Hoping someone might be able to make me understand the way midi timing works. I've tried the usual google routine in trying to get a hang of how it works and basically the closest I got to wrapping my head around it was in this post: http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=489452 but I'm still not sure how to get to the values in the post? I'm trying to make a karaoke player for flash for a school project and time the words properly. To do this I've utilized a php class that converts the midi file into MXML or midi xml which is easy to import into flash. That file contains a number of values which I'm not entirely sure how to use to calculate a correct timing! When creating the file you can choose either absolute or delta timing, I've chosen absolute, just because I figured that would be easier for me to read. this is some of the information I can get from the XML: <TicksPerBeat>192</TicksPerBeat> .... <Event> <Absolute>0</Absolute> <TimeSignature Numerator="4" LogDenominator="2" MIDIClocksPerMetronomeClick="24" ThirtySecondsPer24Clocks="8"/> </Event> <Event> <Absolute>0</Absolute> <KeySignature Fifths="251" Mode="0"/> </Event> <Event> <Absolute>0</Absolute> <SetTempo Value="1034482"/> </Event> Now, when i check the file in a midi utility application, the number with the label TicksPerBeat is the same as resolution, only with the inclusion of the following formula (1/768), which I don't know what that means. I'm also presented with the "initial BPM", which in this song is: 58, and it changes to 56 a bit into the song. I've tried the following formula to convert Ticks to milliseconds, with no success. Resolution * BPM / Ticks * 1000 = Milliseconds If this is actually right and I'm doing something else wrong, is there a way to calculate the BPM from the number in the SetTempo node? Am I also right in thinking that the absolute label contains the amount of ticks? It looks like this with lyrics: <Event> <Absolute>2304</Absolute> <TextEvent>\How</TextEvent> </Event> <Event> <Absolute>2352</Absolute> <TextEvent> can</TextEvent> </Event> <Event> <Absolute>2400</Absolute> <TextEvent> I</TextEvent> </Event> <Event> <Absolute>2448</Absolute> <TextEvent> just</TextEvent> </Event> <Event> <Absolute>2496</Absolute> <TextEvent> let</TextEvent> </Event> Would really appreciate it if someone could help me with this, I've got no past experience in dealing with midis so this is all really confusing to me. Thanks!

Hi!

Thank you so much for your reply, I've been hard at work trying to implement it somehow, although I think that there's still pieces of the puzzle missing for me.

For instance, the value from which you derive the amount of milliseconds:

<SetTempo Value="1034482"/>

I'm fairly certain that this is what changes the BPM. What I didn't include was this snippet that appears later in the track that says:

<Event>
<Absolute>2304</Absolute>
<SetTempo Value="1071428"/>
</Event>

And if I input the unit number 2304 into the midi calculator of the utility application GNMIDI, the returned BPM is 56, when I input 2303 the BPM is 58.

btw, is what in that program calls a unit the same thing as a tick or am I mistaken in that?

Also I can only access the 1/768 calculation from the GNMIDI app and I don't know how to get that from any of the other numbers, but if I only need the Tempo/resolution, BPM and ticks I'm fine without that I guess.

In the end this is what I want to be able to do:

In the song I'm using as an example, the first lyric is sung at approximately 12 seconds into the song, so basically I want the calculation, using the number from this snippet:

<Event>
<Absolute>2304</Absolute>
<TextEvent>\How</TextEvent>
</Event>

to somehow be:

? * 2304 = 12000

and seeing as the tempo sees a change mid-song, the ? should be able to be updated with that in consideration.

Thanks

Breakthrough time!

<SetTempo Value="1034482"/>

60 000 000 / 1034482 = 58 (BPM!)

Thanks a bunch! Now I just hope this'll work out and using the BPM this way works too!

Will do!