Free online SMF to MSCZ converter

What the SMF format is

SMF means Standard MIDI File; files commonly use .smf, .mid, or .midi. An SMF stores MIDI events such as note numbers, velocities, channel assignments, controller changes, tempo, time signatures, and program changes, rather than recorded audio. Type 0 files contain one merged track, while type 1 files preserve multiple synchronized tracks.

DAWs, hardware sequencers, keyboard workstations, notation applications, and MIDI editors create SMF files. You encounter them when exporting a keyboard performance, transferring a sequence between music programs, or downloading a MIDI arrangement. Because MIDI records timing and note events instead of engraving decisions, an SMF does not inherently specify clean beaming, voices, rests, enharmonic spelling, or readable score layout.

What the MSCZ format is

.mscz is MuseScore's compressed native score format. It stores the editable notation, instruments, layout, playback settings, and embedded score resources in a compressed package. MuseScore uses MSCZ for normal save files; the format is generally smaller than the uncompressed .mscx equivalent and preserves notation edits more completely than MIDI.

MSCZ is suitable for arranging, proofreading, printing, playback, and continued editing in MuseScore. It is the appropriate target when the recipient uses MuseScore and needs an actual score rather than a sequence intended mainly for playback.

How to actually convert SMF to MSCZ

1. Install a current version of MuseScore and make a backup of the original .smf file.
2. Open MuseScore and choose File → Open. Select the SMF file. If the program does not list .smf, make a copy with a .mid extension; changing the extension only helps file detection and does not alter the MIDI data.
3. In the MIDI import dialog, select the tracks or instruments to retain. Choose the appropriate quantization or shortest-note setting, and enable a metronome or tempo track when those events should appear in the score.
4. Confirm the import, then inspect the resulting time signatures, key signature, tempo, instrument assignments, voices, tuplets, rests, and note spelling. Correct these items in MuseScore before saving.
5. Choose File → Save As, select MuseScore compressed (*.mscz), enter a filename, and save.

You can also convert the file on 101convert.com for free without installing software. For an important arrangement, open the resulting MSCZ in MuseScore and verify the notation because automatic MIDI-to-score interpretation depends on the source timing and track structure.

Quality and compatibility limitations

The conversion is not a lossless notation transfer: SMF contains performance events, while MSCZ contains engraved notation. Humanized timing can produce excessive rests, ties, tuplets, or incorrect note values; overlapping notes may create multiple voices; sustain-pedal events may not become notation; and lyrics, chord symbols, articulation, fingering, and page layout are usually absent unless the source encoded them in a form the importer understands.

Multi-track MIDI often imports as separate instruments, but channel names and program numbers may map imperfectly to MuseScore instruments. Preserve the original SMF alongside the MSCZ, and export MIDI again from MuseScore if playback compatibility with another sequencer is required.