Internet-Draft T. Kosonen
draft-kosonen-sp-midi-mediatype-00.txt Nokia
Obsoletes: none T. White
Expires: 5 May 2006 MMA
4 November 2005
Registration of media type audio/sp-midi
Status of this Memo
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Abstract
The MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA) and the Association of Music
Electronics industry (AMEI) have produced the Scalable Polyphony MIDI
(SP-MIDI) standard [n1]. SP-MIDI has been approved for 3GPP
standardization and a dedicated SP-MIDI profile has been defined for
3GPP SP-MIDI devices [n2]. Since MIDI information is a very compact
media type, 3GPP is initially focusing on the application of SP-MIDI
for music downloading and messaging applications that require MIME
registration.
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1. Introduction
MIDI content is commonly used in the Internet. However, such use is
based on informal ad hoc MIME type definitions that have not been
registered by IETF. The present MIME type registration is harmonized
with the typical Internet usage of unregistered audio/midi and
audio/x-midi MIME types. Commonly, MIDI information is stored in the
Standard MIDI File (SMF) format [n3]. The present MIME type
registration also uses the SMF format for the encapsulation of SP-
MIDI data. Whereas previous MIDI specifications have been based on
common minimum requirements for all playback devices supporting the
same specification, SP-MIDI is able to support a wider range of
playback devices because playback adaptations can be encoded in the
MIDI content. Due to this difference, a separate MIME type,
audio/sp-midi needs to be registered to distinguish SP-MIDI content.
2. Registration of audio/sp-midi
Type name: audio
Subtype name: sp-midi
Required parameters: none
Optional parameters: none
Encoding considerations:
sp-midi data is binary data and must be encoded for non-binary
transport; Base64 is suitable for Email.
Security considerations:
Many synthetic audio compositions have associated intellectual
property rights. It is conceivable that the rights owners of sp-
midi content will want to protect their rights by applying
security mechanisms that prohibit the rendering of the content
without a legally acquired license to do so. These mechanisms
would be applied externally to the Content-Type defined here; sp-
midi content itself is not encrypted internally. sp-midi streams
do not contain executable content. sp-midi players are robust
against corrupted sp-midi content, because sp-midi players ignore
unidentified content.
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Interoperability considerations:
Scalable Polyphony MIDI (SP-MIDI) is a Musical Instrument Digital
Interface (MIDI) specification developed by MMA and AMEI. SP-MIDI
is based on the MIDI 1.0 specification [n3], which standardizes a
protocol for the electronic transmission of music performance data
suitable for communication between a transmitter and receiver
using MIDI messages. SP-MIDI data is stored in Standard MIDI
Files (SMF) [n3].
The SP-MIDI format [n1] provides a scalable representation of MIDI
content enabling broadly interoperable music applications. SP-
MIDI files have encoded information about playback requirements
allowing SP-MIDI playback devices with different device
capabilities to play the same content according to the composer's
polyphony requirements and Channel priority order definitions.
SP-MIDI player requirements are specified in separate SP-MIDI
profile specifications [n2] defining the supported MIDI messages
and device requirement. All SP-MIDI profiles follow the
definitions of the SP-MIDI specification [n1].
MMA and AMEI have previously defined the General MIDI (GM) system
standards GM1 [i4] GM2 [i5], and GML [i6]. These specifications
are technically related to the SP-MIDI specification, but do not
support polyphony scalability. Due to the differences between GM
and SP-MIDI systems, GM synthesizers do not support all SP-MIDI
content. Likewise, not all SP-MIDI synthesizers support all GM
content. Thus, a separate MIME definition is needed to
distinguish SP-MIDI from the informally used audio/midi content.
Published specification:
Scalable Polyphony MIDI Specification. December 2001, RP-034,
The MIDI Manufacturers Association, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Specification is available from:
http://www.midi.org/about-midi/specshome.shtml
Applications which use this media type:
SP-MIDI is a synthetic audio format for the flexible presentation
of MIDI data on a wide range of playback devices, particularly
portable appliances such as mobile phones, PDAs, and palmtop
computers.
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Additional information:
Magic number(s):
First four bytes (1-4): \115\124\150\144,
byte (24): \360,
byte (26): \177,
bytes (28-29): \013\001
File extension(s): mid
Macintosh File Type Code(s): Midi
Person & email address to contact for further information:
Timo Kosonen
Email: timo.kosonen@nokia.com
Intended usage: COMMON
Restrictions on usage: none
Authors:
Timo Kosonen
Email: timo.Kosonen@nokia.com
Tom White
Email: twhite@midi.org
Change controller:
Tom White
Email: twhite@midi.org
3. Security Considerations
Security considerations are specified in the MIME subtype
registration contained in Section 2.
4. IANA Considerations
Section 2 of this document registers one MIME subtype.
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5. Authors' Addresses
Timo Kosonen
Nokia
P.O. Box 100
33721 Tampere
Finland
Tel: +358 5048 35206
Fax: +358 7180 35899
Email: timo.kosonen@nokia.com
Tom White
MIDI Manufacturers Association
P.O. Box 3173
La Habra CA
90632-3173
Tel (714) 736-9774
Fax (714) 736-9775
Email: twhite@midi.org
6. References
6.1 Normative references:
n1 Scalable Polyphony MIDI Specification. December 2001, RP-034,
The MIDI Manufacturers Association, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
n2 Scalable Polyphony MIDI Device 5-24 Note Profile for 3GPP,
December 2001, RP-035, the MIDI Manufacturers Association, Los
Angeles, CA, USA.
n3 MIDI 1.0 Detailed Specification, Document Version 4.2.
February 1996, In 'The Complete MIDI 1.0 Detailed
specification, Document Version 96.1.' The MIDI Manufacturers
Association, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
6.2 Informative references:
i4 General MIDI System Level 1. 1994, MMA0007/RP003, In 'The
Complete MIDI 1.0 Detailed Specification, Document Version
96.1.' The MIDI Manufacturers Association, Los Angeles, CA,
USA.
i5 General MIDI Level 2 Specification (Recommended Practice).
November 1999, RP-024, The MIDI Manufacturers Association, Los
Angeles, CA, USA.
i6 General MIDI Lite, Specification for GM Lite and Guidelines for
Use In Mobile Applications. October 5, 2001, RP-033, Version
1.0, The MIDI Manufacturers Association, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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7. IPR Disclosure Acknowledgement
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8. Copyright notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005). This document is subject
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