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- Standard MIDI-File Format Spec. 1.1 --
- --------------------------------------
-
- Distributed by:
- The International MIDI Association
- 5316 W. 57th St.
- Los Angeles, CA 90056
- (213) 649-6434
-
-
- 0 - Introduction
-
- The document outlines the specification for MIDI Files. The purpose of MIDI
- Files is to provide a way of interchanging time-stamped MIDI data between
- different programs on the same or different computers. One of the primary
- design goals is compact representation, which makes it very appropriate for
- disk-based file format, but which might make it inappropriate for storing
- in memory for quick access by a sequencer program. (It can be easily
- converted to a quickly-accessible format on the fly as files are read in or
- written out.) It is not intended to replace the normal file format of any
- program, though it could be used for this purpose if desired.
-
- MIDI Files contain one or more MIDI streams, with time information for each
- event. Song, sequence, and track structures, tempo and time signature
- information, are all supported. Track names and other descriptive
- information may be stored with the MIDI data. This format supports multiple
- tracks and multiple sequences so that if the user of a program which
- supports multiple tracks intends to move a file to another one, this format
- can allow that to happen.
-
- This spec defines the 8-bit binary data stream used in the file. The data
- can be stored in a binary file, nibbilized, 7-bit-ized for efficient MIDI
- transmission, converted to Hex ASCII, or translated symbolically to a
- printable text file. This spec addresses what's in the 8-bit stream. It
- does not address how a MIDI File will be transmitted over MIDI. It is the
- general feeling that a MIDI transmission protocol will be developed for
- files in general and MIDI Files will use this scheme.
-
-
- 1 - Sequences, Tracks, Chunks: File Block Structure
-
- CONVENTIONS
- In this document, bit 0 means the least significant bit of a byte, and bit
- 7 is the most significant.
-
- Some numbers in MIDI Files are represented is a form called VARIABLE-LENGTH
- QUANTITY. These numbers are represented 7 bits per byte, most significant
- bits first. All bytes except the last have bit 7 set, and the last byte has
- bit 7 clear. If the number is between 0 and 127, it is thus represented
- exactly as one byte.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Here are some examples of numbers represented as variable-length
- quantities:
-
- 00000000 00
- 00000040 40
- 0000007F 7F
- 00000080 81 00
- 00002000 C0 00
- 00003FFF FF 7F
- 00004000 81 80 00
- 00100000 C0 80 00
- 001FFFFF FF FF 7F
- 00200000 81 80 80 00
- 08000000 C0 80 80 00
- 0FFFFFFF FF FF FF 7F
-
- The largest number which is allowed is 0FFFFFFF so that the variable-length
- representations must fit in 32 bits in a routine to write variable-length
- numbers. Theoretically, larger numbers are possible, but 2 x 10^8 96ths of
- a beat at a fast tempo of 500 beats per minute is four days, long enough
- for any delta-time!
-
- FILES
- To any file system, a MIDI File is simply a series of 8-bit bytes. On the
- Macintosh, this byte stream is stored in the data fork of a file (with file
- type 'MIDI'), or on the Clipboard (with data type 'MIDI'). Most other
- computers store 8-bit byte streams in files -- naming or storage
- conventions for those computers will be defined as required.
-
-
- CHUNKS
- MIDI Files are made up of -chunks-. Each chunk has a 4-character type and a
- 32-bit length, which is the number of bytes in the chunk. This structure
- allows future chunk types to be designed which may be easily be ignored if
- encountered by a program written before teh chunk type is introduced. Your
- programs should EXPECT alien chunks and treat them as if they weren't
- there.
-
- Each chunk begins with a 4-character ASCII type. It is followed by a 32-bit
- length, most significant byte first (a length of 6 is stored as 00 00 00
- 06). This length refers to the number of bytes of data which follow: the
- eight bytes of type and length are not included. Therefore, a chunk with a
- length of 6 would actually occupy 14 bytes in the disk file.
-
- This chunk architecture is similar to that used by Electronic Arts' IFF
- format, and the chunks described herin could easily be placed in an IFF
- file. The MIDI File itself is not an IFF file: it contains no nested
- chunks, and chunks are not constrained to be an even number of bytes long.
