This then enables you to get hundreds of songs on to a CD and it also has opened up a new market over the internet - the download market as download times have been significantly reduced.

MP3 gets rid of a lot of the information recorded in a song that our ears are not able to hear and then uses complex algorithms to reduce the file size. MP3 is a digital music format which allows CD tracks to be reduced to around a tenth of their normal size without a significant loss of quality. Type 0 is a single track of data Type 1 is multi-track. There are two variations of the Standard MIDI File format, called Type 0 and Type 1. There are five types of message: Channel Voice, Channel Mode, System Common, System Real-Time, and System Exclusive. A MIDI link can carry sixteen independent channels of information, MIDI messages can be channel messages, which are sent on only one of the 16 channels and can be heard only by devices receiving on that channel, or system messages, which are heard by all devices. MIDI messages are made up of 8-bit words that are transmitted serially at 31.25 kbaud.

Historically you would have needed four separate keyboard instruments, but now with MIDI files you can play multiple instruments from a single controller.

The MIDI file contains messages that specify notation, pitch, velocity and control signals for volume, vibrato, audio panning that synchronise tempo between multiple devices. The MIDI file was developed to allow both musicians and audio developers to transfer MIDI data from one software application to another.

Turn mp3 to midi online