Standard MIDI-File Format Spec. 1.1 ---
---------------------------------------

Distributed by:
The International MIDI Association
5316 W. 57th St.
Los Angeles, CA  90056
(213) 649-6434


0 - Introduction

The document outlines the specification for MIDI Files. The purpose of MIDI
Files  is to provide a way of interchanging time-stamped MIDI data  between
different  programs on the same or different computers. One of the  primary
design goals is compact representation, which makes it very appropriate for
disk-based  file format, but which might make it inappropriate for  storing
in  memory  for  quick access by a sequencer program.  (It  can  be  easily
converted to a quickly-accessible format on the fly as files are read in or
written  out.) It is not intended to replace the normal file format of  any
program, though it could be used for this purpose if desired.

MIDI Files contain one or more MIDI streams, with time information for each
event.  Song,  sequence,  and track structures, tempo  and  time  signature
information,   are  all  supported.  Track  names  and  other   descriptive
information may be stored with the MIDI data. This format supports multiple
tracks  and  multiple  sequences so that if the user  of  a  program  which
supports multiple tracks intends to move a file to another one, this format
can allow that to happen.

This  spec defines the 8-bit binary data stream used in the file. The  data
can  be stored in a binary file, nibbilized, 7-bit-ized for efficient  MIDI
transmission,  converted  to  Hex ASCII, or translated  symbolically  to  a
printable  text  file. This spec addresses what's in the 8-bit  stream.  It
does  not address how a MIDI File will be transmitted over MIDI. It is  the
general  feeling  that a MIDI transmission protocol will be  developed  for
files in general and MIDI Files will use this scheme.


1 - Sequences, Tracks, Chunks: File Block Structure

CONVENTIONS
In this document, bit 0 means the least significant bit of a byte, and  bit
7 is the most significant.

Some numbers in MIDI Files are represented is a form called VARIABLE-LENGTH
QUANTITY.  These numbers are represented 7 bits per byte, most  significant
bits first. All bytes except the last have bit 7 set, and the last byte has
bit  7  clear. If the number is between 0 and 127, it is  thus  represented
exactly as one byte.








Here   are  some  examples  of  numbers  represented   as   variable-length
quantities:

          00000000            00
          00000040            40
          0000007F            7F
          00000080            81 00
          00002000            C0 00
          00003FFF            FF 7F
          00004000            81 80 00
          00100000            C0 80 00
          001FFFFF            FF FF 7F
          00200000            81 80 80 00
          08000000            C0 80 80 00
          0FFFFFFF            FF FF FF 7F

The largest number which is allowed is 0FFFFFFF so that the variable-length
representations  must fit in 32 bits in a routine to write  variable-length
numbers. Theoretically, larger numbers are possible, but 2 x 10^8 96ths  of
a  beat at a fast tempo of 500 beats per minute is four days,  long  enough
for any delta-time!

FILES
To  any file system, a MIDI File is simply a series of 8-bit bytes. On  the
Macintosh, this byte stream is stored in the data fork of a file (with file
type  'MIDI'),  or  on the Clipboard (with data type  'MIDI').  Most  other
computers  store  8-bit  byte  streams  in  files  --  naming  or   storage
conventions for those computers will be defined as required.


CHUNKS
MIDI Files are made up of -chunks-. Each chunk has a 4-character type and a
32-bit  length, which is the number of bytes in the chunk.  This  structure
allows future chunk types to be designed which may be easily be ignored  if
encountered by a program written before teh chunk type is introduced.  Your
programs  should  EXPECT  alien chunks and treat them as  if  they  weren't
there.

Each chunk begins with a 4-character ASCII type. It is followed by a 32-bit
length,  most significant byte first (a length of 6 is stored as 00  00  00
06).  This length refers to the number of bytes of data which  follow:  the
eight bytes of type and length are not included. Therefore, a chunk with  a
length of 6 would actually occupy 14 bytes in the disk file.

This  chunk  architecture is similar to that used by Electronic  Arts'  IFF
format,  and  the chunks described herin could easily be placed in  an  IFF
file.  The  MIDI  File itself is not an IFF file:  it  contains  no  nested
chunks, and chunks are not constrained to be an even number of bytes  long.
Converting  it to an IFF file is as easy as padding odd length chunks,  and
sticking the whole thing inside a FORM chunk.

