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WAV to MIDI? MP3 to MIDI? Piece of Cake
In my line of work, which is a solo MIDI artist, I'm constantly on the lookout for new and easier ways to do my job. In my columns and the column from Dave Gash, we explored the procedure of converting MIDI files to WAV or MP3 so that performers without a MIDI capable keyboard could do a solo job using only an MP3 player or perhaps a CD player. That way you could add background vocals--an option not available when using just MIDI files. The programs are pretty plentiful and often free (or shareware).
While surfing the web recently I've had occasion to search to programs that convert MIDI to either the WAV or MP3 format. I've found several and they do the job slicker than dog do-do on wet grass. That's no problem. But I've also seen many people asking for a program to accomplish the opposite. That is, a program that will convert a WAV or MP3 file to a midi file. Imagine how slick that would be if all you had to do was rip a song off your CD, run that file through the converter program and come up with a finished MIDI file.
It's not that easy unless the MIDI file you want is of a single instrument like a piano song that is played rather slowly and deliberately. I used to wonder why this process wasn't more readily available in some sort of converter program until I read an explanation in a news group recently. Basically, what it said was that you had to imagine a WAV or MP3 file as a cake, with all ingredients fully baked and ready to eat. Now suppose someone asked you to convert that cake back into the individual ingredients again. In other words, turn the baked cake back into flour, butter, sugar, shortning, salt, eggs, etc. Can't be done.
On the other hand, turning a MIDI file into a WAV or MP3 is more like taking the cake ingredients, blending them, baking them and coming out with a cake at the end. Being a visual kind of guy, I got the analogy right away when I read this. So if some company out there is advertising a WAV to MIDI or MP3 to MIDI program, don't waste your money. It simply can't be done. You'd be better off and money ahead to spend your hard-earned cash on a cake. At least then you'd have something to show for your expendature.
©2008 Bill Bernico for CYBERMIDI.com Downwind Publications
4 comments
Fantastic. Foolishly I bought a program claiming to covert mp3 to midi. What a waste of money.
This now clarifies it in plain English...it cant be done. End of story!
re; The first paragraph,i still find the best option after 10 years of use is the Minidisc as a backing track for musicians.You have your Midi,edit it any way you want,then add any live sound you want.With default mild compression built into a Minidisc player, voice on Minidisc can sound especially good without an expensive studio Mic, and same goes for dirty lead guitar lines.The cake analogy is a really good one,but if you want to have your cake and eat it the Minidisc is so hard to beat.I have about 12,000 hours playback time on both my machines,and both machines and Mindiscs themselves still work perfectly yet they have been battered from post to post,even though they were only intended to be used as an add-on module for a home Hi-Fi system,Mike.
Are MiniDisc players here to stay, or does anyone think they'll end up the way of the 8 Track Player or VCR?
Actually, MiniDiscs came and went before I even realized they existed. I found out about them 2 months ago and bought one on eBay to see if I could use it in my solo act. I sold it on eBay a few days later. It offered me nothing better than a regular CD player could so I'm back to considering some sort of MP3 configuration. It's either that or a laptop computer playing my MIDI and/or MP3 files.
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