mp3 to midi

Russ · 17-10-2003, 17:48

Does anyone know any good (preferably free) programs to convert mp3 files to midi?

Richard M · 17-10-2003, 17:56

Er, it can't really be done Russ.
Midi files are made up of actual notation data that is sent to a midi instrument (usually a sound card in your PC) to tell it what to play and an mp3 is sound wave data.
A bit of a difference.

Russ · 17-10-2003, 18:02

Silly Roger, yes it can! The one they recommend here is a bit costly, I don't really want to pay that much for something I'll only use once or twice.

Richard M · 17-10-2003, 18:16

I don't see how a program would be able to tell the difference between a harpsichord or a piano but good luck to you, you'll need it.

Williams · 21-03-2005, 18:22

Mp3 (as well as other waveform sound formats) and MIDI are in principle different forms of sound representation. MIDI contains commands, and MP3 is compressed waveform. That's why the task of MP3 to MIDI conversion is much more difficult than, say MP3 to Wave or others.
Here I found one of the most clear description of this process I have seen:

http://www.mp3-to-midi.net/mp3-to-midi.html

Halcyon · 21-03-2005, 19:18

There isnt really a way to turn an mp3 to Midi.
Even as Wav you won't be able to sperate the instruments and get the info for each note.
Your best bet is to play it again yourself in something such as Reason, and then export the instrument notes as midi.

geminian68 · 21-03-2005, 19:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ D

Does anyone know any good (preferably free) programs to convert mp3 files to midi?

I just did a Google freeware mp3 to midi converter.

Download Switch 1.04 - Audio file format converter software for ...... Intelliscore Polyphonic WAV to MIDI, MP3 to MIDI Converter 6.2 ... Convert MP3 Files into Wave Files Easy. 0.48 MB | Windows All | Freeware ...
www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/ Audio/Audio-Convertors/Switch.shtml - 79k - 20 Mar 2005

cookie_365 · 21-03-2005, 19:52

Er, doesn't that go the other way round ?

Stuart · 21-03-2005, 19:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ D

Silly Roger, yes it can! The one they recommend here is a bit costly, I don't really want to pay that much for something I'll only use once or twice.

It's been a while since I looked into this, but the last I heard, it was possible to do it, but the results were inaccurate. It was adequate for Pop and Rock music (by Pop, I mean most modern music) which have a relatively limited frequency range. It didn't work at all for classical (or orchestral) music.

Basically the process works in a similar way to speech recognition, but is an order of magnitude more complicated.

MetaWraith · 21-03-2005, 21:10

You could try WIDISOFT

http://www.widisoft.com/english/download.html

Unregistered version of WIDI does not let you to save more than 10 seconds of MIDI. Every time you start an unregistered version you will see a startup dialog with a suggestion to register. You can use unregistered version of WIDI for free during 14 days after downloading. If you want to use WIDI for more than 14 days, you should register. No other limitations are present.