- Converting it to an IFF file is as easy as padding odd length chunks, and
- sticking the whole thing inside a FORM chunk.
-
- MIDI Files contain two types of chunks: header chunks and track chunks. A
- -header- chunk provides a minimal amount of information pertaining to the
- entire MIDI file. A -track- chunk contains a sequential stream of MIDI data
- which may contain information for up to 16 MIDI channels. The concepts of
- multiple tracks, multiple MIDI outputs, patterns, sequences, and songs may
- all be implemented using several track chunks.
-
- A MIDI File always starts with a header chunk, and is followed by one or
- more track chunks.
-
- MThd <length of header data>
- <header data>
- MTrk <length of track data>
- <track data>
- MTrk <length of track data>
- <track data>
- . . .
-
-
- 2 - Chunk Descriptions
-
- HEADER CHUNKS
- The header chunk at the beginning of the file specifies some basic
- information about the data in the file. Here's the syntax of the complete
- chunk:
-
- <Header Chunk> = <chunk type><length><format><ntrks><division>
-
- As described above, <chunk type> is the four ASCII characters 'MThd';
- <length> is a 32-bit representation of the number 6 (high byte first).
-
- The data section contains three 16-bit words, stored most-significant byte
- first.
-
- The first word, <format>, specifies the overall organization of the file.
- Only three values of <format> are specified:
-
- 0-the file contains a single multi-channel track
- 1-the file contains one or more simultanious tracks (or MIDI outputs) of a
- sequence
- 2-the file contains one or more sequentially independant single-track
- patterns
-
- More information about these formats is provided below.
-
- The next word, <ntrks>, is the number of track chunks in the file. It will
- always be 1 for a format 0 file.
-
- The third word, <division>, specifies the meaning of the delta-times. It
- has two formats, one for metrical time, and one for time-code-based time:
-
- +---+-----------------------------------------+
- | 0 | ticks per quarter-note |
- ==============================================|
- | 1 | negative SMPTE format | ticks per frame |
- +---+-----------------------+-----------------+
- |15 |14 8 |7 0 |
-
- If bit 15 of <division> is zero, the bits 14 thru 0 represent the number of
- delta time "ticks" which make up a quarter-note. For instance, if division
- is 96, then a time interval of an eighth-note between two events in the
- file would be 48.
-
-
- If bit 15 of <division> is a one, delta times in a file correspond to
- subdivisions of a second, in a way consistent with SMPTE and MIDI Time
- Code. Bits 14 thru 8 contain one of the four values -24, -25, -29, or -30,
- corresponding to the four standard SMPTE and MIDI Time Code formats (-29
- corresponds to 30 drop frome), and represents the number of frames per
- second. These negative numbers are stored in two's compliment form. The
- second byte (stored positive) is the resolution within a frame: typical
- values may be 4 (MIDI Time Code resolution), 8, 10, 80 (bit resolution), or
- 100. This stream allows exact specifications of time-code-based tracks, but
- also allows milisecond-based tracks by specifying 25|frames/sec and a
- resolution of 40 units per frame. If the events in a file are stored with a
- bit resolution of thirty-framel time code, the division word would be E250
- hex.
-
- FORMATS 0, 1, AND 2
- A Format 0 file has a header chunk followed by one track chunk. It is the
- most interchangable representation of data. It is very useful for a simple
- single-track player in a program which needs to make synthesizers make
- sounds, but which is primarily concerened with something else such as
- mixers or sound effect boxes. It is very desirable to be able to produce
- such a format, even if your program is track-based, in order to work with
- these simple programs. On the other hand, perhaps someone will write a
- format conversion from format 1 to format 0 which might be so easy to use
- in some setting that it would save you the trouble of putting it into your
- program.
-
- A Format 1 or 2 file has a header chunk followed by one or more track
- chunks. programs which support several simultanious tracks should be able
- to save and read data in format 1, a vertically one-dementional form, that
- is, as a collection of tracks. Programs which support several independant
- patterns should be able to save and read data in format 2, a horizontally
- one-dementional form. Providing these minimum capabilities will ensure
- maximum interchangability.
