MIDI to MP3 Converter
A MIDI file holds no sound at all, only instructions: which note, how loud, on which instrument, at what moment. To hear it on a phone or share it, those instructions have to be played through a synthesizer and recorded, and that recording is the MP3 this page gives you.
Audio Converter
or drop MP3, WAV, M4A … files here ·
Max 95 MB per file· Up to 20 files· Deleted after 30 minutes
Files are processed on our servers and deleted after 30 minutes.
Constant bitrate (CBR) gives a predictable size and works on every player. Variable bitrate (VBR) spends bits where the music needs them and is usually smaller at the same quality.
Keep the source rate unless a device asks for one. 44.1 kHz is CD standard, 48 kHz is video standard, 8 kHz is used by phone systems and AMR.
Mono halves the size of lossless files and is fine for voice recordings.
16-bit is CD quality. 24-bit keeps headroom for editing and mastering; converting a 16-bit source up does not add detail.
Optional. Seconds (e.g. 75) or minutes:seconds (1:15). Leave empty to start at the beginning.
Optional. Same format as the start time. Leave empty to keep everything up to the end.
How to use this tool
- 1
Upload .mid or .midi files
Add up to 20 files. MIDI files are tiny, often a few kilobytes, so even a long orchestral sequence uploads instantly.
- 2
Pick MP3 quality
Bitrate starts at 192 kbps, which suits synthesized music well. Choose 128 kbps for practice tracks or 320 kbps for a piece you will publish.
- 3
Convert to MP3
Press Convert to MP3. Each file is played through a General MIDI instrument set and saved as audio; download the results or one ZIP.
Why a MIDI file needs rendering, not just converting
Every other audio conversion on this site turns one recording into another. MIDI is different: the file is a score for machines. Double-click it on Windows and the Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth plays it; open it on a Mac and Apple's built-in synth does; load it in a DAW and your chosen instruments do. Three computers, three different sounds, one file.
An MP3 freezes one of those performances. That is what you need when you send a demo to someone without music software, put a backing track on a phone for practice, add a MIDI tune to a video, or post a chiptune-style piece. MuseScore, GarageBand and most DAWs can render audio themselves, but files from older games, the web or a colleague often arrive as a lone .mid with no project around it. For an editable lossless render, choose WAV in the audio converter instead of MP3.
1983
MIDI 1.0
Synthesizer makers agree on one cable and message protocol.
1988
Standard MIDI File
The .mid file format lets sequences move between programs.
1991
General MIDI
Fixed numbers for 128 instruments plus a drum map make files sound alike everywhere.
2020
MIDI 2.0
A new specification adds higher resolution and two-way communication.
MIDI to MP3 converter: which instruments you will hear
128melodic instrument programs in the General MIDI set, from Acoustic Grand Piano (1) to Gunshot (128)
Keep the MIDI
Editable notes, tempo and instruments in a file of a few kilobytes.
- Change any note or instrument later
- Sounds different on every synth
- Will not play in most phone apps
Render to MP3
One fixed performance that every device plays the same way.
- Plays on phones, cars and chat apps
- Notes can no longer be edited
- Hundreds of times larger than the MIDI
MIDI and MP3 format facts
MIDI
MIDI file
A MIDI file (.mid or .midi) stores musical instructions rather than recorded sound, following the Standard MIDI File format published in 1988. It lists notes, timing, velocity, instruments and controller changes, so files are tiny and fully editable. How it sounds depends entirely on the synthesizer or instrument plugin that plays it. MIDI is used in DAWs, notation software, keyboards and karaoke, but it cannot store vocals or real recordings.
- Compression
- –
- Transparency
- –
- Animation
- –
- Introduced
- 1988 · MIDI Manufacturers Association
MP3
MP3 audio
MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer III) is a lossy audio format developed largely at the Fraunhofer Institute and standardised by MPEG in 1993. It removes sounds the ear is unlikely to notice, shrinking music to about a tenth of CD size at 128–320 kbps. All patents have expired, and every phone, car stereo, browser and media player supports it. Quality loss is audible at low bitrates and accumulates with re-encoding.
- Compression
- Lossy
- Transparency
- –
- Animation
- –
- Introduced
- 1993 · Fraunhofer IIS / MPEG
MIDI stores performance instructions rather than sound, so a song sketched in a DAW, exported from notation software or saved from an old game only becomes something a phone, chat app or video editor can play once it is rendered to MP3.
MIDI to MP3: common questions
Why does the MP3 sound different from my DAW or notation app?
Your DAW plays the MIDI through whatever virtual instruments you loaded, while a MIDI file only names General MIDI program numbers. The converter renders those numbers with a standard General MIDI sound set, so piano 1 is a piano and strings are strings, but not your specific plugin's piano. For an exact match, export audio from the DAW itself.
Will a karaoke .kar file convert?
A .kar file is a Standard MIDI File with lyric events, so rename it to .mid and upload it. The music is rendered to MP3; the lyrics are text events and have no audio form, so they do not appear in the result.
Why is the MP3 a thousand times bigger than the MIDI?
A MIDI file stores a few bytes per note, while audio stores tens of thousands of samples per second. A three-minute song can be a 20 KB MIDI and roughly a 4 MB MP3 at 192 kbps. That is expected, not a fault.
Can I turn the MP3 back into MIDI later?
Only approximately. Audio-to-MIDI transcription has to guess the notes from the sound, which works for a clear melody and struggles with dense chords. Keep the original .mid if you may edit the music again; MP3 to MIDI exists for recordings that never had a MIDI file.
What happens to drum tracks and channel 10?
General MIDI reserves channel 10 for percussion, with each note number mapped to a drum sound, such as note 36 for bass drum and 38 for snare. Files that follow this layout render with a full kit; files that put drums on another channel will play them as pitched notes.
- Convert MP3 to MIDIConvert MP3 to MIDI online: transcribe the lead melody of a song or a solo recording into editable notes for a DAW, MuseScore or piano practice.
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- WAV to MP3 ConverterConvert WAV recordings and bounces to MP3 at 320, 192 or 128 kbps. Cut file size by up to 90% for email, uploads and phones. Free, no account.
- OGG to MP3 ConverterConvert OGG Vorbis or Opus audio, Telegram voice notes and game sound files to MP3 that plays on iPhones, car stereos and every editor. Free, no sign-up.
- MP3 to MID ConverterConvert MP3 to a .mid file: the melody is transcribed into notes you can open in MuseScore, GarageBand, Synthesia or any DAW. Best on a single instrument.