MP3 to MIDI Converter

How to use this MP3 to MIDI converter

1. Add your file. Drop an audio file, or a video whose audio track you want. Nothing leaves your device.
2. Pick a mode. Melody tracks one note at a time. Use it for vocals, flute, bass lines, guitar riffs and any single-line part. Chords reads several notes at once and is experimental.
3. Set the note range. Narrowing the range to what your source actually plays removes octave-jump errors. A bass line does not need C7.
4. Convert and take the result. Download the .mid, copy the note list, or press play to hear what was detected.

That is the whole of how to convert MP3 to MIDI here, and the same four steps cover every format the table below lists: the file type changes what the browser has to decode, not what you do. If the first pass is rough: raise Min note length when you see clusters of tiny notes, lower Sensitivity when false notes appear in quiet parts, and raise it when real notes get missed.

Supported formats

Your browser does the decoding, so what actually works depends on the browser. This page was tested in Chrome on Windows with real files in every format below; the result of that test is what is written in the table.

Video files are read for their audio track only. Nothing is done with the picture. If a file fails to open, the exact browser error is shown above the controls; that message is the truth for your browser, whatever this table says.

The question that comes with this table: WAV is the lossless option up there, so people ask whether it converts any better than MP3.

Can you convert WAV to MIDI?

Yes. WAV is listed as Works in the table above because it was measured with a real .wav file in this Chrome build, and it runs through exactly the same engine as an MP3: your browser decodes the file into raw samples on your device, the same pitch tracker reads them, and you get the same .mid written as SMF format 1 at 480 tpqn with the BPM you set held in a tempo event. What WAV actually buys you is one less thing in the way. WAV normally stores uncompressed PCM, so nothing has been discarded before the analysis starts, whereas an MP3 has already dropped whatever its encoder decided you would not hear, and that is data the pitch tracker never gets to see. The honest limit is that the failures which really cost you notes live in the content, not in the container: on this build's own test audio (a C major scale) 8 of the 8 notes come back at the correct pitch, a full mix still comes back as the bass line rather than the melody, and reverb can still split one sustained note into two. We have not run a matched MP3-versus-WAV comparison on the same take, so no percentage gain is quoted here. That number would be invented. Practically: hand over a WAV if you have one, but if the MP3 is all you have, use it as it is, because re-encoding an MP3 into a WAV only makes the file bigger and cannot bring back what the encoder removed. If size is the problem, FLAC is the lossless option at a fraction of the size, and it is measured as working in Chrome too. One thing worth knowing before you pick it: CD-quality stereo WAV runs at roughly 10 MB per minute, and decoding happens in your device's memory, so a very long WAV is limited by your machine rather than by this page. None of it is uploaded, there is no sign-up and no watermark, and there is no cap on how many files you convert.

How the conversion works

• Decode. The Web Audio API turns your file into raw samples on your device. The file is not uploaded at any point.
• Pitch tracking. In Melody mode, each short frame of audio is analysed with the YIN autocorrelation method, which estimates the fundamental frequency and how periodic the frame is. Frames that are not clearly periodic are treated as silence.
• Note building. Consecutive frames that agree on the same pitch become one note. Its loudness becomes the MIDI velocity.
• Chords mode takes a different path: it reads peaks in the frequency spectrum (FFT) instead of one fundamental, then groups pitches that hold steady. It is experimental, works best on sustained piano or pad sounds, and will miss notes in dense material.
• MIDI writing. The notes are written as a standard MIDI file (SMF format 1, 480 ticks per quarter note) with the tempo you set inside it.

This is transcription, not a format swap: the tool estimates which notes were played. It cannot recover the original performance, lyrics, or separate studio tracks.

The number in the last step: MIDI writing says 480 ticks per quarter note, and that number is worth a line of its own.

What does 480 tpqn mean?

