Parselmouth

Common errors

• ERROR: Failed building wheel for praat-parselmouth

  cause A pre-built wheel for your specific operating system and Python version was not found, and the system lacks the necessary C++ compiler or build tools (like CMake) to compile Parselmouth from source.
  fix Install a C++ compiler (e.g., Visual Studio Build Tools on Windows, Xcode Command Line Tools on macOS, `build-essential` on Debian/Ubuntu, or `cmake` for all platforms) and try `pip install praat-parselmouth` again.

• AttributeError: module 'numpy' has no attribute 'array_api'

  cause This error typically occurs when using Parselmouth versions older than 0.4.4 with a NumPy 2.x installation, due to changes in NumPy's internal structure.
  fix Upgrade Parselmouth to version 0.4.4 or higher: `pip install --upgrade praat-parselmouth`.

• ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'parselmouth'

  cause The `praat-parselmouth` library has not been installed, or the Python environment where it was installed is not currently active.
  fix Install the library using `pip install praat-parselmouth`. If using virtual environments, ensure the correct environment is activated before running your script.

• TypeError: 'Sound' object is not callable

  cause You are attempting to call a Parselmouth object (e.g., an instance of `Sound` or `Pitch`) as if it were a function, instead of using its methods or passing it to `parselmouth.praat.call()`.
  fix Review the Parselmouth documentation for the correct way to interact with objects. Use methods like `sound.to_pitch()` or pass objects to `parselmouth.praat.call(object, 'PraatCommand')`.

Warnings

• gotcha Installation of `praat-parselmouth` can fail if a pre-built wheel is not available for your specific Python version and operating system, requiring compilation from source. This needs a C++ compiler (e.g., MSVC, GCC, Clang) and CMake to be installed and configured on your system.
  Fix: Ensure you have a C++ compiler and CMake installed. Check the official Parselmouth documentation for platform-specific build instructions. Installing `scikit-build-core` might also help: `pip install scikit-build-core`.
• breaking Versions of Parselmouth prior to 0.4.4 had compatibility issues with NumPy 2.x, leading to errors when processing audio data or accessing array properties.
  Fix: Upgrade Parselmouth to version 0.4.4 or newer: `pip install --upgrade praat-parselmouth`.
• gotcha In older versions of Parselmouth (prior to 0.3.3), using `parselmouth.praat.call` or `parselmouth.praat.run` could lead to crashes when passing empty lists of objects or when returning objects that already existed in Praat's memory.
  Fix: Upgrade Parselmouth to version 0.3.3 or newer to avoid these specific crash scenarios: `pip install --upgrade praat-parselmouth`.
• gotcha While Parselmouth aims for broad Python compatibility, explicit support for newer Python versions (e.g., 3.10, 3.11) was added in specific minor releases (v0.4.1, v0.4.2). Using an older Parselmouth version with the very latest Python releases might encounter unexpected issues.
  Fix: Always use the latest stable version of Parselmouth for optimal compatibility with recent Python interpreters: `pip install --upgrade praat-parselmouth`.

Install

• pip install praat-parselmouth Install stable version

Imports

• parselmouth

  import parselmouth

• Sound

  import parselmouth
  sound = parselmouth.Sound(...)

• praat

  import parselmouth
  parselmouth.praat.call(...)

Quickstart

This example demonstrates how to create a simple sound object from a NumPy array, perform a common acoustic analysis (pitch extraction), and use `parselmouth.praat.call` for direct Praat commands.

import parselmouth
import numpy as np

# Create a dummy sound object (e.g., a sine wave)
sr = 44100  # Sample rate
duration = 1.0 # seconds
t = np.linspace(0, duration, int(sr * duration), endpoint=False)
frequency = 440.0 # Hz
amplitude = 0.5
dummy_wave = amplitude * np.sin(2 * np.pi * frequency * t)

# Load the sound into Parselmouth
sound = parselmouth.Sound(dummy_wave, sr)

# Perform a basic Praat operation: extract pitch
pitch = sound.to_pitch()

# Print some information
print(f"Sound duration: {sound.duration:.2f} seconds")
print(f"First pitch value (at 0.1s): {pitch.get_value_at_time(0.1):.2f} Hz")

# Example of using a Praat command directly via parselmouth.praat.call
intensity = parselmouth.praat.call(sound, "To Intensity", 100, 0, False)
print(f"Mean intensity: {intensity.get_mean():.2f} dB")