MIDI to sheet music you can read and fix
Open a MIDI file and ScoreStarling writes it out as notation: a staff for each track, drums on a drum staff, a key signature and rests. Play it, correct it, and print a PDF.
Drop a MIDI file here
A MIDI file up to 5 MB, ten minutes and 20,000 notes. MusicXML and ABC files open free too.
ScoreStarling opens a MIDI file as sheet music. Each track becomes a staff, piano tracks are split between the two hands, drums go on a drum staff, and the key signature, rests and beams are worked out for you. You hear it, fix what is wrong, and print or export it.
What goes in and what comes out
You bring
- A MIDI file (.mid or .midi) from a keyboard, a DAW or a download
- Up to 5 MB, ten minutes, 20,000 notes and 32 tracks
You get
- A score with a staff for each track and its drums on a drum staff
- Playback that follows your file’s own timing
- A PDF to print, free
- MusicXML and a cleaned MIDI with Plus or a credit pack
How it works
- Choose your MIDI file above. The workspace opens with it, after sign-in if needed; opening your own file uses no credits.
- Play the score. The notes stay tied to the events in your file, so playback sounds as you played it, whatever the page looks like.
- Open Score settings and check the key signature, the clef and the time signature, and change what is wrong. A file with no key signature gets an estimated one.
- Download the PDF, or MusicXML to carry the score to MuseScore, Dorico or another notation program.
What the notation looks like
A MIDI file as written
Prepare the file for a cleaner score
- Put the right key signature and time signature in the file, and set the tempo, before you export from your DAW.
- Quantize to the shortest note you want to read. Notes that sit off the beat grid are written with ties and extra voices.
- Keep each instrument on its own track, with a name, so parts are labelled.
- Mark drums on a drum channel so they are written on a drum staff.
Good to know
- Notes are written on a sixteenth-note grid with up to two voices per staff. Triplets and swing are not recognised as such.
- A MIDI file has no lyrics or chord names in a form the score keeps, so those are not written.
- The result is a score to check, not a finished edition. Play it beside what you expect and fix what you hear; Starling can do repeated fixes from a sentence.
- Opening MIDI is free; an audio recording uses 10 credits a piece, after a free 30-second preview. Audio to MIDI goes the other way.
Questions and answers
Is MIDI to sheet music free?
Opening your own MIDI file is free, and so are listening, editing and the PDF; the PDF from a free account carries a small footer line. MusicXML and MIDI downloads come with Plus or a credit pack (checked October 17, 2026).
Why does a MIDI file not look like sheet music at first?
A MIDI file records a performance: which key went down, when and for how long. It has no spelling of sharps and flats, no rests, no beams and often no key signature, so the notation has to be worked out. Our article on messy MIDI imports explains what goes wrong and how to prepare a file.
Does it keep drums?
Drum tracks are written on drum staves of their own after the pitched tracks. A drum sound that cannot be written as notation is left out, and you are told.
Which key and time signature does it use?
The ones in the file. If a MIDI file has no key signature, ScoreStarling estimates the key from the notes, which can be a fifth off, so check it in Score settings. If the music is in 3/4 or 6/8, make sure the file says so before you open it.
Are triplets and swing written?
Not as such. Notes are written on a sixteenth-note grid with up to two voices on a staff, so a triplet or swung eighth notes can come out as plain sixteenths or tied notes. Play the score beside the original MIDI and fix those bars by hand or with Starling.
How big can the MIDI file be?
Up to 5 MB, about ten minutes of playing, 20,000 notes and 32 tracks. A larger file is refused with a message saying which limit it passed.