fmod.h include file in C. But the tutorial I found for it was old/obsolete. Please can anyone give a program or an explanation as to how am I supposed to play some file in a C program using its libraries? Thanks in advance. Detailed explanation would be appreciated.

Standard C99 does not know about music or sound. You need to use system specific libraries at least. — Basile Starynkevitch, Sep 02 '14 at 05:35
In linux you can try `libvlc`. [check here](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10116783/a-simple-c-program-to-play-mp3-using-libvlc) and for `FMOD` using see http://stackoverflow.com/questions/428884/how-to-play-mp3-files-in-c?lq=1 — Jayesh Bhoi, Sep 02 '14 at 05:37
@BasileStarynkevitch What do you mean by System specific libraries? Can you elaborate? — Rutuparna Damle, Sep 02 '14 at 06:24
You could use [ALSA](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Linux_Sound_Architecture) APIs. ALSA gives you good control over Audio configuration, and is part of Linux Kernel. [Here](http://equalarea.com/paul/alsa-audio.html) are good tutorial to start with. — Saurabh Meshram, Sep 02 '14 at 06:30

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 02 '14 at 07:05

As you are working on Ubuntu, libvlc would be handy to use.

You should find the necessary files (libvlc.so, libvlc.pc, header files...) in a binary package called libvlc-dev.

Install it like :

sudo apt-get install libvlccore-dev libvlc-dev

Then here is the test program to play a file :

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <vlc/vlc.h>

int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
    libvlc_instance_t *inst;
    libvlc_media_player_t *mp;
    libvlc_media_t *m;

    // load the engine
    inst = libvlc_new(0, NULL);

    // create a file to play
    m = libvlc_media_new_path(inst, "myFile.mp3");

    // create a media play playing environment
    mp = libvlc_media_player_new_from_media(m);

    // release the media now.
    libvlc_media_release(m);

    // play the media_player
    libvlc_media_player_play(mp);

    sleep(10); // let it play for 10 seconds

    // stop playing
    libvlc_media_player_stop(mp);

    // free the memory.
    libvlc_media_player_release(mp);

    libvlc_release(inst);


    return 0;
}

How do I play a music(MP3) or .Wav file using C libraries?

1 Answers1