TPQN is ticks per quarter note: it is the timing resolution of the file, and it is not a quality setting. Every .mid from this page writes 480 into the division field of the file header, which means one beat is split into 480 steps. At the default 120 BPM that is one tick every 1.04 ms, a 1/8 note is 240 ticks, a 1/16 is 120 and a 1/32 is 60. Those steps are far finer than anything the pitch tracker can measure, and that is the useful part: note times are rounded to the nearest tick as the file is written, so the rounding itself can never put a note more than half a tick out, about half a millisecond at 120 BPM. The timing error you can actually hear comes from somewhere else entirely. Measured by running this page against its own test audio (a C major scale), vibrato shifted the first note's onset by a few hundred milliseconds, which at 120 BPM is a few hundred ticks, and reverb split one sustained note into two; those are numbers from this build on that material, not a promise about every recording. A finer grid would not touch either problem. Narrowing the Note range and trimming reverb tails do. What 480 does buy you is headroom: the grid stays fine enough for 1/16 quantisation (120 ticks per step) and for editing afterwards, without the file itself forcing notes onto coarser positions. The file is written as SMF format 1 with a single track holding the track name, the tempo event carrying the BPM you set, and the notes; the division travels inside the header, so it is not a setting you have to match on either side. Nothing is uploaded, there is no sign-up and no watermark on the file.

Getting a cleaner result

• Convert a solo part or a stem, not a finished master. Single-line sources are where audio to MIDI conversion is genuinely useful.
• Trim silence and long reverb tails. Reverb glues one note to the next.
• Keep the note range close to the source. Every octave you leave in is another chance for an octave error.
• Time quantisation needs a real tempo. Enter the track's BPM, or quantise only if the grid lines up with what you hear.
• Test on 20 to 40 seconds first, then run the whole file with the settings that worked.

What this converter actually does on different inputs

Measured in this build on synthetic-but-realistic audio (a C major scale through the page, ground truth is C4 D4 E4 F4 G4 A4 B4 C5):

• Clean recording, vibrato, reverb, plucked-string synth. 8 of the 8 notes come out at the correct pitch. Reverb sometimes splits a sustained note into two; vibrato can shift the very first note's onset by a few hundred milliseconds.
• Recording with strong background noise. The 8 correct notes are still present and in the right order, but a few extra low notes can appear in the silent gaps between notes.
• Full mix (melody over bass and drums). The converter follows the loudest or most periodic part instead of the melody, so the result reads like the bass line, not the tune. That is the limitation, not a bug; melody mode assumes one note at a time.

These numbers are from running the page against its own soundscape. They describe the converter on the kinds of audio it is designed for; they are not a claim about how it will behave on every recording.

When the result comes out wrong: the failure modes we can reproduce on this build's own test audio, and the setting that fixes each one.

Why is my MP3 to MIDI conversion wrong?

Almost always one of four causes, and each has a different fix. First, the source is a finished mix: melody mode follows one pitch at a time, so on this build's own test a melody over bass and drums came back as the bass line, not the tune. Convert a stem instead. Second, the note range is too wide: every octave you leave in is another chance for an octave error. Third, reverb or noise: in the same test reverb split a sustained note into two, and strong background noise added a few extra low notes in the silent gaps. Fourth, the BPM is wrong, so quantisation snapped the notes onto a grid they were never played on. Run 20 to 40 seconds first and change one setting at a time; the cause becomes obvious quickly.

Why are my converted MIDI notes an octave off?

Because the pitch estimate for a short frame can lock onto a harmonic instead of the fundamental, so the note is real but written an octave above or below where you hear it. It shows up most on bright, harmonically rich sources and on notes sitting near the edge of the range you allowed. The fix is the Note range control: narrow it to the span the part actually plays and the wrong octave stops being available. A bass line does not need C7. It is also the cheapest fix on this page, because it removes the error instead of filtering it out afterwards.

Does MP3 to MIDI include tempo and BPM?

