Upload MIDI Guidelines

How should my MIDI file be formatted for the best results?

Any orchestrated MIDI file of a composition generated on the music engine is a good example of a format that will work well as an influence.

Your MIDI file should follow those formatting standards:

Contain more than a single musical idea: If a MIDI file contains just a single melody or bass line, for example, there will not be enough information to learn from

Organise instruments and musical parts (melody, chords, bass, etc) across separate MIDI tracks. AIVA looks at individual MIDI tracks to perform the analysis if all the notes of all musical sections/parts are in the same track, the results won't be ideal

MIDI channel 10 should be reserved for percussion only.

Contain a quantized score - performance recording in MIDI will not work well as input since the notes are likely to deviate from a clear metric structure, which may cause problems during the analysis.

The following guidelines are recommended (but not necessary, don’t worry if you don't understand those):

MIDI program change events (for instruments) on each track. Currently, AIVA uses the MIDI program change events to determine the instruments that are playing when analyzing the orchestration. If the instrumentation is unknown or only specified in the track names, you can always set the ensemble type of the influence when uploading the MIDI file, or correct the ensemble type detected automatically after the analysis is complete.

Accurate key signature events. Adding key signature events to correctly label key changes in score can help with the harmonic analysis of the composition.

Where can I find high-quality MIDI files?

You can find high-quality MIDI files on Musescore.
Please note that neither the Uploaded MIDI, nor any portion thereof, shall infringe upon the rights of any third party. The user shall take full responsibility for its usage of the Uploaded MIDI in the context of the Upload Influence Feature.

Should the upload MIDI be a specific length?

Yes, the MIDI files should have at least 8 bars. Please note that AIVA automatically trims the MIDI beyond 100 bars.

Updated on: 16/09/2021

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