MIDI  Files contain two types of chunks: header chunks and track chunks.  A
-header-  chunk provides a minimal amount of information pertaining to  the
entire MIDI file. A -track- chunk contains a sequential stream of MIDI data
which  may contain information for up to 16 MIDI channels. The concepts  of
multiple tracks, multiple MIDI outputs, patterns, sequences, and songs  may
all be implemented using several track chunks.

A  MIDI File always starts with a header chunk, and is followed by  one  or
more track chunks.

          MThd  <length of header data>
          <header data>
          MTrk  <length of track data>
          <track data>
          MTrk  <length of track data>
          <track data>
          . . .


2 - Chunk Descriptions

HEADER CHUNKS
The  header  chunk  at  the beginning of  the  file  specifies  some  basic
information  about the data in the file. Here's the syntax of the  complete
chunk:

<Header Chunk> = <chunk type><length><format><ntrks><division>

As  described  above,  <chunk type> is the four  ASCII  characters  'MThd';
<length> is a 32-bit representation of the number 6 (high byte first).

The data section contains three 16-bit words, stored most-significant  byte
first.

The  first word, <format>, specifies the overall organization of the  file.
Only three values of <format> are specified:

0-the file contains a single multi-channel track
1-the file contains one or more simultanious tracks (or MIDI outputs) of  a
  sequence
2-the  file  contains  one or more  sequentially  independant  single-track
  patterns

More information about these formats is provided below.

The next word, <ntrks>, is the number of track chunks in the file. It  will
always be 1 for a format 0 file.

The  third word, <division>, specifies the meaning of the  delta-times.  It
has two formats, one for metrical time, and one for time-code-based time:

          +---+-----------------------------------------+
          | 0 |         ticks per quarter-note          |
          ==============================================|
          | 1 | negative SMPTE format | ticks per frame |
          +---+-----------------------+-----------------+
          |15 |14                   8 |7              0 |

If bit 15 of <division> is zero, the bits 14 thru 0 represent the number of
delta time "ticks" which make up a quarter-note. For instance, if  division
is  96,  then a time interval of an eighth-note between two events  in  the
file would be 48.


If  bit  15  of <division> is a one, delta times in a  file  correspond  to
subdivisions  of  a second, in a way consistent with SMPTE  and  MIDI  Time
Code. Bits 14 thru 8 contain one of the four values -24, -25, -29, or  -30,
corresponding  to the four standard SMPTE and MIDI Time Code  formats  (-29
corresponds  to  30 drop frome), and represents the number  of  frames  per
second.  These  negative numbers are stored in two's compliment  form.  The
second  byte  (stored positive) is the resolution within a  frame:  typical
values may be 4 (MIDI Time Code resolution), 8, 10, 80 (bit resolution), or
100. This stream allows exact specifications of time-code-based tracks, but
also  allows  milisecond-based  tracks by specifying  25|frames/sec  and  a
resolution of 40 units per frame. If the events in a file are stored with a
bit resolution of thirty-framel time code, the division word would be  E250
hex.

FORMATS 0, 1, AND 2
A  Format 0 file has a header chunk followed by one track chunk. It is  the
most interchangable representation of data. It is very useful for a  simple
single-track  player  in a program which needs to  make  synthesizers  make
sounds,  but  which  is primarily concerened with something  else  such  as
mixers  or sound effect boxes. It is very desirable to be able  to  produce
such  a format, even if your program is track-based, in order to work  with
these  simple  programs. On the other hand, perhaps someone  will  write  a
format  conversion from format 1 to format 0 which might be so easy to  use
in some setting that it would save you the trouble of putting it into  your
program.

A  Format  1  or 2 file has a header chunk followed by one  or  more  track
chunks.  programs which support several simultanious tracks should be  able
to save and read data in format 1, a vertically one-dementional form,  that
is,  as a collection of tracks. Programs which support several  independant
patterns  should be able to save and read data in format 2, a  horizontally
one-dementional  form.  Providing these minimum  capabilities  will  ensure
maximum interchangability.

