Exporting to MIDI and MusicXML
A song can be exported in MIDI format (Export -> Audio MIDI). The resulting MIDI file will be a rendition of the song as you would have heard it if you pressed play – the same number of repeats, the same tempo, the same key, the same style…
The MIDI file can be opened in your favorite audio editing software like for example Logic or Garageband. From there you can for example choose snippets of tracks to edit and add to your own MIDI compositions.
If you simply play the MIDI track in Garageband as shown here, you'll notice that it doesn't sound very good. This is because Garageband automatically maps some default instruments to each track and you'll need to do some tweaking to get things to sound better. We have done a lot of work to create a custom sound bank in iReal Pro to make the MIDI files to sound as good as possible so depending on the style of the song, you will not always be able to make things sound better using your own sounds.
Note in particular, that there are some limitations when mapping the drum sounds to standard MIDI drum sets. For our sound bank we wanted a lot a variety for the drum set sounds and needed the flexibility to be able to play many different styles, so we had to stray from the MIDI conventions when mapping drum sounds and you might need to move some notes around in the editor to get things to sound right. A simpler solution would be to add a GarageBand or Logic drum loop to iReal Pro's bass and drum Midi tracks.
You can also open the MIDI file in your preferred music software notation (For example Sibelius, Finale, or the free MuseScore).
This is a great way to find out exactly what notes are played in an iReal Pro backing track by getting a detailed transcription of all the parts. If you are a piano, guitar or bass player this is a great way learn some chords and bass lines. To make things even easier to read we can add the chord symbols to the MIDI tracks. To do this, export the same song in iReal Pro to MusicXML format (Export -> Chord Chart -> MusicXML) and then open it in the same notation software (Sibelius shown). In the example below I then copied the MusicXML chords (right) onto the drum track so I could see the piano chords and bass line in addition to the chord symbols.
Exporting a song from iReal Pro to MusicXML format can also be useful in many other situations. You might be working on a solo transcription and by creating an empty notation chart from the MusicXML exported file, you'll have the perfect canvas complete with chord symbols that will be very useful to analyze the transcription. You might be making a lead sheet of a standard for the band in a key different than the original and by transposing the song in iReal Pro and then exporting it to MusicXML you'll only have to add the melody in your notation software.