Picorder - an Audio Recorder for Raspberry Pi + 3.5" TFT display

A Raspberry Pi menu system for audio recording with manual and automatic modes, compatible with Waveshare 3.5-inch TFT touch display. Also works on Linux desktop systems using pygame with X11.

The Home screen in idle state, ready to start recording manually or automatically when an audio jack is plugged in.

Hardware Compatibility

This project is compatible with the Waveshare 3.5-inch Raspberry Pi LCD display. Built for Raspberry Pi devices. You can use device you want for recording.

Desktop Support: The application can also run on Linux desktop systems using pygame with X11 display. Use the menu_desktop.sh script to launch it on your desktop.

Setup

1. Install LCD-Show library

   Download and install the LCD-Show library:

   git clone https://github.com/goodtft/LCD-show.git
   chmod -R 755 LCD-show/LCD35-show
   cd LCD-show/
   sudo ./LCD35-show

   Follow the manufacturer's guide for complete setup: Waveshare 3.5inch RPi LCD Wiki

2. Install this project

   Clone this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/janiluuk/picorder.git /home/pi/picorder
   cd /home/pi/picorder
   pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Run install script

   To install and enable auto-start:

   sudo ./install.sh

   To uninstall:

   sudo ./install.sh uninstall

Desktop Usage

To run the menu on a Linux desktop system:

1. Install dependencies:

   pip3 install pygame

2. Run the desktop launcher:

   ./menu_desktop.sh

   The application will:

   • Automatically detect it's running on desktop (not Raspberry Pi)
   • Use X11 display instead of framebuffer
   • Use mouse input instead of touchscreen
   • Store recordings in ~/recordings/ instead of /home/pi/recordings/
   • Store config in ~/picorder/config.json instead of /home/pi/picorder/config.json
   • Disable screen timeout (no GPIO backlight control on desktop)

Features

• Automatic Recording: Records audio when jack is plugged in using silentjack
• Manual Recording: Start/stop recording manually with button press
• Recording Status: Always displays recording status and duration
• Audio Device Selection: Choose which audio input device to use
• Disk Space Monitoring: View available disk space
• Screen Management: Screen turns off after 30 seconds of inactivity, stays on during recording
• Smart File Naming: Recordings are automatically named with date, time, and duration (e.g., recording_20240115_143022_05m32s.wav)

The Home screen during active recording, showing the elapsed time and recording status. The record button changes to indicate active recording.

Usage

Navigation Overview

• Top Status Bar: Screen title on the left, status indicators on the right.
• Bottom Navigation: Persistent tabs with icons and short labels:
  • REC (Home/Recorder)
  • LIB (Library)
  • STAT (Stats)
  • SET (Settings)

Tap the bottom nav at any time to switch screens.

Home / Recorder (REC)

The recorder screen is the default view.

• Timer: Large recording duration readout.
• Mode + State: “Auto • Recording” or “Manual • Ready”.
• Quick Toggles:
  • AUTO ON/OFF pill toggles auto-record (requires a valid input device).
  • SCREEN 30s pill opens the screen-off view.
• Record Button: Large round button to start/stop manual recording.
• Stop Any Recording: Small stop-square button stops any active recording.
• Power Icon: Shortcut to screen-off mode.

Auto-Record Mode:

• When enabled, the device automatically starts recording when you plug in a 3.5mm audio jack.
• Recording stops automatically when you unplug the jack.
• Auto-record can only be enabled if a valid audio input device is configured.

Manual Recording:

• Tap the large record button to start recording manually.
• Tap it again (or the stop-square button) to stop recording.

The Library screen displays recent recordings with timestamps and filenames. Use the navigation arrows to browse recordings and the trash icon to delete selected files.

The Stats screen shows system information in a grid layout, including battery status, available storage space, selected input device, and auto-record status.

The Settings screen provides quick access to key configuration options through an icon grid: audio device selection, auto-record toggle, storage library access, system services, screen timeout, and system information.

Library (LIB)

• Shows the most recent recordings in a compact list (date/time + filename).
• Tap a row to select and play the recording.
• Use the up/down buttons to move through the list.
• Use the trash button to delete the selected recording.

Stats (STAT)

Shows a 2x2 grid of tiles for:

• Battery (placeholder if not available)
• Storage free space
• Input device
• Auto-record status

Settings (SET)

Settings are presented as a 2x3 icon grid:

• AUD: Cycle audio input device.
• AUTO: Toggle auto-record.
• STOR: Jump to the Library screen.
• SYS: Open system/services screen.
• SCR: Screen-off shortcut.
• INFO: Jump to the Stats screen.

Selecting Audio Device:

• Tap AUD repeatedly to cycle through available audio input devices.
• "None (Disabled)" means no audio device is selected (recording disabled).
• The selected device is automatically validated before use.
• If a device becomes unavailable, auto-record is automatically disabled.

Screen Timeout

• Screen automatically turns off after 30 seconds of inactivity
• Screen stays on while recording (manual or auto)
• Touch the screen to wake it up when it's off
• Screen will also wake up automatically if:
  • A recording starts while it's off
  • Audio input is detected (even when not recording)

Recordings

All recordings are stored in /home/pi/recordings/ with filenames formatted as:

• recording_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS_DURATION.wav
• Example: recording_20240115_143022_05m32s.wav (recorded on Jan 15, 2024 at 14:30:22 for 5 minutes 32 seconds)

Testing

Run the unit tests with:

python3 -m unittest test_menu_settings -v