Yes. The file carries its tempo. Every .mid from this page is written as SMF format 1 at 480 tpqn with a tempo event holding the BPM you set, so your DAW opens it at that tempo instead of falling back to its own default. One honest limit: the tempo is your number, not a detected one. This build does not estimate BPM from the audio, so if the BPM field is left at 120 while the track is not, the pitches can be right and the grid still wrong. Quantisation would then snap notes onto beats they were never played on.

How to prepare audio before converting to MIDI?

Four steps, in order, and each is worth more than any setting on this page. Get the part alone first: a stem, a solo take, or a passage where one instrument is clearly in front; on this build's own test a full mix came back as the bass line instead of the melody. Then cut silence and reverb tails, because reverb glues one note to the next and split a sustained note into two in that same test. Then reduce noise if you can: in the noisy version of the test every correct note was still there and in order, but extra low notes appeared in the gaps between them. Finally trim to 20 to 40 seconds and convert that first with Analyse set to the first 30 seconds, then run the whole file once the settings hold. None of this is uploaded. It all happens in your browser.

Can you convert MP3 to MIDI using stems?

Yes, and stems are the single biggest improvement you can make to the input. Melody mode tracks one pitch at a time, so handing it an isolated part removes the guesswork entirely: in this build's own test, the same melody that came back as a bass line inside a full mix converts as itself when it is on its own. Run each stem through separately, one file per part, then open the resulting .mid files as separate tracks in your DAW. There is no cap on how many files you convert and no watermark on any of them.

Can I convert drum audio to MIDI?

Only the parts of the kit that have a pitch. This page estimates pitch, and most of a drum kit has none, so there is nothing for the tracker to lock onto.

A kick or a tuned tom can come back as a note, because those do have one. Cymbals and snare will not. This build has not been measured on a drum loop, so read that as reasoning rather than a result.

What is the best way to convert drum audio to MIDI?

Not on this page. Writing drum hits into MIDI means detecting where each hit starts, which is a different measurement from detecting pitch, and this page only does the second one.

The practical route is to enter the pattern yourself. A drum part is a handful of distinct sounds repeated over and over, which is why playing or clicking it in stays quick even in a long song. Anything this page returns from drum audio is a hint about the pitched hits, not the pattern.

FAQ

Is this an MP3 to MIDI converter or an audio to MIDI converter?

Both, and it is the same engine either way. MP3, WAV, FLAC, OGG and M4A all go through the same decoder and the same pitch tracker, so the page works as an MP3 to MIDI converter, a WAV to MIDI converter and a general audio to MIDI converter without switching tools.

Different ways to ask the same thing. Convert, change, turn into, or a whole song: these are the same job under different words.

Can I change MP3 to MIDI, or turn it into MIDI?

Yes. Whether you say change MP3 to MIDI, turn MP3 into MIDI, or convert MP3 into MIDI, it is the same job, and this page does it: your MP3 is decoded, the loudest line is tracked for pitch, and the result is written as a .mid file. On this build's own test audio, a C major scale (C4 to C5, 8 notes with the ground truth known), all 8 notes came back at the correct pitch.

The page runs in your browser, so nothing is uploaded, there is no sign-up and no watermark. The file you get is SMF format 1 at 480 tpqn, with a tempo event, the same spec any DAW imports.

Can I convert an MP3 file to MIDI?

Yes. Any MP3 file your browser can decode opens here, and the limit is your machine's memory rather than the page. The decoder, the pitch tracker and the MIDI writer are the same ones that handle WAV, FLAC, OGG and M4A.

For a very long file the bound is RAM, not this converter, and the result is the same SMF format 1 file at 480 tpqn built in memory on your device. Nothing is uploaded and there is no sign-up.

Can I convert a whole song to MIDI?

Yes, but a full mix is the hardest input this tracker takes. It follows whichever line is loudest, and on this build's own test that came back as the bass line rather than the melody. Stems are the single biggest improvement, because an isolated part removes the guesswork.

