What is aifc.getmark in Python?

aifc.getmark(id) is a function in the Python module. A function is a block of code that executes only when called. You can pass data, called parameters, to a function. A function can return corresponding data. Modules are files made up of Python code. Modules can define functions.

Some functions in the aifc module provide support for reading and writing AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format) and AIFC files. AIFC is a newer version of AIFF that can compress audio data.

How to use the aifc module in Python

The followings are ways to use the aifc module in Python.

1. The number of channels: indicates if the audio is mono, stereo, or Quadro.

2. The sampling rate or frame rate: the number of times the sound is sampled per second.

3. The frame includes one sample per channel.

4. Sample size: the size of each sample (in bytes).

Meaning of mono audio, stereo audio, and Quadro audio

The following explains mono, stereo, and Quadro audio.

1. Mono audio: Mono sound reproduction (often referred to simply as mono) is soundly designed to sound as if it were being emitted from one location. Mono sound is when only one channel is used to convert a signal to a sound. Below is the diagram of mono audio.

2. Stereo audio: Stereophonic sound, also known as “stereo audio” is a term for creating the appearance of multi-directional audio. Stereo means that the sources are split into two signals, rather than all audio from all tracks within a recording being played simultaneously from one source. Below is the diagram of stereo audio.

3. Quadro audio: Quadrophonic and sometimes Quadrasonic sounds (now called 4.0 surround sounds) use four audio channels with speakers located at the four corners of the listening space. Four-channel audio formats can be more expensive to produce than standard two-channel stereos. See diagram below of Audio, circuit, electric, and quadraphonic sound.

Components of the ifc.getmark(id).

The word get is a function that helps one have access to the event. id uniquely identifies an event.

The word mark is related to markers. We use markers to show an important event in a video or audio file, so that in the future one can easily have access to the event.

This marker consists of a set of three elements.

• The first is the mark ID (integer).
• The second is the mark position (integer) of the frame from the start of the data.
• The third is the mark name (character string).

This function returns such a tuple for the given id.

#importing the aifc module
import aifc  

#using the open function in the aifc module to open the Django.aifc file.
#assigning to the variable 'object'
object = aifc.open('Django.aifc','rb')

#printing out the output
print( object.getmark(1))

## output
(1, 0,b'beg s loop')