MUS File Format
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Written by Vladimir Arnost, QA-Software
Date: Oct 29, 1994
Internet: xarnos00@dcse.fee.vutbr.cz
1. General Description
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A .MUS file is a simple clone of .MID file. It uses the same instruments,
similar commands and the same principle: a list of sound events.
It consists of two parts: header and body.
2. MUS File Header
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The MUS header has the following structure:
struct MUSheader {
char ID[4]; // identifier "MUS" 0x1A
WORD scoreLen;
WORD scoreStart;
WORD channels;
WORD dummy1;
WORD instrCnt;
WORD dummy2;
// variable-length part starts here
WORD instruments[];
};
NOTE: WORD is a 16-bit unsigned integer (little-endian)
The header has two parts: the fixed-length and the variable-length parts.
The former contains file identifier, score start and length, number of
channels and number of used instruments. The latter part is actually
a list of used instruments. The instruments are stored as numbers which
are arranged in this fashion:
Instrument Number Meaning
0 - 127 standard MIDI instruments
135 - 181 standard MIDI percussions (notes 35 - 81)
scoreStart is the absolute file position of the score and scoreLen is its
length in bytes. Use of 16-bit number as length limits .MUS file size to
64KB.
channels tells you how many channels are utilized in the song. The channel
number 15 (percussions) is not included in the sum.
3. MUS File Body
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Unlike MID files, MUS body contains only one track. File body is
a sequence of sound events and time records. A sound event consists of
one or more bytes encoded as follows:
1st byte -- event descriptor:
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§Last3 Event type 3 Channel number §
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'Event type' is one of these:
0 - release note
1 - play note
2 - pitch wheel
3 - tempo ???
4 - change controller
5 - ???
6 - score end
7 - ???
'Channel number' determines which channel this event refers to.
'Last' - if set, the event is followed by time information. This
means that this is the last event in a group of events which
occur at the same time. The time information is a number of
ticks to wait before processing next event. One tick is usually
1/128 sec (Raptor uses 1/64 sec).
Time information can be read in this way:
1. time = 0
2. read a byte
3. time = time * 128 + byte AND 127
4. if (byte AND 128) go to 2
5. return time
The time info is a series of 7-bit chunks. The 8th bit is set
until the last byte whose 8th bit is zero. This scheme allows
small numbers occupy less space than large ones.
Event Type
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0 Release note
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§ 0 3 Note number 0 - 127 §
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1 Play note
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§Vol3 Note number 0 - 127 § § 0 3 Note volume 0 - 127 §
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Note volume is present only if 'Vol' is set. Otherwise the previous
value is used and the second byte is not present.
NOTE: Each channel keeps track of its own last volume value.
More than one note can be played at once in one channel.
Channel 15 is dedicated to drums and percussions. Note number acts
as an instrument selector there. see Appendix C
2 Pitch wheel
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§ Pitch wheel value §
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Sets pitch wheel (bender) value of a channel. Some handy values are
shown in the table (all values in the range 0-255 can be used):
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3Value3 Pitch change 3
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3 0 3 two half-tones down 3
3 64 3 one half-tone down 3
3 128 3 normal (default) 3
3 192 3 one half-tone up 3
3 255 3 two half-tones up 3
…ŽŽŽŽŽ ŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽŽ—
3 Unknown (set tempo???)
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§ Unknown value §
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4 Change control
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§ 0 3 Controller number § § 0 3 Controller value §
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Number Description
0 Instrument (patch) number
3 Volume: 0-silent, ~100-normal, 127-loud
4 Pan (balance): 0-left, 64-center (default), 127-right
No other controller's functions are known to me.
5 Unknown
Not known what data (if any) this command takes.
6 Score end
No data.
Marks the end of score. Must be present at the end, otherwise the
player may go off the rail. In DOOM this command restarts playing.
7 Unknown
Not known what data (if any) this command takes.
