How can I create a waveform image of an MP3 in Linux?

Question

Given an MP3 I would like to extract the waveform from the file into an image (.png)

Is there a package that can do what I need ?

Answer 1

Building on the answer of qubodup

# install stuff
apt install gnuplot
apt install sox
apt install libsox-fmt-mp3

#create plaintext file of amplitude values
sox sound.mp3 sound.dat

# run script saved on audio.gpi file
gnuplot audio.gpi

You can also comment the "set output ..." line in the configuration file and do

gnuplot audio.gpi > my_sound.png

The configuration file is audio.gpi in this case and inside it has

#!/usr/bin/env gnuplot

set datafile commentschars ";"

set terminal png #size 800,400
set output "sound.png"

unset border
unset xtics
unset ytics

set key off

plot "sound.dat" with lines

Which produces images like the following

I wanted no axis, no legend, png (much smaller than svg).