How to Convert Audio to MIDI Automatically — Free Tools & Step-by-Step Guide

What Is Audio to MIDI — And Why Does It Work?

If you're searching for "Audio to MIDI," chances are you want to extract MIDI data from a recording or MP3 and edit it in your DAW. This guide covers everything: how Audio to MIDI technology works, the best free tools available, and exact step-by-step instructions. By the time you finish reading, you'll know how to hum a melody into your phone and turn it into a piano roll — from start to finish.

Audio to MIDI is a technology that analyzes audio signals — such as a guitar, piano, vocal melody, or even a hummed tune — detects pitch and timing, and converts that information into MIDI note data. This used to require expensive hardware or professional software, but advances in AI and machine learning have made it possible to do this entirely in a browser, for free, with nothing to install.

When Audio to MIDI Comes in Handy

Here are some real-world scenarios where this technology shines:

• Melody transcription: Automatically convert a melody from a song with no sheet music into MIDI — no ear training required.
• Composing from a hum: Record a melody idea on your phone and import it directly into your DAW.
• Converting guitar or piano performances: Turn a live recording into MIDI so you can trigger soft synths or swap out the instrument sound entirely.
• Music analysis and theory study: Export a song's melody as MIDI to visually examine its scales and chord structure.
• Assisted MIDI input for beginners: Skip the piano roll grind — just play or sing, and let the tool create the MIDI track for you.

What Is Basic Pitch? Spotify's High-Accuracy AI Transcription Engine

One of the most talked-about Audio to MIDI tools is Basic Pitch, an open-source AI developed by Spotify Research. Released in 2022, it has quickly earned a loyal following in the music production community for several reasons:

• Handles both single notes and chords (polyphony): It can accurately transcribe piano performances and guitar chord voicings.
• Detects pitch bend information: Guitar bends and vibrato are captured as MIDI pitch bend data.
• Uses a lightweight neural network model, enabling near-real-time processing directly in the browser.
• Released under the MIT license, so it's free for commercial use.

Basic Pitch's accuracy has been validated in academic research — for single-note melodies, it achieves over 90% note accuracy (Bitteur et al., 2022). Even for polyphonic instruments, it significantly outperforms earlier tools.

Audio to MIDI Tool Comparison

Here's a breakdown of the major Audio to MIDI tools to help you choose the right one.

① Basic Pitch (Browser-based, completely free)

• Price: Free
• Installation: None — runs in your browser
• Supported formats: MP3, WAV, OGG, FLAC, M4A
• Accuracy: Single notes ◎ / Chords ○
• Pitch bend support: Yes
• Notes: Research-backed AI from Spotify; open-source and transparent

② Melodyne (Paid, industry standard)

• Price: Essential starts around $100; Studio around $700
• Installation: Required (Windows / Mac)
• Accuracy: Single notes ◎ / Chords ◎ (DNA Direct Note Access)
• Notes: The gold standard for accuracy. Works as a DAW plugin. Premium price tag to match.

③ AnyTune / Transcribe! (Paid, desktop)

• Price: Approximately $30–$80
• Notes: Primarily designed to assist ear training with speed control and looping. MIDI export functionality is limited.

④ LA Studio Audio to MIDI (Browser-based, free)

• Price: Free
• Installation: None
• Notes: Runs the Basic Pitch model via in-browser ONNX inference, and loads the result directly into the DAW piano roll as a MIDI region — no export/import step needed.

Step-by-Step: Using Audio to MIDI in LA Studio

Here's a detailed walkthrough using LA Studio — no installation required, no account needed. Just upload an audio file and your MIDI region appears right in the editor, ready to tweak.

Step 1: Open the Editor

1. Go to https://la-studio.cc/editor in your browser. No sign-up required.
2. Confirm the editor interface loads correctly.

Step 2: Import Your Audio File

1. Go to File → Import Audio in the top menu, or drag and drop an audio file directly onto a track.
2. Supported formats: MP3, WAV, OGG, FLAC, M4A. File size limits depend on browser memory, but typical songs (3–5 minutes) work without any issues.

Step 3: Run the Audio to MIDI Conversion

1. Right-click the imported audio region.
2. Select "Audio to MIDI" from the context menu.
3. Adjust options if needed: enable pitch bend detection, set the minimum volume threshold, etc.
4. Click "Convert."
5. The Basic Pitch model runs via the in-browser ONNX engine and completes in a few seconds to about 30 seconds, depending on the file length.

Step 4: Edit the Generated MIDI

1. Once conversion is done, a MIDI region is automatically added to a new track.
2. Double-click the MIDI region to open the piano roll.
3. Remove or correct any misdetected notes. (For single-note melodies, edits are usually minimal.)
4. Fine-tune note lengths and velocities as needed.

Step 5: Export as a MIDI File

1. Go to File → Export MIDI.
2. A standard .mid file will download, ready to import into Cubase, Logic Pro, Ableton Live, or any other DAW.