-
- In a MIDI system with a computer and a SMPTE synchronizer which uses Song
- Pointer and Timing Clock, tempo maps (which describe the tempo throughout
- the track, and may also include time signature information, so that the bar
- number may be derived) are generally created on the computer. To use them
- with the synchronizer, it is necessary to transfer them from the computer.
- To make it easy for the synchronizer to extract this data from a MIDI File,
- tempo information should always be stored in the first MTrk chunk. For a
- format 0 file, the tempo will be scattered through the track and the tempo
- map reader should ignore the intervening events; for a format 1 file, the
- tempo map must be stored as the first track. It is polite to a tempo map
- reader to offerr your user the ability to make a format 0 file with just
- the tempo, unless you can use format 1.
-
- All MIDI Files should specify tempo and time signature. If they donn't, the
- time signature is assumed to be 4/4, and the tempo 120 beats per minute. In
- format 0, these meta-events should occur at least at the beginning of the
- single multi-channel track. In format 1, these meta-events should be
- contained i| the first track. In format 2, each of the temporally
- independant patterns should contain at least initial time signature and
- tempo information.
-
- We may decide to define other format IDs to support other structures. A
- program encountering an unknown format ID may still read other MTrk chunks
- it finds from the file, as format 1 or 2, if its user can make sense of
- them and arrange them into some other structure if appropriate. Also, more
- parameters may be added to the MThd chunk in the future: it is important to
- read and honor the length, even if it is longer than 6.
-
- TRACK CHUNKS
- The track chunks (type MTrk) are where actual song data is stored. Each
- track chunk is simply a stream of MIDI events (and non-MIDI events),
- preceded by delta-time values. The format for Track Chunks (described
- below) is exactly the same for all three formats (0, 1, and 2: see "Header
- Chunk" above) of MIDI Files.
-
- Here is the syntax of an MTrk chunk (the + means "one or more": at least
- one MTrk event must be present):
-
- <Track Chunk> = <chunk type><length><MTrk event>+
-
- The syntax of an MTrk event is very simple:
-
- <MTrk event> = <delta-time><event>
-
- <delta-time> is stored as a variable-length quantity. It represents the
- amount of time before the following event. If the first event in a track
- occurs at the very beginning of a track, or if two events occur
- simultaineously, a delta-time of zero is used. Delta-times are always
- present. (Not storing delta-times of 0 requires at least two bytes for any
- other value, and most delta-times aren't zero.) Delta-time is in some
- fraction of a beat (or a second, for recording a track with SMPTE times),
- as specified in the header chunk.
-
- <event> = <MIDI event> | <sysex event> | <meta-event>
-
- <MIDI event> is any MIDI channel message. Running status is used: status
- bytes of MIDI channel messages may be omitted if the preceding event is a
- MIDI channel message with the same status. The first event in each MTrk
- chunk must specifyy status. Delta-time is not considered an event itself:
- it is an integral part of the syntax for an MTrk event. Notice that running
- status occurs across delta-times.
-
- <sysex event> is used to specify a MIDI system exclusive message, either as
- one unit or in packets, or as an "escape" to specify any arbitrary bytes to
- be transmitted. A normal complete system exclusive message is stored in a
- MIDI File in this way:
-
- F0 <length> <bytes to be transmitted after F0>
-
- The length is stored as a variable-length quantity. It specifies the number
- of bytes which follow it, not including the F0 or the length itself. For
- instance, the transmitted message F0 43 12 00 07 F7 would be stored in a
- MIDI File as F0 05 43 12 00 07 F7. It is required to include the F7 at the
- end so that the reader of the MIDI File knows that it has read the entire
- message.
-
- Another form of sysex event is provided which does not imply that an F0
- should be transmitted. This may be used as an "escape" to provide for the
- transmission of things which would not otherwise be legal, including system
- realtime messages, song pointer or select, MIDI Time Code, etc. This uses
- the F7 code:
-
- F7 <length> <all bytes to be transmitted>
-
- Unfortunately, some synthesizer manufacturers specify that their system
- exclusive messages are to be transmitted as little packets. Each packet is
- only part of an entire syntactical system exclusive message, but the times
- they are transmitted are important. Examples of this are the bytes sent in
- a CZ patch dump, or the FB-01's "system exclusive mode" in which microtonal
- data can be transmitted. The F0 and F7 sysex events may be used together to
- break up syntactically complete system exclusive messages into timed
- packets.