In  a MIDI system with a computer and a SMPTE synchronizer which uses  Song
Pointer  and Timing Clock, tempo maps (which describe the tempo  throughout
the track, and may also include time signature information, so that the bar
number  may be derived) are generally created on the computer. To use  them
with the synchronizer, it is necessary to transfer them from the  computer.
To make it easy for the synchronizer to extract this data from a MIDI File,
tempo  information should always be stored in the first MTrk chunk.  For  a
format 0 file, the tempo will be scattered through the track and the  tempo
map  reader should ignore the intervening events; for a format 1 file,  the
tempo  map must be stored as the first track. It is polite to a  tempo  map
reader  to offerr your user the ability to make a format 0 file  with  just
the tempo, unless you can use format 1.

All MIDI Files should specify tempo and time signature. If they donn't, the
time signature is assumed to be 4/4, and the tempo 120 beats per minute. In
format  0, these meta-events should occur at least at the beginning of  the
single  multi-channel  track.  In format 1,  these  meta-events  should  be
contained  i|  the  first  track.  In format  2,  each  of  the  temporally
independant  patterns  should contain at least initial time  signature  and
tempo information.

We  may  decide to define other format IDs to support other  structures.  A
program encountering an unknown format ID may still read other MTrk  chunks
it  finds  from the file, as format 1 or 2, if its user can make  sense  of
them and arrange them into some other structure if appropriate. Also,  more
parameters may be added to the MThd chunk in the future: it is important to
read and honor the length, even if it is longer than 6.

TRACK CHUNKS
The  track  chunks (type MTrk) are where actual song data is  stored.  Each
track  chunk  is  simply a stream of MIDI  events  (and  non-MIDI  events),
preceded  by  delta-time  values. The format for  Track  Chunks  (described
below) is exactly the same for all three formats (0, 1, and 2: see  "Header
Chunk" above) of MIDI Files.

Here  is the syntax of an MTrk chunk (the + means "one or more":  at  least
one MTrk event must be present):

<Track Chunk> = <chunk type><length><MTrk event>+

The syntax of an MTrk event is very simple:

<MTrk event> = <delta-time><event>

<delta-time>  is  stored as a variable-length quantity. It  represents  the
amount  of time before the following event. If the first event in  a  track
occurs  at  the  very  beginning  of  a  track,  or  if  two  events  occur
simultaineously,  a  delta-time  of zero is used.  Delta-times  are  always
present. (Not storing delta-times of 0 requires at least two bytes for  any
other  value,  and  most delta-times aren't zero.) Delta-time  is  in  some
fraction  of a beat (or a second, for recording a track with SMPTE  times),
as specified in the header chunk.

<event> = <MIDI event> | <sysex event> | <meta-event>

<MIDI  event> is any MIDI channel message. Running status is  used:  status
bytes  of MIDI channel messages may be omitted if the preceding event is  a
MIDI  channel  message with the same status. The first event in  each  MTrk
chunk  must specifyy status. Delta-time is not considered an event  itself:
it is an integral part of the syntax for an MTrk event. Notice that running
status occurs across delta-times.

<sysex event> is used to specify a MIDI system exclusive message, either as
one unit or in packets, or as an "escape" to specify any arbitrary bytes to
be  transmitted. A normal complete system exclusive message is stored in  a
MIDI File in this way:

          F0 <length> <bytes to be transmitted after F0>

The length is stored as a variable-length quantity. It specifies the number
of  bytes which follow it, not including the F0 or the length  itself.  For
instance,  the transmitted message F0 43 12 00 07 F7 would be stored  in  a
MIDI File as F0 05 43 12 00 07 F7. It is required to include the F7 at  the
end  so that the reader of the MIDI File knows that it has read the  entire
message.

Another  form  of sysex event is provided which does not imply that  an  F0
should  be transmitted. This may be used as an "escape" to provide for  the
transmission of things which would not otherwise be legal, including system
realtime  messages, song pointer or select, MIDI Time Code, etc. This  uses
the F7 code:

          F7 <length> <all bytes to be transmitted>

Unfortunately,  some  synthesizer manufacturers specify that  their  system
exclusive messages are to be transmitted as little packets. Each packet  is
only part of an entire syntactical system exclusive message, but the  times
they are transmitted are important. Examples of this are the bytes sent  in
a CZ patch dump, or the FB-01's "system exclusive mode" in which microtonal
data can be transmitted. The F0 and F7 sysex events may be used together to
break  up  syntactically  complete system  exclusive  messages  into  timed
packets.

