About The Standard Midi File Format - Yamaha SY99 Owner's Manual

The Standard MIDI File Format is a standard which
has recently been implemented by a number cf
software and hardware makers. This standardized
format allows song data to be transferred easily
between different sequencers - even between
sequencers made by different manufacturers.
The SY99 supports two Standard MIDI Pile
types, known as format 0 and format 1. In the
former type, all sequencer data is recorded as a
single track, which may include data for more than
one MIDI channel. In the latter, an unlimited number
of tracks may be used, each of which may contain
data for more than one channel. The SY99 is capable
of loading data saved in either of these formats.
Data saved by the SY99 using the Standard MIDI
File format will be saved as format 0.
Loading data: To load sequencer data saved in a
Standard MIDI File format, select load operation
type 10:Other Seq from the Load from disk job
directory. The file to be loaded must meet the
following conditions:
The file must be loaded from a disk formatted
by the SY99, or from a 3.5 inch 2DD floppy
disk in MS-DOS® or PC-DOS® format.
(Refer to the paragraph titled Acceptable
disk formats, below.)
It must have been saved as Standard MIDI
Pile format 0 or format 1. Files saved using
standard MIDI file format 2 cannot be
loaded.
The MIDI clock must be used as the basic
clock.
The file must have a resolution of 1/96, 192,
288, 384, 480 of a quarter note.
When a format 0 file is loaded, the data for each
MIDI channel is loaded to the corresponding
track (channel 1 to Track 1, channel 2 to Track 2,
and so on). Only data for channels 1 through 15
is loaded, however; any data for channel 16 will
be ignored. Tempo change messages and similar
information are all loaded to Track 1.

About the Standard MIDI File Format

When a format 1 file is loaded, data for the
track containing tempo change messages and
other "conductor" information is loaded to the
SY99 as Track 1. Data for other tracks are
loaded in sequence. It will therefore be neces-
sary to reset the channel assignments for each
track when loading is complete.
All data loaded to a single track in this way
will be transmitted by the SY99 on a single
channel. For this reason, even if one track of a
format 1 file contains data for two or more MIDI
channels, all this data will be played back by the
SY99 using a single channel. Since this may
mean that sequencer parts may not play back as
desired, we recommend that format 0 be used for
the transfer of data whenever possible.
No exclusive data is loaded from Standard
MIDI Files of either format type.
Saving data: Data may be saved in standard MIDI
file format to any of the disk types described in
Acceptable disk formats, below. To save se-
quencer data in Standard MIDI File format,
select save operation type 06:MIDI File from
the Save to disk job directory. The data for each
track is saved to the corresponding MIDI chan-
nel (Track 1 to channel 1, Track 2 to channel 2,
and so on). No exclusive data is saved when
this format is used.
Files saved using the Standard MIDI File
format are given a file extension .X01 through
.X99, which allows the SY99 to recognize the
file's format. Other programs, however, may not
be able to recognize the file as a Standard MIDI
File unless the .MID extension is used; when
transferring data saved by the SY99 to another
device where it will be used by such a program,
you should first rename the file using a personal
computer or other means.
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