1MIDI2ABC(1) General Commands Manual MIDI2ABC(1)
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6 midi2abc - program to convert MIDI format files to abc notation
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9 midi2abc -f infile [-xa] [-ga] [-a acbeats] [-m time signature] [-ppu
10 parts per unit] [-aul denominator of unit length] [-gu] [-b bars] [-Q
11 tempo] [-u pulses] [-k key] [-c channel] [-obpl] [-bpl bars] [-bps
12 bars] [-o filename] [-s] [-sr units] [-sum] [-nt] [-splitbars]
13 [-splitvoices] [-midigram] [-mftext] [-nogr] [-title string] [-origin
14 string]
15
18 midi2abc takes a MIDI format file and converts it to something as close
19 as possible to abc text format. The user then has to add text fields
20 not present in the MIDI header and possibly tidy up the abc note out‐
21 put.
22 The output of midi2abc is printed to the screen. To save it to a file,
24 use the redirection operator, (e.g. midi2abc -f file.mid > file.abc) or
25 specify the output file using the -o option.
26 Use only one or none of the options -u -gu, -b and -Q. Midi2abc nor‐
28 mally converts the MIDI time units into quantum units normally corre‐
29 sponding to the abc 1/16th note or 1/32nd note. If none of these is
30 present, the program will use the PPQN information in the MIDI header
31 to compute the suitable conversion factor. For most MIDI files on the
32 web, it is recommended to rely on the MIDI header information and not
33 use any of the options other than the formatting options.
34 The program will extract the time signature infromation from the MIDI
36 file if it is present. Otherwise it will assume 4/4 or you could spec‐
37 ify it with -m. option.
38 If the tune has an anacrusis, you can use either the -ga or -xa option
40 to estimate the its length. Alternatively, you can specify its value
41 using the -a option. The anacrusis is specified in half unit lengths,
42 where the unit length is defined by the L: field. For example if L:
43 1/8, then a quarter note would be indicated by the value 4, (4 1/16
44 units).
45 OPTIONS
47 -a acbeats
48 where acbeats specifies the anacrusis in half unit lengths.
49 -xa extract the anacrusis from file by finding the first strong note
51 -ga guess the anacrusis by minimizing the number of ties across bars
53 -m time signature
55 time signature
56 -b bars
58 number of bars wanted in output
59 -Q tempo
61 tempo in quarter-notes per minute
62 -u pulses
64 Allows you to specify directly the number of midi pulses per abc
65 time unit.
66 -ppu parts per abc unit length
68 Normally, the smallest note unit that midi2abc can extract is
69 half the L: unit length.This is called the quantum unit. Thus
70 for L: 1/8, midi2abc can extract 1/16 notes but not 1/32 notes.
71 You can change this by specifying -ppu 4 for example. The number
72 of parts should be a power of 2.
73 -aul denominator of abc unit length
75 Normally midi2abc chooses a unit length of 1/8 or 1/16 depending
76 upon the time signature. For time signatures smaller than 3/4
77 the L: 1/16 is used and for larger time signatures L: 1/8 is
78 used. You can specify the unit length to be used using this
79 parameter. Thus -aul 32 will cause midi2abc to use a unit length
80 of 1/32 nd note.
81 -gu Tells midi2abc to estimate the number of midi pulses per abc
83 time unit from the note duration or spacing in the MIDI file.
84 -gk Tells midi2abc to guess the key signature by minimizing the num‐
86 ber of accidentals even if the key signature is already speci‐
87 fied in the MIDI file. By default the key signature is the one
88 specified in the MIDI file. If it is not specified, then the
89 program guesses the key signature by minimizing accidentals.
90 -k key key signature: -6 to 6 sharps.
92 -c channel
94 select only this midi channel.
95 -f infile
97 input file in midi format
98 -o output file
100 specifies the output abc file name.
101 -s do not discard very short notes.
103 -sr quantum units
105 do not notate a short rest smaller than the specified size after
106 a note. If the size (in quantum units) is zero, nothing is done.
107 For larger values, the rest is absorbed into the preceding note.
108 In other words, the preceding note is lengthened to include that
109 rest.
110 -sum print a short summary of the input midi file.