An  F0  sysex  event is used for the first packet in a series --  it  is  a
message  in which the F0 should be transmitted. An F7 sysex event  is  used
for  the remainder of the packets, which do not begin with F0. (Of  course,
the F7 is not considered part of the system exclusive message).

A  syntactic system exclusive message must always end with an F7,  even  if
the real-life device didn't send one, so that you know when you've  reached
the end of an entire sysex message without looking ahead to the next  event
in the MIDI File. If it's stored in one compllete F0 sysex event, the  last
byte must be an F7. There also must not be any transmittable MIDI events in
between  the  packets  of a multi-packet  system  exclusive  message.  This
principle is illustrated in the paragraph below.

Here is a MIDI File of a multi-packet system exclusive message: suppose the
bytes  F0 43 12 00 were to be sent, followed by a 200-tick delay,  followed
by  the bytes 43 12 00 43 12 00, followed by a 100-tick delay, followed  by
the bytes 43 12 00 F7, this would be in the MIDI File:

          F0 03 43 12 00
          81 48                        200-tick delta time
          F7 06 43 12 00 43 12 00
          64                           100-tick delta time
          F7 04 43 12 00 F7


When  reading a MIDI File, and an F7 sysex event is encountered  without  a
preceding  F0 sysex event to start a multi-packet system exclusive  message
sequence,  it  should  be presumed that the F7 event is being  used  as  an
"escape". In this case, it is not necessary that it end with an F7,  unless
it is desired that the F7 be transmitted.


<meta-event>  specifies  non-MIDI information useful to this format  or  to
sequencers, with this syntax:

          FF <type> <length> <bytes>

All  meta-events  begin  with FF, then have an event type  byte  (which  is
always  less  than 128), and then have the length of the data stored  as  a
variable-length  quantity, and then the data itself. If there is  no  data,
the  length is 0. As with chunks, future meta-events may be designed  which
may  not  be known to existing programs, so programs must  properly  ignore
meta-events  which they do not recognize, and indeed should expect  to  see
them.  Programs must never ignore the length of a meta-event which they  do
not  recognize,  and  they  shouldn't be  surprized  if  it's  bigger  than
expected.  If  so, they must ignore everything past what they  know  about.
However,  they must not add anything of their own to the end of  the  meta-
event.
Sysex events and meta events cancel any running status which was in effect.
Running status does not apply to and may not be used for these messages.


3 - Meta-Events

A  few meta-events are defined herin. It is not required for every  program
to support every meta-event.

In the syntax descriptions for each of the meta-events a set of conventions
is  used  to describe parameters of the events. The FF  which  begins  each
event, the type of each event, and the lengths of events which do not  have
a  variable  amount of data are given directly in hexadecimal.  A  notation
such  as dd or se, which consists of two lower-case  letters,  mnemonically
represents  an 8-bit value. Four identical lower-case letters such as  wwww
mnemonically  refer to a 16-bit value, stored most-significant-byte  first.
Six  identical lower-case letters such as tttttt refer to a  24-bit  value,
stored  most-significan-byte first. The notation len refers to  teh  length
portion of the meta-event syntax, that is, a number, stored as a  variable-
length  quantity, which specifies how many bytes (possibly text) data  were
just specified by the length.

In  general, meta-events in a track which occur at the same time may  occur
in any order. If a copyright event is used, it should be placed as early as
possible  in  the file, so it will be noticed easily. Sequence  Number  and
Sequence/Track  Name events, if present, must appear at time 0. An  end-of-
track event must occur as the last event in the track.

Meta-events initially defined include:

FF 00 02                     Sequence Number
    This  optional  event, which must occur at the beginning  of  a  track,
    before  any  nonzero  delta-times, and before  any  transmittable  MIDI
    events, specifies the number of a sequence. In a format 2 MIDI File, it
    is used to identify each "pattern" so that a "song" sequence using  the
    Cue  message to refer to the patterns. If the ID numbers  are  omitted,
    the sequences' lacations in order in the file are used as defaults.  In
    a format 0 or 1 MIDI File, which only contain one sequence, this number
    should  be  contained  in the first (or only)  track.  If  transfer  of
    several multitrack sequences is required, this must be done as a  group
    of format 1 files, each with a different sequence number.

