Midi file not importing

• Jul 12, 2018 - 16:02

I am trying to import a midi file which I created in garageband and then exported to Logic Pro to then export again as a midi file. When I try to upload this logic midi file into Musescore 2.1, it gives me this: Load failed. Bad midi file. MThd expected. I am able to upload this same file into Musescore 1.2 although it is extending notes that show up as tied notes. I've included the Logic Pro mid file and the mscz file from Musescore 1.2. Any suggestions? Thank you.

Attachment Size
Sara's Song vocals.mid 1.89 KB
Sara's Song vocals.mscz 5.89 KB

Comments

In reply to by Jojo-Schmitz

One of my Macs is old--10.6.8--and I have to use the 1.2 with it. However, I was wrong about using the 2.1 on my newer Mac; it's actually 2.3.1. And the midi file has suddenly opened in Musescore 2.3.1 although it is stating that it is a corrupted file. And the file still shows unnecessary tied notes that were not there on the original midi file in GarageBand.

In reply to by VivianSlade

MIDI is not a notation format but a playback format. It's lacking lots of information that would be necessary to guarantee good notated results when moving files between programs. So it's completely normal that different programs might display the same MIDI file differently.

When I import your MIDI file into 2.3.1, there is no corruption, and no unnecessary tied notes. Only when I load the MSCZ file do I see corruption and unnecessary ties. That's because 1.2 had a number of bugs - long since fixed - that would cause corruptions that it was unable to detect (while 2.3.1 does detect them), and also it's MIDI import is nowhere near as sophisticated.

So basically, stick to 2.3.1 and you should be fine. But if you do find yourself being forced to use 1.2 sometimes, just realized sometimes it will create corrupt scores you will need to fix later when loading into 2.3.1. See https://musescore.org/en/node/54721 for advice on this.

As for the ties, they show up because you overlapped your notes slightly in an effort to play legato. MuseScore 1/2 is being very literal about this and using ties to show you the overlaps. MuseScore 2.3.1 is much smarter about this, and it will ignore slight overlaps to produce more readable results.

If you find yourself needing to import MIDI files into 1.2, try "quantizing" them first. Not sure if GarageBand provides that option, but basically this means cleaning up the overlaps and making other changes to make it easier to convert to notation.

Do you still have an unanswered question? Please log in first to post your question.