For the full breakdown of why a whole song converts the way it does, see the guide on song to MIDI. There is a separate question on using stems earlier on this page.

Can you convert sound to MIDI?

Yes, and it is the same job as audio to MIDI. There is no separate sound-to-MIDI engine, and there does not need to be. Sound to MIDI, music to MIDI and audio to MIDI all name one pipeline: anything your browser can decode, from an MP3 or a WAV to the audio track of a video, goes through the same decoder and the same pitch tracker.

The word on the file changes nothing. What decides whether you get usable notes is the content rather than the label: a single line converts, and a full mix comes back as whichever part is loudest, which on this build's own test was the bass line instead of the melody. Nothing is uploaded, there is no sign-up and no watermark.

Do I need an account, and is my file uploaded?

No account, no upload, no e-mail, and no payment: this converter is free, with no cap on how many files you run and no watermark on the .mid. That holds whether you arrive looking for an MP3 to MIDI converter, an audio to MIDI converter or anything in between.

It is also online in the only sense that matters here: there is nothing to install and nothing to download. Online does not mean the file travels to a server. Your browser decodes and analyses the audio with the Web Audio API, and the MIDI file is built in memory on your device.

Can I convert a video file?

Yes, if your browser can decode its audio track. MP4, MOV and WebM audio tracks open in Chrome; AVI and MKV depend on which audio codec is inside.

The picture is dropped: only the soundtrack is read. What comes back is a .mid file, and there is no path from those notes back into the video.

Can I convert audio from Spotify, YouTube or SoundCloud? Short answer: not from the service itself. Here is what this page can take, and what it cannot.

Can I convert Spotify audio to MIDI?

Not from the Spotify app or from the Spotify website. This page takes one file from your device and nothing else: there is no sign-in, no network call and no field for a link, so it cannot reach a streaming service or read a playlist.

If the audio is already a file on your device, the source stops mattering. MP3, WAV, FLAC, OGG and M4A are all decoded by your browser here, and you get the same .mid back either way, written as SMF format 1 at 480 tpqn. Nothing is uploaded, there is no sign-up and no watermark.

Can I convert a Spotify or YouTube link to MIDI?

No. There is no field on this page for a URL, a playlist link or a track ID, so there is nowhere to paste one. The only input is the file picker.

That is by design rather than a missing feature. Pulling audio from a service would mean the sound leaving your device, and it does not: decoding and analysis run in your browser, and the MIDI file is built in memory.

Can I convert Spotify vocals to MIDI?

An isolated vocal is the easiest input this page has. One person sings one pitch at a time, and that is exactly what melody mode tracks.

Conditions matter more than the source does. Singing close to the microphone in a room without much echo gives cleaner note starts than a phone set across the room, because reverb can stretch one sustained note into two.

Can I convert YouTube audio to MIDI for free?

Not from a YouTube URL, because this page cannot fetch a video. If you already have the audio as a file, it converts here for free, with no account and no cap on how many files you run.

What comes back is a .mid with no watermark and no trial limit. Nothing about the conversion changes because the audio once came from a video, because the tracker only ever sees the sound.

Can I convert SoundCloud audio to MIDI?

Yes, if the track is a file on your device. SoundCloud uploads are usually MP3 or M4A once saved locally, and both are decoded in the browser here.

The page cannot sign in to SoundCloud or fetch a track from it. A solo instrument or a single vocal taken from the track converts cleanly, while the finished master usually does not, since several parts are sounding at once.

Why does a full song convert badly?

Melody mode follows one pitch at a time. A finished mix stacks drums, bass, vocals and effects, so the tracker follows whatever is loudest at each moment instead of one instrument. In this build's own test (a melody over a bass line and percussion), every recovered note came from the bass part instead of the melody. Use a stem, or a recording where one part is clearly in front.

What tempo and grid does the MIDI file use?