FF 01 len text               Text Event
    Any amount of text describing anything. It is a good idea to put a text
    event right at the beginning of a track, with the name of the track,  a
    description  of its intended orchestration, and any  other  information
    which the user wants to put there. Text events may also occur at  other
    times in a track, to be used as lyrics, or descriptions of cue  points.
    The text in this event should be printable ASCII characters for maximum
    interchange.  However, other characters codes using the high-order  bit
    may be used for interchange of files between different programs on  the
    same  computer which supports an extended character set. Programs on  a
    computer  which  does not support non-ASCII  characters  should  ignore
    those characters.

    Meta-event  types 01 through 0F are reserved for various types of  text
    events,  each of which meets the specification of text  events  (above)
    but is used for a different purpose:

FF 02 len text               Copyright Notice
    Contains a copyright notice as printable ASCII text. The notice  should
    contain the characters (C), the year of the copyright, and the owner of
    the  copyright. If several pieces of music are in the same  MIDI  File,
    all of the copyright notices should be placed together in this event so
    that it will be at the beginning of the file. This event should be  the
    first event in the track chunk, at time 0.

FF 03 len text               Sequence/Track Name
    If in a format 0 track, or the first track in a format 1 file, the name
    of the sequence. Otherwise, the name of the track.

FF 04 len text               Instrument Name
    A description of the type of instrumentation to be used in that  track.
    May  be  used  with the MIDI Prefix meta-event to  specify  which  MIDI
    channel the description applies to, or the channel may be specified  as
    text in the event itself.

FF 05 len text               Lyric
    A  lyric to be sung. Generally, each syllable will be a seperate  lyric
    event which begins at the event's time.

FF 06 len text               Marker
    Normally  in a format 0 track, or the first track in a format  1  file.
    The  name of that point in the sequence, such as a rehersal  letter  or
    section name ("First Verse", etc.)

FF 07 len text               Cue Point
    A description of something happening on a film or video screen or stage
    at that point in the musical score ("Car crashes into  house",
    "curtain opens", "she slaps his face", etc.)

FF 20 01 cc                  MIDI Channeel Prefix
    The  MIDI  channel  (0-15)  containted in this event  may  be  used  to
    associate a MIDI channel with all events which follow, including System
    exclusive  and meta-events. This channel is "effective" until the  next
    normal  MIDI event (which contains a channel) or the next MIDI  Channel
    Prefix meta-event. If MIDI channels refer to "tracks", this message may
    into  a  format 0 file, keeping their non-MIDI data associated  with  a
    track. This capability is also present in Yamaha's ESEQ file format.

FF 2F 00                     End of Track
    This  event  is not optional. It is included so that  an  exact  ending
    point may be specified for the track, so that an exect length, which is
    necessary for tracks which are looped or concatenated.


FF 51 03 tttttt              Set Tempo
                             (in microseconds per MIDI quarter-note)
    This   event  indicates  a  tempo  change.  Another  way   of   putting
    "microseconds  per  quarter-note" is "24ths of a microsecond  per  MIDI
    clock".  Repersenting tempos as time per beat instead of beat per  time
    allows absolutly exact long-term synchronization with a time-based sync
    protocol  such  as SMPTE time code or MIDI time code.  This  amount  of
    accuracy  provided by this tempo resolution allows a four-minute  piece
    at  120 beats per minute to be accurate within 500 usec at the  end  of
    the  piece. Ideally, these events should only occur where  MIDI  clocks
    would  be  located -- this convention is intended to  guarntee,  or  at
    least   increase   the   liklihood,   of   compatibility   with   other
    synchronization  devices so that a time signature/tempo map  stored  in
    this format may easily be transfered to another device.

