Guide
Using your own MIDI file
You can drop any standard MIDI file (.mid or .midi) into the maker. It stays on your computer: the file is read in your browser and never uploaded. Here's what happens to it and how to get a good result.
How the melody is chosen
A MIDI file usually has several tracks: melody, chords, bass, drums. A bouncing ball can only play one note at a time, so Melody Bounce needs a single line of notes. It does this in two steps:
- Pick a track. It skips drum tracks and takes the track with the most notes, since that is usually the melody or the busiest part.
- Keep the top voice. When several notes start together, it keeps the highest one, and it skips notes that start under a higher note that is still being held. That strips the chords out of a piano part and leaves the tune on top.
The rhythm is not kept: every note waits for the next bounce. So what matters is the order of the pitches, not their timing.
When it picks the wrong part
If you hear the accompaniment instead of the tune, open the Melody track list that appears under the upload box and pick another track. Track names come from the file, so a file with tracks called "Melody" or "Right hand" makes this easy. If the melody and the accompaniment share one track, the top-voice rule normally finds the tune, unless the accompaniment sits above it.
Getting a good result
- Short is fine. The melody loops when it runs out, so a 30-note theme is enough. Long files just play further into the piece.
- Clean files work best. Files sequenced by hand from sheet music give cleaner melodies than files converted from audio, which tend to have stray notes.
- Watch the range. Very low melodies sound muddy on the piano. If your tune sits low, the synth sound can be clearer.
Where to find MIDI files you can use
A composition can be in the public domain while a particular MIDI file of it is not, because the person who sequenced the file may hold rights in it. Look for files with an explicit licence.
- The Mutopia Project publishes classical pieces with MIDI files under public domain or Creative Commons licences.
- MuseScore has many user arrangements that can be exported as MIDI. Check the licence on each score.
- Your own music: export MIDI from any notation program or DAW.