TYPE 1 AND TYPE 0 MIDI FILES, WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?
There are three different “Types” or “Formats” of MIDI files. Type 0 files contain only one track, and all the MIDI messages; i.e., the entire performance, are placed in that one track even if they represent musical parts on different MIDI channels. Many keyboards with disk drives use this format. Type 1 files separate each musical part to give it its own track. This means that all the MIDI channels in use can have their own track. It’s even possible to have multiple tracks for one channel. Type 2 files (which are extremely rare) represent a collection of Type 0 files, all packed into one MIDI file. Therefore Type 2 files look like Type 1 files at first glance, because there are multiple tracks, but each track stores a complete Type 0 MIDI performance. Type 2 can be used to store a collection of songs or patterns.