Using the Basic Pitch Website Directly

You can also use the official Basic Pitch web app from Spotify directly:

1. Visit https://basicpitch.spotify.com/
2. Click "Upload Audio File" or drag and drop your file.
3. Click "Convert to MIDI" and wait for processing.
4. Download the result via "Download MIDI."

The downside is that you'll need to manually import the MIDI file into your DAW afterward. With LA Studio, everything stays in one place — making it especially convenient if you don't already have a DAW set up.

5 Tips to Improve Conversion Accuracy

The quality of your output depends heavily on the quality of your input audio. These tips can dramatically improve your results:

① Use audio with as few simultaneous notes as possible

A solo vocal melody or single-note guitar line gives the best results because there's no overlap between sounds. Converting a full mix will cause pitches from drums, bass, and guitar to collide and confuse the model.

② Combine with stem separation first

If you want to extract just the melody from a full mix, run stem separation first to isolate the vocal or lead instrument, then feed that into Audio to MIDI. The accuracy improvement is substantial.

③ Remove noise before converting

Background noise or room hiss can cause false note detections during quiet passages. Running AI noise removal before conversion helps eliminate this.

④ Set the volume threshold appropriately

Raising the minimum volume threshold in the conversion options filters out quiet spurious notes caused by noise. Lower it if you need to capture soft passages. Adjust based on the dynamics of your recording.

⑤ Quantize to the grid after conversion

Converted MIDI reflects the natural timing of a human performance — which means notes may fall slightly off the grid. Apply your DAW's quantize function (typically 1/8 or 1/16 notes) to tighten things up.

Audio to MIDI vs. Voice to MIDI — What's the Difference?

These two features sound similar but serve different purposes:

• Audio to MIDI: Upload an existing audio file (MP3, WAV, etc.) and convert it to MIDI. Best for post-processing recorded material.
• Voice to MIDI: Sing or hum into a microphone in real time and have MIDI notes recorded on the fly. Best for live input and instant composition.

LA Studio supports both. Use Audio to MIDI when you have a recording you want to convert, and Voice to MIDI when you want to sing your ideas directly into the sequencer.

Limitations of Audio to MIDI — What It Can't Do

Audio to MIDI isn't a magic solution for every situation. Accuracy drops significantly — or conversion becomes impractical — in these cases:

• Drums and percussion: No pitch information to detect. You'll need a dedicated drum transcription tool for this.
• Full orchestral or dense multi-instrument recordings: Too many overlapping pitches overwhelms the model and produces a high rate of false notes.
• Audio with heavy reverb or effects: Heavy processing obscures the pitch signal and reduces accuracy.
• Very fast passages (e.g., 16th notes at 200 BPM+): The boundaries between rapid notes can be difficult to detect reliably.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Is Audio to MIDI completely free to use?

A. Yes — Basic Pitch's official web app (basicpitch.spotify.com) is completely free. LA Studio's Audio to MIDI feature is also free with no account required. For everyday melody transcription or converting a hummed idea, free tools deliver more than enough accuracy. Paid tools like Melodyne are worth considering for professional-grade polyphonic work.

Q. Can I convert a hummed melody recorded on my phone?

A. Absolutely. For best results, record in a quiet environment and consider running the file through a noise reduction tool beforehand. M4A files (the default format on most smartphones) are fully supported.

Q. Will the converted MIDI work in Cubase, Logic Pro, or Ableton?

A. Yes. The output is a standard SMF (Standard MIDI File) in .mid format, which is compatible with virtually every DAW — including Cubase, Logic Pro, Ableton Live, FL Studio, and GarageBand. In LA Studio, export via File → Export MIDI.

Q. Can it handle chords — like a piano comping performance?

A. Basic Pitch supports polyphonic detection, so it can handle chord-based playing to a reasonable degree. That said, the more notes overlap, the more false detections you'll get — plan on doing some cleanup in the piano roll afterward. For professional-level polyphonic transcription, Melodyne's DNA (Direct Note Access) technology remains the industry benchmark.

Q. Can I run Basic Pitch locally with Python?

A. Yes. Basic Pitch is open-source under the MIT license and available on GitHub (spotify/basic-pitch). Install it with pip install basic-pitch, then run basic-pitch output_dir audio_file.mp3 to generate a MIDI file in one command. This is ideal for batch processing large numbers of files or automating workflows in a cloud environment.

Conclusion: Start Converting Audio to MIDI for Free, Right Now

Audio to MIDI has gone from an expensive, specialist workflow to something anyone can do — free, in a browser, in seconds. Thanks to Spotify's Basic Pitch engine, the accuracy is now genuinely production-ready for most use cases.

• Want the quickest way to try it? → Basic Pitch Official Web App
• Want to go from conversion straight into editing without leaving your browser? → LA Studio (converts and loads directly into the piano roll)
• Need professional-grade polyphonic accuracy? → Melodyne Studio

Go ahead and try it with a recording you already have — or hum something into your phone right now. Seeing your melody appear as piano roll notes is genuinely satisfying, and it's a surprisingly effective way to sharpen your ear training as well.