Whatever you set. The BPM is written into the file as its tempo, and quantisation (off, 1/4, 1/8 or 1/16) snaps note starts and lengths to that grid. Off keeps the timing that was actually detected.

How long can my file be?

Decoding is limited by your device's memory; analysis is limited by the Analyse setting, which stops at 30 seconds, 60 seconds or 2 minutes unless you pick the whole file. Long files take proportionally longer. Everything runs on your device, not on a server.

What do I get at the end?

A .mid file you can open in Ableton, FL Studio, Logic, GarageBand or MuseScore, plus the note list as text if you want to paste it somewhere. There is no watermark and no cap on how many files you convert.

How the conversion works, in plain words Four questions about what the tracker actually does with your file.

Can I extract MIDI from an audio file?

Yes, and extract is the honest word for it. Nothing is unwrapped out of the file: your browser decodes the sound into samples, and a pitch tracker estimates which note was sounding in each short window.

You can watch that estimate move. On the same file, lowering Sensitivity changes how many notes come back, which is not how a fixed decode behaves. On this build's own test audio, a C major scale, 8 of the 8 notes land on the correct pitch.

Can I convert audio to MIDI notes?

Yes. Each note in the file is a pitch, a start time, a length and a velocity, and nothing more than that.

What you do not get is a chord symbol, a key signature or a time signature, because a standard MIDI file does not carry those. Lyrics are not stored either, so a sung line comes back as pitches without the words.

Can I extract the melody from an MP3?

Yes, if one line is clearly in front. Melody mode follows a single pitch at a time, so a solo instrument or a vocal over quiet accompaniment comes back as notes.

Use the Note range setting to fence the tracker into the register the melody lives in. That one setting removes more wrong notes than any other control on this page, and it is the first thing to try when the output jumps around.

Does this use AI to convert music to MIDI?

No trained model runs here. The pitch estimate comes from YIN, an autocorrelation method, and chord mode reads spectral peaks from an FFT, both implemented directly in this page's own script.

That matters for one practical reason: there is nothing to download and nothing to send to a server. The whole pipeline runs in your browser on your own device, which is also why nothing is uploaded and no account is needed.

Will it work in my DAW? Most DAWs can turn audio into MIDI on their own, but only for one note at a time. Here is what each one actually ships with.

How to convert MP3 to MIDI in FL Studio?

FL Studio has two built-in routes. NewTone detects the pitch of each note in an audio clip and lets you send the result to the piano roll, and Edison's pitch detection can do the same job from the sample editor. Both assume one note at a time. If your MP3 is a finished mix, the notes follow whichever part is loudest. In this build's own test a melody over bass and drums came back as the bass line. Feed FL Studio a stem or a solo line, and use this page first if you only need a starting point.

Can Audacity convert MP3 to MIDI?

No. Audacity is an audio editor: it records, cuts and processes sound, and it has no MIDI export at all, so there is no menu item that turns an MP3 into a .mid file. Anything claiming otherwise is a third-party plug-in or a separate program sitting next to it. The usual workflow is to get the notes somewhere else and use Audacity only for the audio side.

Can Bitwig convert audio to MIDI?

Not natively, and not in one command. Bitwig has no built-in equivalent of Ableton's Convert to MIDI Track, so people run an external transcription tool and import the resulting .mid. Bitwig plays and hosts MIDI perfectly well. The gap is only in turning audio into it. That is exactly the step this page does, in your browser, with nothing uploaded.

Can Logic Pro convert MP3 to MIDI?

Yes, through Flex Pitch. Turn Flex Pitch on for the audio track, then use Edit → Create MIDI Track from Flex Pitch Data. That is Apple's own documented route. It is monophonic, so it tracks one pitch at a time: vocals, bass and solo instruments convert; a full mix does not.

Can you convert audio to MIDI in Ableton?