112 -nt do not look for triplets or broken rhythm
114 -obpl Print only one bar per line instead of 4. For complex music this
116 improves the readability and avoids some problems with some abc
117 to postscript converters. This option is deprecated.
118 -nogr (No note grouping.) Inserts a space between all notes. It makes
120 a less pretty postscript file but it is easier to edit.
121 -bpl nbars
123 Print nbars of music on every line followed by a backslash.
124 -bps nbars
126 When nbars have been printed (including those lines joined by a
127 backslash continuation) go to a new line (with no backslash).
128 -splitbars
130 This parameter changes the way midi2abc prints chords composed
131 of notes of unequal length (polyphonic chords). Normally,
132 midi2abc joins the longer notes to the notes in the following
133 chord using ties. A more readable output, can be obtained if the
134 measure is split into separate parts using the '&' feature in
135 abc notation. The algorithm for dividing the notes in a poly‐
136 phonic chord to separate voices (label_splits in midi2abc.c)
137 needs some improvement. I welcome any assistance.
138 -splitvoices
140 This parameter like above handles polyphonic chords by splitting
141 an entire voice into multi voices.
142 -midigram
144 When this option appears, all other options are ignored and no
145 abc file is produced. Instead a list of all notes in the MIDI
146 file are printed in a fixed format. Each line represents a pair
147 of MIDI note on/off event. The line contains the on/off time of
148 the note, its track number, channel number, midi pitch and midi
149 velocity. The last record indicates the duration of the MIDI
150 file in MIDI pulse units. The output is designed to go into a
151 graphical user interface which will produce a graphical repre‐
152 sentation (piano roll).
153 -mftext
155 When this option appears, all other options are ignored and no
156 abc file is produced. Instead a list of all the MIDI commands
157 are printed. The output is designed to go into a graphical user
158 interface provided by runabc.tcl.
159 -title string
161 Replaces the default title field following T: with the given
162 string.
163 -origin string
165 Adds an O: field with the given string.
166 FEATURES
170 * The key is chosen so as to minimize the number of accidentals.
171 Alternatively, the user can specify the key numerically (a positive
172 number is the number of sharps, a negative number is minus the number
173 of flats).
174 * Note length can be set by specifiying the total number of bars or the
176 tempo of the piece. Alternatively the note length can be read from the
177 file. However, by default it is deduced in a heuristic manner from the
178 inter-note distances. This means that you do not have to use the MIDI
179 clock as a metronome when playing in a tune from a keyboard.
180 * Barlines are automatically inserted. The user specifies the number of
182 measures in the anacrusis before the first barline and the time signa‐
183 ture.
184 * The program can guess how the length of the anacrusis, either by
186 looking for the first strong note or minimizing the number of notes
187 split by a tie across a barline.
188 * Where a note extends beyond a bar break, it is split into two tied
190 notes.
191 * The output has 4 bars per line.
193 * Enough accidental signs are put in the music to ensure that no pitch
195 errors occur if a barline is added or deleted.
196 * The program attempts to group notes sensibly in each bar.
198 * Triplets and broken rhythm (a>b) are supported.
200 * Chords are identified.
202 * Text information from the original MIDI file is included as comments.
204 * The -c option can be used to select only 1 MIDI channel. Events on
206 other channels are ignored.
207 LIMITATIONS
209 midi2abc does not ...
210 * Supply tune title, composer or any other field apart from X: , K:,
212 Q:, M: and L: - these must be added by hand afterwards, though they may
213 have been included in the text of the MIDI file.
214 * Support duplets, quadruplets, other esoteric features.
216 * Support mid-tune key or time signature changes.
218 * Deduce repeats. The output is just the notes in the input file.
220 * Recover an abc tune as supplied to abc2midi. However, if you want to
222 do this, "midi2abc -xa -f file.mid" comes close.
223
225 abc2ps(1), abc2midi(1), abc2abc(1)
226
228 James Allwright <J.R.Allwright@westminster.ac.uk>
229
231 Seymour Shlien <seymour.shlien@crc.ca>
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234 This man page describes midi2abc version 2.91 from March 09 2008.
235
237 Copyright 1999 James Allwright
238 midi2abc is supplied "as is" without any warranty. It is free software
240 and can be used, copied, modified and distributed without fee under the
241 terms of the GNU General Public License.
242 10 March 2008 MIDI2ABC(1)