Does anyone know of some Mac software that can take a MIDI file with, say, 8 instruments and break them into their individual parts?

I used to do this all the time in Sonar, but I can't find a way to do it in Live or anything else for that matter....

There are several shareware tools, like MidiKit, you can use but most times it a matter of deleting all tracks except one and save it into a new midi file and repeat this rocess for each track. I have not yet found a midi tool to have it done fast, easy and automated.

The good news is this is a standard feature in Apple's Logic Pro.

Regards
Rob

ps.
You mentioned Live.
What version are you using as in Live 8.1 you actualy can do this.
Select the midi clip and select File > export Midi Clip

Regards
Rob

I know Digital Performer has a feature where you "split midi notes to individual tracks". That's how I do it. Not sure if that's the feature you're looking for.

Voice and/or Choke groups is your answer.

Choose the first cell (hi-hat), then while holding "command", select the other cell you want included. Then go to the "Setup" tab in the Edit pane, select a Voice group from the drop down, and set the Max Voices to 1.

That should do it.

This post has been edited by tonester: Sun 14 Feb 2010, 14:38

if what you're talking about are Standard MIDI files you've found on the web, and your frustration is stemming from lack of individual control over the separate instrument parts, i.e. Bass, Keys, Guitar, Strings...
you can drag and drop a SMF directly Garageband. GB will populate a new set of individual tracks, with correct instrument assignments, volumes, etc.
it's a great study tool, and much better than just playing the file from quicktime.
good luck, cheers.

A curiosity seems to be that, when you import a midi file into GarageBand, the bass part is always an octave too low and has to be reset. Can anyone explain why that is?

god, i thought that was just me... i'd always marked it down to the map of the bass samples in garageband vs. the quicktime standard, though why that should be i've never known. it's a pain in the neck, though, isn't it?