Yes, and Ableton's route is the shortest of any DAW here: right-click an audio clip and choose Convert Melody, Harmony or Drums to New MIDI Track. Melody is monophonic, Drums pulls out percussion hits, and Harmony is the polyphonic one. It works on the clip you select, so a stem converts far better than a finished master.

Can Reaper convert MP3 to MIDI?

Yes, but not with one "convert" command. ReaTune can send a MIDI note each time it detects a pitch change, which covers a monophonic line, and the bundled JS plug-in Audio to MIDI Drum Trigger does the same job for drums. Beyond those two you are routing and cleaning up by hand.

Can GarageBand convert MP3 to MIDI?

No. GarageBand has no audio-to-MIDI feature of its own. It records and edits MIDI, but it cannot listen to an audio file and write the notes out. Mac users normally reach for a small third-party utility (GB2MIDI and MidiO are the common ones) to produce the MIDI, then open that in GarageBand.

Can you convert audio to MIDI in Cubase?

Yes, through VariAudio. Open the audio in the Sample Editor, let VariAudio analyse the pitch, then use Functions → Extract MIDI. Like the others it is monophonic, built for a single voice or a solo line rather than a finished mix.

Can you convert audio to MIDI in Pro Tools?

Yes, and it is the most capable of the DAWs here. Drag an audio clip onto a MIDI or Instrument track, right-click and choose Copy Audio as MIDI, or use Track → Extract MIDI to New Track; then pick the conversion type: Percussive for drums, Melodic for a solo line, Polyphonic for chords. Polyphonic analysis is why Pro Tools can read harmony where most DAWs only follow one note.

From the guides

• Guitar to MIDI: Why Chords Collapse and Single Notes Survive A single-line part converts, a six-string strum does not. What this build measured on guitar-like tones, plus where drums and guitar tab fall outside it.
• Sheet Music to MIDI: Why a PDF Becomes MusicXML First A score is a picture, so it has to be read before it can become a file. Why the recognition step should hand you MusicXML, and what MIDI leaves out.
• MIDI to Sheet Music: The Notes Are Not Guessed, the Notation Is Turning MIDI into a score changes nothing about the notes. What the file carries, what the notation program has to invent, and how far measured onsets drift.
• MIDI to MP3: Rendering, Not Transcription MIDI to MP3 means playing a file through a synthesizer and recording the output. What the file has, what it lacks, and why this is the opposite of audio to MIDI.
• MIDI TPQN: 480 Ticks per Quarter Note, and What Quantize Does Two numbers get called PPQN. What the 480 in your file means, and how far the Quantize setting moves a note.
• Converted MIDI in a DAW: Why It Doesn't Line Up, and How to Fix It The file is usually fine. What it carries, why it drifts against your recording, and the two numbers you have to match.
• WAV to MIDI: Transcription, Not a Format Conversion A WAV holds samples and a MIDI file holds instructions, so there is no container the two share. What actually happens, and which export helps.
• Song to MIDI: Why the Whole Song Is the Hardest Input A song is a full mix, and that is the hardest thing to transcribe. What comes back from a whole song, and why one stem at a time works better.
• MP3 to Sheet Music: Convert the Audio to MIDI First Two jobs, and only the first one guesses. What this page writes, what a MIDI file leaves out, and the two steps that make the score readable.
• Voice to MIDI: Convert Singing or Humming into Notes A voice is one note at a time, which is exactly what this tracker reads. Where singing breaks it, and the one setting that fixes most bad results.
• Is MP3 to MIDI Actually Possible? What Conversion Can and Can't Do It works, but it is transcription, not a format swap. That gap is why people call it a scam, and what actually converts cleanly.
• MP3 to MIDI for Piano: Why Solo Piano Converts Cleanest Why a solo piano line is the easiest source there is, where piano breaks, and the one setting that fixes most bad results.
• Convert MP3 to MIDI Without Uploading Your File Decoding, pitch tracking and MIDI writing all run in your browser. Here is the path, and how to check it yourself.