FF 54 05 hr mn se fr ff      SMPTE Offset
    This  event, if present, designates the SMPTE time at which  the  track
    chunk  is supposed to start. It should be present at the  beginning  of
    the  track,  that is, before any nonzero delta-times,  and  before  any
    transmittable  MIDI  events. the hour must be encoded  with  the  SMPTE
    format, just as it is in MIDI Time Code. In a format 1 file, the  SMPTE
    Offset must be stored with the tempo map, and has no meaning in any  of
    the other tracks. The ff field contains fractional frames, in 100ths of
    a  frame,  even in SMPTE-based tracks which specify a  different  frame
    subdivision for delta-times.

FF 58 04 nn dd cc bb         Time Signature
    The  time signature is expressed as four numbers. nn and  dd  represent
    the  numerator  and denominator of the time signature as  it  would  be
    notated.  The  denominator is a neqative power of two: 2  represents  a
    quarter-note,  3  represents  an eighth-note,  etc.  The  cc  parameter
    expresses  the  number  of MIDI clocks in a  metronome  click.  The  bb
    parameter  expresses  the  number  of  notated  32nd-notes  in  a  MIDI
    quarter-note (24 MIDI clocks). This was added because there are already
    multiple  programs which allow a user to specify that what MIDI  thinks
    of as a quarter-note (24 clocks) is to be notated as, or related to  in
    terms of, something else.

    Therefore, the complete event for 6/8 time, where the metronome  clicks
    every three eighth-notes, but there are 24 clocks per quarter-note,  72
    to the bar, would be (in hex):

               FF 58 04 06 03 24 08

    That is, 6/8 time (8 is 2 to the 3rd power, so this is 06 03), 36  MIDI
    clocks  per dotted-quarter (24 hex!), and eight notated 32nd-notes  per
    quarter-note.


FF 59 02 sf mi               Key Signature
    sf = -7: 7 flats
    sf = -1: 1 flat
    sf =  0: key of C
    sf =  1: 1 sharp
    sf =  7: 7 sharps

    mi =  0: major key
    mi =  1: minor key

FF 7F len data               Sequencer Specific Meta-Event
    Special requirements for particular sequencers may use this event type:
    the  first  byte or bytes of data is a manufacturer ID (these  are  one
    byte,  or  if the first byte is 00, three bytes). As with  MIDI  System
    Exclusive,  manufacturers  who define something using  this  meta-event
    should  publish  it  so that others may be used by  a  sequencer  which
    elects  to  use  this as its only file format;  sequencers  with  their
    established  feature-specific  formats  should probably  stick  to  the
    standard features when using this format.

4 - Program Fragments and Example MIDI Files

Here are some of the routines to read and write variable-length numbers  in
MIDI Files. These routines are in C, and use getc and putc, which read  and
write single 8-bit characters from/to the files infile and outfile.

WriteVarLen (value)
register long value;
(
   register long buffer;

   buffer = value & 0x7f;
   while ((value >>= 7) > 0)
   (
      buffer <<= 8;
      buffer |= 0x80;
      buffer += (value & 0x7f);
   )

   while (TRUE)
   (
      putc(buffer,outfile);
      if (buffer & 0x80)
         buffer >>= 8;
      else
         break;
   )
)

doubleword ReadVarLen ()
(
   register doubleword value;
   register byte c;

   if ((value = getc(infile)) & 0x80)
   (
      value &= 0x7f;
      do
      (
         value = (value << 7) + ((c = getc(infile))) & 0x7f);
      ) while (c & 0x80);
   )
   return (value);
)


As an example, MIDI Files for the following excerpt are shown below. First,
a format 0 file is shown, with all information intermingled; then, a format
1 file is shown with all data seperated into four tracks: one for tempo and
time  signature,  and three for the notes. A resolution of 96  "ticks"  per
quarter  note is used. A time signature of 4/4 and a tempo of  120,  though
implied, are explicitly stated.





                   |\
              ---- | > ---------------------------------------
                   |/         ____                    O
Channel 1     ---- X --------------------------------|--------
                  /                                  |
Preset 5      -- / | --------------------------------|--------
                / ____                               |
              -|   |  \ --------------------------------------
                \  |   |
              -- \_|__/ --------------------------------------
                  _|


                   |\
              ---- | > ---------------------------------------
                   |/           \
Channel 2     ---- X ------------>----------|-----------------
                  /             /           |
Preset 46     -- / | ----------<------------|-----------------
                / ____          \           | .
              -|   |  \ --------->---------O------------------
                \  |   |       (
              -- \_|__/ --------\-----------------------------
                  _|             \


