How does a MIDI file work?

[yroc]

Howdy, I was just wanted to know how a midi file works. I've read online that it converts the song file into digital music sheets that an electronic piano plays.

So here's my question, could you convert them and print out the music sheets to perform on a real piano?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Kizyr]

I used to do that a lot back in the era before MP3s were standard (well, even long after MP3s were the standard).

There are a handful of freeware programs that can print out from MIDI files. I used one called Anvil Studio, but there are probably a few others you can uncover if you do a little searching. Check http://www.c-net.com and search for MIDI and Sheet Music; you should find a few there. KF

[Ruby]

MIDI's are a format that was originally used for electronic keyboards. Ever hear that preefab song that plays on a keyboard? That's a MIDI. A MIDI file simply is instructions on how to play a composition, rather than playing it back. For example, in a piece of music with a drum and a piano the MIDI file would have instructions for piano notes and drum notes. It then feeds this to your computer's MIDI synthizer (Back in the day there occasionally were dedicated hardware synthizers, but now it's usually done via software or Creative's "Soundfonts".) which then actually plays the note. Think of it like a music box, or one of those old west auto-play piano.

MP3's on the other hand are a waveform recording, like a CD or casette. The information stored in the file is a copy of the actual sound recorded, which is then played back.

When you make a midi you actually compose it, putting down the notes at their intervals and such, where as waveform audio you play something and record it. This is why midi's can be printed up into sheet music, because the midi file contains instructions for the computer to play the composition. However the sheet music produced can occasionally be a bit odd, especially when you're dealing with more than one instrument in the file.

Computer MIDI's have a set type of intstruments, though your hardware can determine exactly what your intstruments sound like. There's other similar types of files. For example "MOD" sound files were like midis but they contained digital samples of the instruments in the mod file and then would play the composition from the samples (like a syntheizer again.) but when MP3's got rather popular they dropped off the map for the most part.

[yroc]

Ahhhh now I understand, thank you Kizyr and Ruby for clearing that up for me. This helped me a lot.