-
- An F0 sysex event is used for the first packet in a series -- it is a
- message in which the F0 should be transmitted. An F7 sysex event is used
- for the remainder of the packets, which do not begin with F0. (Of course,
- the F7 is not considered part of the system exclusive message).
-
- A syntactic system exclusive message must always end with an F7, even if
- the real-life device didn't send one, so that you know when you've reached
- the end of an entire sysex message without looking ahead to the next event
- in the MIDI File. If it's stored in one compllete F0 sysex event, the last
- byte must be an F7. There also must not be any transmittable MIDI events in
- between the packets of a multi-packet system exclusive message. This
- principle is illustrated in the paragraph below.
-
- Here is a MIDI File of a multi-packet system exclusive message: suppose the
- bytes F0 43 12 00 were to be sent, followed by a 200-tick delay, followed
- by the bytes 43 12 00 43 12 00, followed by a 100-tick delay, followed by
- the bytes 43 12 00 F7, this would be in the MIDI File:
-
- F0 03 43 12 00
- 81 48 200-tick delta time
- F7 06 43 12 00 43 12 00
- 64 100-tick delta time
- F7 04 43 12 00 F7
-
-
- When reading a MIDI File, and an F7 sysex event is encountered without a
- preceding F0 sysex event to start a multi-packet system exclusive message
- sequence, it should be presumed that the F7 event is being used as an
- "escape". In this case, it is not necessary that it end with an F7, unless
- it is desired that the F7 be transmitted.
-
-
- <meta-event> specifies non-MIDI information useful to this format or to
- sequencers, with this syntax:
-
- FF <type> <length> <bytes>
-
- All meta-events begin with FF, then have an event type byte (which is
- always less than 128), and then have the length of the data stored as a
- variable-length quantity, and then the data itself. If there is no data,
- the length is 0. As with chunks, future meta-events may be designed which
- may not be known to existing programs, so programs must properly ignore
- meta-events which they do not recognize, and indeed should expect to see
- them. Programs must never ignore the length of a meta-event which they do
- not recognize, and they shouldn't be surprized if it's bigger than
- expected. If so, they must ignore everything past what they know about.
- However, they must not add anything of their own to the end of the meta-
- event.
- Sysex events and meta events cancel any running status which was in effect.
- Running status does not apply to and may not be used for these messages.
-
-
- 3 - Meta-Events
-
- A few meta-events are defined herin. It is not required for every program
- to support every meta-event.
-
- In the syntax descriptions for each of the meta-events a set of conventions
- is used to describe parameters of the events. The FF which begins each
- event, the type of each event, and the lengths of events which do not have
- a variable amount of data are given directly in hexadecimal. A notation
- such as dd or se, which consists of two lower-case letters, mnemonically
- represents an 8-bit value. Four identical lower-case letters such as wwww
- mnemonically refer to a 16-bit value, stored most-significant-byte first.
- Six identical lower-case letters such as tttttt refer to a 24-bit value,
- stored most-significan-byte first. The notation len refers to teh length
- portion of the meta-event syntax, that is, a number, stored as a variable-
- length quantity, which specifies how many bytes (possibly text) data were
- just specified by the length.
-
- In general, meta-events in a track which occur at the same time may occur
- in any order. If a copyright event is used, it should be placed as early as
- possible in the file, so it will be noticed easily. Sequence Number and
- Sequence/Track Name events, if present, must appear at time 0. An end-of-
- track event must occur as the last event in the track.
-
- Meta-events initially defined include:
-
- FF 00 02 Sequence Number
- This optional event, which must occur at the beginning of a track,
- before any nonzero delta-times, and before any transmittable MIDI
- events, specifies the number of a sequence. In a format 2 MIDI File, it
- is used to identify each "pattern" so that a "song" sequence using the
- Cue message to refer to the patterns. If the ID numbers are omitted,
- the sequences' lacations in order in the file are used as defaults. In
- a format 0 or 1 MIDI File, which only contain one sequence, this number
- should be contained in the first (or only) track. If transfer of
- several multitrack sequences is required, this must be done as a group
- of format 1 files, each with a different sequence number.