                              --O--

              ----__ -----------------------------------------
                 /  \  .
Channel 3     - /    | ---------------------------------------
                     | .
Preset 70     ------ | ---------------------------------------
                    /           O
              ---- / -----------------------------------------
                  /
              -- / -------------------------------------------


The contents of the MIDI stream represented by this example are broken down
here:

Delta-Time  Event-Code  Other Bytes     Comment
(decimal)   (hex)       (decimal)
----------  ----------  -----------     -----------------------------
0           FF 58       04 04 02 24 08  4 bytes; 4/4 time; 24 MIDI
                                        clocks/click, 8 32nd notes/
                                        24 MIDI clocks
0           FF 51       03 500000       3 bytes: 500,000 usec/
                                        quarter note
0           C0          5               Ch.1 Program Change 5
0           C1          46              Ch.2 Program Change 46
0           C2          70              Ch.3 Program Change 70
0           92          48 96           Ch.3 Note On C2, forte
0           92          60 96           Ch.3 Note On C3, forte
96          91          67 64           Ch.2 Note On G3, mezzo-forte
96          90          76 32           Ch.1 Note On E4, piano
192         82          48 64           Ch.3 Note Off C2, standard
0           82          60 64           Ch.3 Note Off C3, standard
0           81          67 64           Ch.2 Note Off G3, standard
0           80          76 64           Ch.1 Note Off E4, standard
0           FF 2F       00              Track End

The  entire  format 0 MIDI file contents in hex follow.  First, the  header
chunk:
              40 54 68 64              MThd
              00 00 00 06              chunk length
              00 00                    format 0
              00 01                    one track
              00 60                    96 per quarter-note

Then the track chunk. Its header followed by the events (notice the running
status is used in places):

              4D 54 72 6B              MTrk
              00 00 00 3B              chunk length (59)

Delta-Time    Event                    Comments
----------    -----------------------  -------------------------------
00            FF 58 04 04 02 18 08     time signature
00            FF 51 03 07 A1 20        tempo
00            C0 05
00            C1 2E
00            C2 46
00            92 30 60
00            3C 60                    running status
60            91 43 40
60            90 4C 20
81 40         82 30 40                 two-byte delta-time
00            3C 40                    running status
00            81 43 40
00            80 4C 40
00            FF 2F 00                 end of track

A  format  1 representation of the file is slightly different.  Its  header
chunk:

              4D 54 68 64              MThd
              00 00 00 06              chunk length
              00 01                    format 1
              00 04                    four tracks
              00 60                    96 per quarter note

First,  the  track chunk for the time signature/tempo  track.  Its  header,
followed by the events:

              4D 54 72 6B              MTrk
              00 00 00 14              chunk length (20)

Delta-Time    Event                    Comments
----------    -----------------------  -------------------------------
00            FF 58 04 04 02 18 08     time signature
00            FF 51 03 07 A1 20        tempo
83 00         FF 2F 00                 end of track

Then,  the track chunk for the first music track. The MIDI  convention  for
note on/off running status is used in this example:

              4D 54 72 6B              MTrk
              00 00 00 10              chunk length (16)

Delta-Time    Event                    Comments
----------    -----------------------  -------------------------------
00            C0 05
81 40         90 4C 20
81 40         4C 00                    Running status: note on, vel=0
00            FF 2F 00

Then, the track chunk for the second music track:

              4D 54 72 6B              MTrk
              00 00 00 0F              chunk length (15)

Delta-Time    Event                    Comments
----------    -----------------------  -------------------------------
00            C1 2E
60            91 43 40
82 20         43 00                    running status
00            FF 2F 00                 end of track


Then, the track chunk for the third music track:

              4D 54 72 6B              MTrk
              00 00 00 15              chunk length (21)

Delta-Time    Event                    Comments
----------    -----------------------  -------------------------------
00            C2 46
00            92 30 60
00            3C 60                    running status
83 00         30 00                    two-byte delta-time, running status
00            3C 00                    running status
00            FF 2F 00                 end of track