playsound.m

function playsound(wav, samplerate)
  % Play a single-channel wave at a certain sample rate (defaults to 44100 Hz).
  % Input can be integer, in which case it is assumed to be signed 16-bit, or
  % float, in which case it is in the range -1:1.

  if (nargin < 1 || nargin > 2)
    print_usage();
  end

  if (nargin < 2)
    samplerate = 44100;
  end

  if (not(isvector(wav)))
    error('playsound: X must be a vector');
  end

  % Write it as a 16-bit signed, little endian (though the amaaazing docs don't say the endianness)

  % If it is integers we assume it is 16 bit signed. Otherwise we assume in the range -1:1
  if (isfloat(wav))
    X = min(max(wav(:), -1), 1) * 32767; % Why matlab & octave do not have a clip() function... I do not know.
  else
    X = min(max(wav(:), -32767), 32767) + 32767;
  end
  unwind_protect
    file = tmpnam ();
    fid = fopen (file, 'wb');
    fwrite (fid, X, 'int16');
    fclose (fid);
    % Making aplay (alsa) the default, because let's be honest: it is still way more reliable than
    % the mess that is pulseaudio.
    if (exist('/usr/bin/aplay') == 2)
      system(sprintf('/usr/bin/aplay --format=S16_LE --channels=1 --rate=%d \"%s\"', samplerate, file))
    elseif (exist('/usr/bin/paplay') == 2)
      system(sprintf('/usr/bin/paplay --format=s16le --channels=1 --rate=%d --raw \"%s\"', samplerate, file))
    end
  unwind_protect_cleanup
    unlink (file);
  end_unwind_protect

endfunction