-
- FF 01 len text Text Event
- Any amount of text describing anything. It is a good idea to put a text
- event right at the beginning of a track, with the name of the track, a
- description of its intended orchestration, and any other information
- which the user wants to put there. Text events may also occur at other
- times in a track, to be used as lyrics, or descriptions of cue points.
- The text in this event should be printable ASCII characters for maximum
- interchange. However, other characters codes using the high-order bit
- may be used for interchange of files between different programs on the
- same computer which supports an extended character set. Programs on a
- computer which does not support non-ASCII characters should ignore
- those characters.
-
- Meta-event types 01 through 0F are reserved for various types of text
- events, each of which meets the specification of text events (above)
- but is used for a different purpose:
-
- FF 02 len text Copyright Notice
- Contains a copyright notice as printable ASCII text. The notice should
- contain the characters (C), the year of the copyright, and the owner of
- the copyright. If several pieces of music are in the same MIDI File,
- all of the copyright notices should be placed together in this event so
- that it will be at the beginning of the file. This event should be the
- first event in the track chunk, at time 0.
-
- FF 03 len text Sequence/Track Name
- If in a format 0 track, or the first track in a format 1 file, the name
- of the sequence. Otherwise, the name of the track.
-
- FF 04 len text Instrument Name
- A description of the type of instrumentation to be used in that track.
- May be used with the MIDI Prefix meta-event to specify which MIDI
- channel the description applies to, or the channel may be specified as
- text in the event itself.
-
- FF 05 len text Lyric
- A lyric to be sung. Generally, each syllable will be a seperate lyric
- event which begins at the event's time.
-
- FF 06 len text Marker
- Normally in a format 0 track, or the first track in a format 1 file.
- The name of that point in the sequence, such as a rehersal letter or
- section name ("First Verse", etc.)
-
- FF 07 len text Cue Point
- A description of something happening on a film or video screen or stage
- at that point in the musical score ("Car crashes into house",
- "curtain opens", "she slaps his face", etc.)
-
- FF 20 01 cc MIDI Channeel Prefix
- The MIDI channel (0-15) containted in this event may be used to
- associate a MIDI channel with all events which follow, including System
- exclusive and meta-events. This channel is "effective" until the next
- normal MIDI event (which contains a channel) or the next MIDI Channel
- Prefix meta-event. If MIDI channels refer to "tracks", this message may
- into a format 0 file, keeping their non-MIDI data associated with a
- track. This capability is also present in Yamaha's ESEQ file format.
-
- FF 2F 00 End of Track
- This event is not optional. It is included so that an exact ending
- point may be specified for the track, so that an exect length, which is
- necessary for tracks which are looped or concatenated.
-
-
- FF 51 03 tttttt Set Tempo
- (in microseconds per MIDI quarter-note)
- This event indicates a tempo change. Another way of putting
- "microseconds per quarter-note" is "24ths of a microsecond per MIDI
- clock". Repersenting tempos as time per beat instead of beat per time
- allows absolutly exact long-term synchronization with a time-based sync
- protocol such as SMPTE time code or MIDI time code. This amount of
- accuracy provided by this tempo resolution allows a four-minute piece
- at 120 beats per minute to be accurate within 500 usec at the end of
- the piece. Ideally, these events should only occur where MIDI clocks
- would be located -- this convention is intended to guarntee, or at
- least increase the liklihood, of compatibility with other
- synchronization devices so that a time signature/tempo map stored in
- this format may easily be transfered to another device.
-
- FF 54 05 hr mn se fr ff SMPTE Offset
- This event, if present, designates the SMPTE time at which the track
- chunk is supposed to start. It should be present at the beginning of
- the track, that is, before any nonzero delta-times, and before any
- transmittable MIDI events. the hour must be encoded with the SMPTE
- format, just as it is in MIDI Time Code. In a format 1 file, the SMPTE
- Offset must be stored with the tempo map, and has no meaning in any of
- the other tracks. The ff field contains fractional frames, in 100ths of
- a frame, even in SMPTE-based tracks which specify a different frame
- subdivision for delta-times.
