Turn a sung melody into MIDI
Audio to MIDI converts a recorded melody into note data a DAW can read. IchiPitchy detects the notes in a vocal, lets you fix any it got wrong on a piano roll, and writes a standard MIDI file at 480 PPQ with the tempo from the detected BPM. The audio is uploaded once so the notes can be detected; the MIDI file itself is built in your browser, and MIDI export is free and never uses an export.
Why singing into MIDI beats describing a melody
The fastest way to get a melody out of your head is to sing it. Converting that take to MIDI turns a hummed idea into notes you can hand to a piano, a synth or a string patch without playing a keyboard.
Conversion works best on one clear monophonic line — a sung melody, a hum, a whistle or a single instrument. A full mix with drums, bass and chords playing at once is a much harder problem and comes out rough in any tool.
Clean mode versus raw mode
Pitch detection produces fragments: a breath registers as a 40 ms note, one sustained note gets split in two, a frame jumps an octave. Exported raw, that becomes a MIDI file nobody wants to edit.
Clean mode removes sub-60 ms fragments, merges neighbours that are nearly the same pitch, fixes octave outliers, and sets each note's velocity from its loudness in the recording. Raw mode writes every detected note if you would rather tidy it yourself. There is an optional 1/16-note quantise for either.
What the MIDI file contains
- A standard .mid file at 480 PPQ, readable by every DAW.
- Tempo taken from the detected BPM of the recording.
- Note velocity derived from how loud each note was sung.
- A count of how many detected notes became written notes, so you can see what cleaning did.
Step by step
- Record or upload a melody. Sing, hum or upload a single clear line — monophonic works best.
- Check the detected notes. The notes appear as blocks on a piano roll. Drag one to fix its pitch, or split and merge blocks where the detection guessed a boundary wrong.
- Choose clean or raw. Clean tidies fragments and sets velocity from loudness; raw writes everything. Add 1/16 quantise if you want it on the grid.
- Export the MIDI. Download a standard .mid and open it in any DAW. Export is free and never metered.
Audio to MIDI approaches, compared
| Approach | Best input | Fix mistakes before export | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sing it and convert (here) | A solo vocal, hum or whistle | Yes — edit notes on a piano roll first | Free |
| Upload-based converters | Solo lines; full mixes come out rough | Rarely | Free or credited |
| DAW audio-to-MIDI | Solo lines | Yes, in the DAW | Cost of the DAW |
| Play it on a MIDI keyboard | Anything you can play | Yes | Needs the keyboard and the skill |
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert audio to MIDI online?
Upload or record a melody, let the notes be detected, correct any that are wrong on the piano roll, then export a standard .mid file. It runs in the browser and is free.
Can I convert my singing or humming to MIDI?
Yes — a sung or hummed melody is the ideal input, because conversion works best on one clear monophonic line. Sing the idea, fix any stray notes, and export it as MIDI for a synth or piano.
Is the audio to MIDI converter free?
Yes. MIDI export runs entirely on your device and is never metered, unlike audio exports, which the free plan allows twice a month.
Will it convert a full song to MIDI?
Not well, and no tool does. Dense mixes with drums, bass and chords at once are much harder than a solo line. If you want the melody from a song, run vocal separation first and convert the isolated vocal.
What resolution is the MIDI file?
480 pulses per quarter note, with the tempo set from the detected BPM of the recording, so it lines up when you drop it into a DAW.
Can I quantise the notes?
Yes, there is an optional 1/16-note quantise. It is off by default, because quantising a sung line can remove the timing feel that made it worth recording.
Why do I get fewer notes than the detector found?
Clean mode, the default, drops sub-60 ms fragments, merges near-identical neighbours and fixes octave outliers. The export shows both numbers, so you can switch to raw mode if it removed something you wanted.
Does the MIDI include velocity?
Yes. Each note's velocity comes from how loud that note was in the recording, so the dynamics of the performance survive into the MIDI.
Is my audio uploaded to convert it to MIDI?
Yes, once. Note detection runs on IchiPitchy servers, so the recording is uploaded and stored against your project the same way any other import is. The MIDI file itself is written in your browser from the notes you see on the piano roll, which is why MIDI export is instant and never counts against the export allowance. If you want an analysis that uploads nothing at all, the key and BPM finder runs entirely on your own device.