APPENDIX A - Note numbers
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§ Octave § C 3 C# 3 D 3 D# 3 E 3 F 3 F# 3 G 3 G# 3 A 3 A# 3 B §
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§ 0 § 0 3 1 3 2 3 3 3 4 3 5 3 6 3 7 3 8 3 9 3 10 3 11 §
§ 1 § 12 3 13 3 14 3 15 3 16 3 17 3 18 3 19 3 20 3 21 3 22 3 23 §
§ 2 § 24 3 25 3 26 3 27 3 28 3 29 3 30 3 31 3 32 3 33 3 34 3 35 §
§ 3 § 36 3 37 3 38 3 39 3 40 3 41 3 42 3 43 3 44 3 45 3 46 3 47 §
§ 4 § 48 3 49 3 50 3 51 3 52 3 53 3 54 3 55 3 56 3 57 3 58 3 59 §
§ 5 § 60 3 61 3 62 3 63 3 64 3 65 3 66 3 67 3 68 3 69 3 70 3 71 §
§ 6 § 72 3 73 3 74 3 75 3 76 3 77 3 78 3 79 3 80 3 81 3 82 3 83 §
§ 7 § 84 3 85 3 86 3 87 3 88 3 89 3 90 3 91 3 92 3 93 3 94 3 95 §
§ 8 § 96 3 97 3 98 3 99 3100 3101 3102 3103 3104 3105 3106 3107 §
§ 9 § 108 3109 3110 3111 3112 3113 3114 3115 3116 3117 3118 3119 §
§ 10 § 120 3121 3122 3123 3124 3125 3126 3127 3 3 3 3 §
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APPENDIX B - Instrument Patch Map
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Block 0-7 PIANO Block 8-15 CHROM PERCUSSION
0 Acoustic Grand Piano 8 Celesta
1 Bright Acoustic Piano 9 Glockenspiel
2 Electric Grand Piano 10 Music Box
3 Honky-tonk Piano 11 Vibraphone
4 Rhodes Paino 12 Marimba
5 Chorused Piano 13 Xylophone
6 Harpsichord 14 Tubular-bell
7 Clavinet 15 Dulcimer
Block 16-23 ORGAN Block 24-31 GUITAR
16 Hammond Organ 24 Acoustic Guitar (nylon)
17 Percussive Organ 25 Acoustic Guitar (steel)
18 Rock Organ 26 Electric Guitar (jazz)
19 Church Organ 27 Electric Guitar (clean)
20 Reed Organ 28 Electric Guitar (muted)
21 Accordion 29 Overdriven Guitar
22 Harmonica 30 Distortion Guitar
23 Tango Accordion 31 Guitar Harmonics
Block 32-39 BASS Block 40-47 STRINGS
32 Acoustic Bass 40 Violin
33 Electric Bass (finger) 41 Viola
34 Electric Bass (pick) 42 Cello
35 Fretless Bass 43 Contrabass
36 Slap Bass 1 44 Tremolo Strings
37 Slap Bass 2 45 Pizzicato Strings
38 Synth Bass 1 46 Orchestral Harp
39 Synth Bass 2 47 Timpani
Block 48-55 ENSEMBLE Block 56-63 BRASS
48 String Ensemble 1 56 Trumpet
49 String Ensemble 2 57 Trombone
50 Synth Strings 1 58 Tuba
51 Synth Strings 2 59 Muted Trumpet
52 Choir Aahs 60 French Horn
53 Voice Oohs 61 Brass Section
54 Synth Voice 62 Synth Brass 1
55 Orchestra Hit 63 Synth Bass 2
Block 64-71 REED Block 72-79 PIPE
64 Soprano Sax 72 Piccolo
65 Alto Sax 73 Flute
66 Tenor Sax 74 Recorder
67 Baritone Sax 75 Pan Flute
68 Oboe 76 Bottle Blow
69 English Horn 77 Shakuhachi
70 Bassoon 78 Whistle
71 Clarinet 79 Ocarina
Block 80-87 SYNTH LEAD Block 88-95 SYNTH PAD
80 Lead 1 (square) 88 Pad 1 (new age)
81 Lead 2 (sawtooth) 89 Pad 2 (warm)
82 Lead 3 (calliope) 90 Pad 3 (polysynth)
83 Lead 4 (chiffer) 91 Pad 4 (choir)
84 Lead 5 (charang) 92 Pad 5 (bowed glass)
85 Lead 6 (voice) 93 Pad 6 (metal)
86 Lead 7 (5th sawtooth) 94 Pad 7 (halo)
87 Lead 8 (bass & lead) 95 Pad 8 (sweep)
Block 96-103 SYNTH EFFECTS Block 104-111 ETHNIC
96 FX 1 (rain) 104 Sitar
97 FX 2 (soundtrack) 105 Banjo
98 FX 3 (crystal) 106 Shamisen
99 FX 4 (atmosphere) 107 Koto
100 FX 5 (brightness) 108 Kalimba
101 FX 6 (goblin) 109 Bag Pipe
102 FX 7 (echo drops) 110 Fiddle
103 FX 8 (star-theme) 111 Shanai
Block 112-119 PERCUSSIVE Block 120-127 SOUND EFFECTS
112 Tinkle Bell 120 Guitar Fret Noise
113 Agogo 121 Breath Noise
114 Steel Drums 122 Seashore
115 Woodblock 123 Bird Tweet
116 Taiko Drum 124 Telephone Ring
117 Melodic Tom 125 Helicopter
118 Synth Drum 126 Applause
119 Reverse Cymbal 127 Gun Shot
APPENDIX C - Percussion Key Map
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In channel #15, the note number does not affect the pitch but
the instrument type. The default pitch for percussions is 60 (C-5).
Note Instrument Note Instrument
35 Acoustic Bass Drum 59 Ride Cymbal 2
36 Bass Drum 60 High Bongo
37 Slide Stick 61 Low Bango
38 Acoustic Snare 62 Mute High Conga
39 Hand Clap 63 Open High Conga
40 Electric Snare 64 Low Conga
41 Low Floor Tom 65 High Timbale
42 Closed High-Hat 66 Low Timbale
43 High Floor Tom 67 High Agogo
44 Pedal High Hat 68 Low Agogo
45 Low Tom 69 Cabasa
46 Open High Hat 70 Maracas
47 Low-Mid Tom 71 Short Whistle
48 High-Mid Tom 72 Long Whistle
49 Crash Cymbal 1 73 Short Guiro
50 High Tom 74 Long Guiro
51 Ride Cymbal 1 75 Claves
52 Chinses Cymbal 76 High Wood Block
53 Ride Bell 77 Low Wood Block
54 Tambourine 78 Mute Cuica
55 Splash Cymbal 79 Open Cuica
56 Cowbell 80 Mute Triangle
57 Crash Cymbal 2 81 Open Triangle
58 Vibraslap