-
- FF 58 04 nn dd cc bb Time Signature
- The time signature is expressed as four numbers. nn and dd represent
- the numerator and denominator of the time signature as it would be
- notated. The denominator is a neqative power of two: 2 represents a
- quarter-note, 3 represents an eighth-note, etc. The cc parameter
- expresses the number of MIDI clocks in a metronome click. The bb
- parameter expresses the number of notated 32nd-notes in a MIDI
- quarter-note (24 MIDI clocks). This was added because there are already
- multiple programs which allow a user to specify that what MIDI thinks
- of as a quarter-note (24 clocks) is to be notated as, or related to in
- terms of, something else.
-
- Therefore, the complete event for 6/8 time, where the metronome clicks
- every three eighth-notes, but there are 24 clocks per quarter-note, 72
- to the bar, would be (in hex):
-
- FF 58 04 06 03 24 08
-
- That is, 6/8 time (8 is 2 to the 3rd power, so this is 06 03), 36 MIDI
- clocks per dotted-quarter (24 hex!), and eight notated 32nd-notes per
- quarter-note.
-
-
- FF 59 02 sf mi Key Signature
- sf = -7: 7 flats
- sf = -1: 1 flat
- sf = 0: key of C
- sf = 1: 1 sharp
- sf = 7: 7 sharps
-
- mi = 0: major key
- mi = 1: minor key
-
- FF 7F len data Sequencer Specific Meta-Event
- Special requirements for particular sequencers may use this event type:
- the first byte or bytes of data is a manufacturer ID (these are one
- byte, or if the first byte is 00, three bytes). As with MIDI System
- Exclusive, manufacturers who define something using this meta-event
- should publish it so that others may be used by a sequencer which
- elects to use this as its only file format; sequencers with their
- established feature-specific formats should probably stick to the
- standard features when using this format.
-
- 4 - Program Fragments and Example MIDI Files
-
- Here are some of the routines to read and write variable-length numbers in
- MIDI Files. These routines are in C, and use getc and putc, which read and
- write single 8-bit characters from/to the files infile and outfile.
-
- WriteVarLen (value)
- register long value;
- (
- register long buffer;
-
- buffer = value & 0x7f;
- while ((value >>= 7) > 0)
- (
- buffer <<= 8;
- buffer |= 0x80;
- buffer += (value & 0x7f);
- )
-
- while (TRUE)
- (
- putc(buffer,outfile);
- if (buffer & 0x80)
- buffer >>= 8;
- else
- break;
- )
- )
-
- doubleword ReadVarLen ()
- (
- register doubleword value;
- register byte c;
-
- if ((value = getc(infile)) & 0x80)
- (
- value &= 0x7f;
- do
- (
- value = (value << 7) + ((c = getc(infile))) & 0x7f);
- ) while (c & 0x80);
- )
- return (value);
- )
-
-
- As an example, MIDI Files for the following excerpt are shown below. First,
- a format 0 file is shown, with all information intermingled; then, a format
- 1 file is shown with all data seperated into four tracks: one for tempo and
- time signature, and three for the notes. A resolution of 96 "ticks" per
- quarter note is used. A time signature of 4/4 and a tempo of 120, though
- implied, are explicitly stated.
-
-
-
-
-
- |\
- ---- | > ---------------------------------------
- |/ ____ O
- Channel 1 ---- X --------------------------------|--------
- / |
- Preset 5 -- / | --------------------------------|--------
- / ____ |
- -| | \ --------------------------------------
- \ | |
- -- \_|__/ --------------------------------------
- _|
-
-
- |\
- ---- | > ---------------------------------------
- |/ \
- Channel 2 ---- X ------------>----------|-----------------
- / / |
- Preset 46 -- / | ----------<------------|-----------------
- / ____ \ | .
- -| | \ --------->---------O------------------
- \ | | (
- -- \_|__/ --------\-----------------------------
- _| \
-
-
- --O--
-
- ----__ -----------------------------------------
- / \ .
- Channel 3 - / | ---------------------------------------
- | .
