SampleCat is a program for cataloguing and auditioning audio samples.

SampleCat is available under the GNU General Public License and runs mainly on
GNU/Linux systems. It is written in C and uses the GTK graphics library.
MySql and Sqlite can be used for the database.

Currently, basic functionality is working, but the application lacks the bells and whistles to make it a serious tool.

20100610: Version 0.1.0. Added spectrgram display using the code from libsndfile. Added peak_level property to backends and Inspector.

20100421: Version 0.0.9. Still incomplete Tracker backend updated to use the Tracker 0.9 API. Bugfixes. Thanks to Philipp.

20091008: Version 0.0.8. Sqlite backend support added. Partial Tracker backend support added.

20090722: Added configure options for Sqlite and Tracker backends. However, code for both of these is not yet complete and shouldn't be enabled.

20090610: Added ability to change colourbox colours. Update overviews on colour change.

20090526: Added missing header files, database refactoring, fixed '///' file-paths on import.

20090308: merged upstream changes into file manager (mostly inotify stuff).

features

• catalogues 'offline' (eg cdrom), as well as 'online' sample files.
• supported filetypes are wav, flac, aiff, sd2, etc, via libsndfile.
• metadata stored: filename, path, samplerate, channels, mimetype, peak level, and a small waveform overview.
• freeform tagging.
• browsing is done by directory, and filtering is on name, path or tag.
• spectrogram display.
• auditioning of samples is possible via JACK.
• samples can be renamed, moved and copied to other directories.

installation

• download source (or use the gentoo ebuild)
• untar, configure, make, make install.
• dependencies: gtk+2.4, jack, libsndfile.
• optional dependencies: mysqlclient, sqlite, tracker-0.9, fftw, gtkglext.

usage

• import files or directories using drag and drop.
• if a file is currently mounted, an icon will be shown in the main table. Select Update on the context menu to refresh its status.
• set tags by 1) selecting Edit Tags on the context menu, 2) double clicking the tag area, 3) enter text in the Edit box at the top of the window and hit the "Set Category" button.
• to move a file in the filesystem, drag it from the main list to a directory in the directory tree on the left.
• to rename a file in the filesystem, select it, then click on the name.
• auditioning is started by clicking in the waveform view. Jack ports are not created until auditioning is started for the first time.
• import files into your audio editor using dragndrop.

limitations

• currently, audtioning is stereo only. Files with more than 2 channels cannot be auditioned.
• Auditioning is done at the system sample rate with no resampling.