Can MIDIs be made into MP3s?

[Martyr]

Because i am THAT much of a dork that I really think, through some truly bizaar malfunction in my extremely small brain, that it would be cool to listen to my video game music in my car.
I want the Zelda theme booming out of my sub woofers, if you know what I mean.

Problem: I downloaded them all as MIDI files, and those can't be burned like MP3s.
Can they be converted through normal programs like... I don't know... some music thing on Windows?

[SublimeStar007]

ahah i don't know about the whole midi to mp3 thing but i've got the zelda ost and ff ost, all as mp3, i don't dl them as midi because you can't do anything with it as far as i know. just dl everything as mp3 i guess...

[ShivaBlizzard8]

You can, but it's not cheap: http://www.allformp3.com/convert-midi-to-mp3.htm

It's easier just to download the songs as mp3s. They sound better too.

[Xalioniaf]

If you like being illegal, you can look for official soundtracks. Those are always fun. But I do not not not not not^3844 download illegal music.

[DJZen]

Yes, you can do it, but why would you want to?

Just edit your sound card settings to record waveout, then go into MS sound recorder and record away. After that, it's just a matter of using your favorite mp3 encoder (most are free).

[crono_logical]

The easy free way is using Winamp with the out_lame output plugin

This is how I can do it with Winamp 2.91, though the plugin should work in 5.x too.

1) In Preferences, under Plugins > Input, I configure the MIDI player plugin (in_midi.dll) to use "DirectMusic/Microsoft Synthesizer (with output)" as the device on the Device tab.
2) Under Plugins > Output, I change the output plugin to the Lame MP3 Writer plugin (out_lame.dll). I then configure this plugin with how I want the MP3s to be encoded, so stuff like bitrate, and where to save them.
3) Play the midi. You'll see it playing without sound, because the sound is being redirected to an mp3 file now Let it finish by itself. Don't forget to change the output plugin back to DirectSound out or whatever to get normal sound out of Winamp again, like listening to the result, otherwise it'll convert everything you attempt to play to an mp3, even other mp3s

To do it really quickly, just put everything you want converted into a playlist and play it straight through and let it do it's business, making sure shuffle is turned off You also don't have to worry about making sure nothing else makes sounds if you tell the soundcard to record waveout or synth like DJZen suggested.

[rubah]

Yes, DJZen's method works. Did it yesterday. If you need more instructions, Kane made a decent post in the help forum along the same lines.

Just make sure that nothing else is playing stuff, like messanger programs. It'll record those in too.

[Buccura]

Theres a fairly easy way to do this. First goto Volume control, goto Options>Properties. Select the "record" bullet and click ok. Then where you see "Wave", check "select". Now open up some kind of sound editing software like Goldwave. Press record, and play the midi from any kind of player and it will record the song as it plays. You can also do this to record any sound your computer makes.

I know its not the BEST way, but it still works.