- Preset 70 ------ | ---------------------------------------
- / O
- ---- / -----------------------------------------
- /
- -- / -------------------------------------------
-
-
- The contents of the MIDI stream represented by this example are broken down
- here:
-
- Delta-Time Event-Code Other Bytes Comment
- (decimal) (hex) (decimal)
- ---------- ---------- ----------- -----------------------------
- 0 FF 58 04 04 02 24 08 4 bytes; 4/4 time; 24 MIDI
- clocks/click, 8 32nd notes/
- 24 MIDI clocks
- 0 FF 51 03 500000 3 bytes: 500,000 usec/
- quarter note
- 0 C0 5 Ch.1 Program Change 5
- 0 C1 46 Ch.2 Program Change 46
- 0 C2 70 Ch.3 Program Change 70
- 0 92 48 96 Ch.3 Note On C2, forte
- 0 92 60 96 Ch.3 Note On C3, forte
- 96 91 67 64 Ch.2 Note On G3, mezzo-forte
- 96 90 76 32 Ch.1 Note On E4, piano
- 192 82 48 64 Ch.3 Note Off C2, standard
- 0 82 60 64 Ch.3 Note Off C3, standard
- 0 81 67 64 Ch.2 Note Off G3, standard
- 0 80 76 64 Ch.1 Note Off E4, standard
- 0 FF 2F 00 Track End
-
- The entire format 0 MIDI file contents in hex follow. First, the header
- chunk:
- 40 54 68 64 MThd
- 00 00 00 06 chunk length
- 00 00 format 0
- 00 01 one track
- 00 60 96 per quarter-note
-
- Then the track chunk. Its header followed by the events (notice the running
- status is used in places):
-
- 4D 54 72 6B MTrk
- 00 00 00 3B chunk length (59)
-
- Delta-Time Event Comments
- ---------- ----------------------- -------------------------------
- 00 FF 58 04 04 02 18 08 time signature
- 00 FF 51 03 07 A1 20 tempo
- 00 C0 05
- 00 C1 2E
- 00 C2 46
- 00 92 30 60
- 00 3C 60 running status
- 60 91 43 40
- 60 90 4C 20
- 81 40 82 30 40 two-byte delta-time
- 00 3C 40 running status
- 00 81 43 40
- 00 80 4C 40
- 00 FF 2F 00 end of track
-
- A format 1 representation of the file is slightly different. Its header
- chunk:
-
- 4D 54 68 64 MThd
- 00 00 00 06 chunk length
- 00 01 format 1
- 00 04 four tracks
- 00 60 96 per quarter note
-
- First, the track chunk for the time signature/tempo track. Its header,
- followed by the events:
-
- 4D 54 72 6B MTrk
- 00 00 00 14 chunk length (20)
-
- Delta-Time Event Comments
- ---------- ----------------------- -------------------------------
- 00 FF 58 04 04 02 18 08 time signature
- 00 FF 51 03 07 A1 20 tempo
- 83 00 FF 2F 00 end of track
-
- Then, the track chunk for the first music track. The MIDI convention for
- note on/off running status is used in this example:
-
- 4D 54 72 6B MTrk
- 00 00 00 10 chunk length (16)
-
- Delta-Time Event Comments
- ---------- ----------------------- -------------------------------
- 00 C0 05
- 81 40 90 4C 20
- 81 40 4C 00 Running status: note on, vel=0
- 00 FF 2F 00
-
- Then, the track chunk for the second music track:
-
- 4D 54 72 6B MTrk
- 00 00 00 0F chunk length (15)
-
- Delta-Time Event Comments
- ---------- ----------------------- -------------------------------
- 00 C1 2E
- 60 91 43 40
- 82 20 43 00 running status
- 00 FF 2F 00 end of track
-
-
- Then, the track chunk for the third music track:
-
- 4D 54 72 6B MTrk
- 00 00 00 15 chunk length (21)
-
- Delta-Time Event Comments
- ---------- ----------------------- -------------------------------
- 00 C2 46
- 00 92 30 60
- 00 3C 60 running status
- 83 00 30 00 two-byte delta-time, running status
- 00 3C 00 running status
- 00 FF 2F 00 end of track