The MIDI Forum

On the basis of the information you provide, I'd GUESS that you're talking about 'Music Macro Language' (MML). There are other uses of MML, including referring to file types.

I've used Google to check on this type of MML, and this seems to have a problem with chords. Each track can have multiple notes, but one only playing at once.

A normal midi file can have a number of notes starting at once to create a chord, and they could be on different tracks, or they would more likely be on the same track so they could be more easily covered by similar settings, say instrument type, and other controllers.

Midi software may well allow a midi file to be split between tracks, but usually this facility is subject to midi data being on different channels (which might mean different instruments). This may be a variant of the process of converting a Type 0 midi file to a Type 1 file. I don't remember seeing anything that allows the sort of split that you are seeking, which in data terms will be somewhat arbitrary.

You may HAVE to do a substantial amount of manual editing, the best you might do it to convert the file into a format that makes the editing easier.

I believe that a midi file could have any number of 'tracks' (within reason, I assume there will be a limit but I'm not sure what it is right now). Normally, there is a limit of 16 Channels (but some more modern devices can handle two sets of 16, although this may not apply to midi files).

If you could manipulate the channel numbers, then 'normal' software might be able to rebuild the midi file with more tracks. This might be simpler, and more reliable, than trying to manipulate the track numbers.

I'm looking at a piece of software I have called DECODE which converts a midi file into readable .TXT - it might be possible to do something with this output, and then use an associated ENCODE program to convert the result back into a .MID file.

Before getting in too deep, could you attach a copy of the midi file that you're wanting to manipulate? This would be a big help in determining what might be practical.

Geoff

Sure thing, the midi version of the song in question is located here. And I was fearing someone might say the only way to do what I need, is to do it manually. And you had the correct acronym for MML, that is indeed what I am asking about.

I have also attached the actual midi file itself, as the link I provided only shows you the sheet music. You have to have an account to download the actual midi file.

Thanks for the file.

I had a smaller version of this piece of music, not sure if it's just part of the whole piece, and I've now found an even larger file which may be similar, or maybe a bit more jazz? Your file is 71,634 filesize, the jazz one is 99,511, so it's maybe 30% larger?

The files seem to comprise 2 tracks ONLY, and all the notes seem to be on one channel ONLY (Channel 1).

I've converted your file to .TXT, and been looking at that. It should be quite possible to do something. The main problem seems to be that the notes On and Off are not too tidy! Just on the first page or two of the data, I could see places where some notes ON were followed by the associated Note OFF, incl places where there was a clear chord ON and then the OFFs, but there were visible instances of, say, 3 notes on, then 2 notes off, then other notes on, and other notes off, and then the 3rd note from the first group finally off. makes things more difficult to keep track of.

Once the file is in the text format, then it would be possible to write a BASIC prog to step through the file line-by-line, amending lines as it goes. Because of the overlaps, it might be better to make the prog simpler, i.e. make certain changes in the pass through, but then make later passes through to make other changes, until there are no more 'track' chords.

As the piece is piano solo, there should be no more than 10 notes at a time?

Anyway, I'm talking of doing it 'manually', yes, but with massive computer assistance.

I may try and do something with the first couple of minutes of the file, so you can try it and see if it does the job??

OK?

Geoff