Fix messy MIDI imports in Guitar Pro

MIDI represents note-on and note-off timing, pitch, velocity, channels, and other performance data. It does not describe how a guitarist fretted a pitch, and it cannot carry every Guitar Pro articulation, layout choice, or notation intention. Slightly early or late performance events can become dotted notes, ties, and tiny rests when forced onto a score grid.

Play the original MIDI in a second application and confirm that tempo changes, time signatures, track starts, and note lengths are really present. If the source omits a meter map or contains overlapping notes, Guitar Pro cannot reliably infer the intended engraving.

Keep the original and create a working MIDI copy. In a sequencer, remove long accidental lead-in silence, trim events that extend beyond their intended notes, and decide whether split channels represent separate parts. Name tracks and keep drum data distinct from pitched instruments where possible.

Do not destructively quantise an expressive source without listening. Make a short test export containing a representative verse, tempo change, and drum passage. A one-minute sample reveals import settings much faster than repeatedly processing a full arrangement.

Choose the coarsest grid that can express the smallest intentional subdivision. Straight eighth-note music rarely benefits from a sixty-fourth-note grid, because every performance variation can become visible clutter. For swing, tuplets, grace-like attacks, or deliberately loose timing, test a short passage before committing.

Guitar Pro release notes show that MIDI quantisation and import behaviour have received fixes over time, so use the current build before diagnosing a persistent problem. No single setting repairs a source with missing meter information or ambiguous overlapping voices.

Check the first sounding beat, pickup bar, tempo, time signatures, total bars, and alignment across tracks. Fixing a meter late can move every later event relative to the bar lines. Compare important downbeats and section starts across the whole arrangement before cleaning rests.

Then work track by track. Consolidate obviously fragmented durations, remove false ties, and make rests communicate genuine silence. Keep a reference playback nearby. A visually tidy rhythm is wrong if it shifts an entrance or erases intended syncopation.

Assign the correct track instrument, tuning, and range before adjusting tablature. The same pitch can appear on several strings, so Guitar Pro must choose a position without knowing the original fingering. Community questions about correct pitches appearing on the wrong string reflect this data limitation, not necessarily a wrong MIDI note.

Move notes to playable strings, check chords and position shifts, and add bends, slides, palm muting, harmonics, and pick directions from the recording or a trusted reference. Finish with a slow playback pass and a real-instrument playability check.