Standard MIDI File is the protocol that is used to transfer MIDI information from one type of device to another. A MIDI sequencer file could be transferred to another sequencer or to a notation program. In the example below a MIDI sequence file is converted to a Standard MIDI file and then imported into a notation program.

This standard was added to the MIDI specification in 1988. It is a universal language that saves all MIDI notes, velocities, and controller codes as a generic file that may be interpreted by any program that supports the Standard MIDI File. In music applications that support Standard MIDI Files, the user may access and create Standard MIDI Files with the import and export commands. Standard MIDI files have the extension .mid added to the end of the document name.

There are three types of Standard MIDI Files, that include:

• Type 0 - which combines all the tracks or staves in to a single track.
• Type 1 - saves the files as separate tracks or staves for a complete score with the tempo and time signature information only included in the first track.
• Type 2 - saves the file as separate tracks or staves and also includes the tempo and time signatures for each track.