Sir Mustapha's MIDI Corner
Welcome to
Sir Mustapha's MIDI Corner!

Last update: October 17, 2004

Hello! My name is Fernie Canto, and this is my website with my own original songs, all written in MIDI format. If you've been here before, you might notice a slight difference in the layout of this page. That's because I noticed the previous layout was very unpleasant and weird, and kind of redone it. So now, aside from a "non-Times New Roman" font (yes, NOW it's non-Times New Roman, as you can see) and a mild colour scheme, I'll let you know better when the site's updated, and what's new. So, on to the business.

You can find here my two original albums, Musics For Highways and The Binary Sounds Of Nature, a couple of other avulse songs, and my new project for an album, too. However, please notice that the files are here only for domestic use. Before even thinking of doing something else with those files, PLEASE contact me. Ohterwise, enjoy!

UPDATE

Well, the previous page had a terrible HTML mistake that went unnoticed by me, and rendered part of the page almost unreadable. But it's fixed now! Besides, there is a new song there. Scroll down a little, and you shall find it.

Visit Sir Mustapha's Hall Of Music, which contains my albums recorded as MP3's for free download!

Also visit my grand Album Reviews Page! Nifty, huh?


MUSICS FOR HIGHWAYS (October 2001)

This is what I consider my first real album. I could dare say that this is a concept album, since the album was done to create a feel of being travelling on a highway (hence the name), and it flows like the passage of a day. The centrepieces on this album are, basically, the playful Blue And Gray, the raw guitar rocker Passing Time, and the ballads A Landscape In Red and Somewhat Late. Nothing here is very much complex (except, maybe, Lone Rider), and the album counts on some short vignettes to create the athmosphere (A Landscape In Black and the closer Tranquility Again), but the whole album works together to create this travelling feel. It's an album that I like very much myself, and I consider my first musical breakthrough. By the way, the plural "musics" on the title is intentional, even though it seems not to be very correct in the English vocabulary...

Don't forget that you can also download the whole album, lovingly recorded, produced and mixed by Yours Truly, in MP3 format right here, for free.


RAGING YELLOW SUN - Opening the album, this track symbolises the rising sun on the highway. It's a quite basic guitar rocker that orbits four chords only. This one, in fact, started as a little joke at the opening riff of Oasis' "Some Might Say", but it evolved a bit...

BLUE AND GRAY - A playful opening bass riff leads to this quite nice song with a good chorus and one of my finest guitar solos. In the middle, appears some drum/solo jamming and a heavier, quicker section just to mess things up. The title summons the gray of the road and the blue of the sky.

TRANQUILITY, AT LAST - The opening string chords leads to this slow, keyboard laden ballad, with a little tone up in the end and a piano finale.

PASSING TIME - This song, as interesting as it might seem, was made after its respective reprise (which you can see below), around the same 2 chords and the same melody. But it has an intense instrumental break on the middle and on the end.

LONE RIDER - This is the result of setting up a 7/8 time signature and laying a bass/guitar line over it. The drums came right next, then the guitar melody, the chorus, the jams, everything, resulting in this 2 minute rocker. It's made after an older and crappier song idea I had. It has quite a "driving" feel.

A LANDSCAPE IN RED - A quite dumb idea that resulted in a fine guitar line, that originated this personal favourite of mine, and basically started the entire album idea. The slow-building intro leads to a chorus and a 7/4, descending chord progression segment with fine piano touches. The guitar line kicks in again, leading to a powerful closing and one of my best piano passages ever. This one closes the side A of the album with the sun touching the horizon.

PASSING TIME (reprise) - One of my few experiences with acoustic guitar consisted of repeating the same two easy chords (A and Em) over and over, and when I got home, I made this short, acoustic piece. Later on, the full band version came.

WARM BREEZE - Another song with that "driving" feel, this song came out from the simple chord progression with the sparse bass line over it. The drummy intro slow-builds until the whole band joins in into this U2esque rhythm, leading the song to the grand finale. It's a piece I like very much myself.

SOMEWHAT LATE - Probably my favourite song here, this one was an idea I had walking on the street - the guitar part, with the strong keyboard backup, leading to the beautiful melody on the chorus. The sax jams kick in, making this 6 minute ballad a beautiful piece representing the passage from the afternoon to the night.

SILVERY LIGHT - I needed a piece to symbolise the night on the highway, so this piece came. It could have been a 2 1/2 minute dark rocker, but I couldn't resist doing a little mess on the middle, reprising the main theme later on.

A LANDSCAPE IN BLACK - This piece merely connects Silvery Light with the next song, but it creates a nice buildup with the dark and lonely piano line and the rising keyboard chords.

THROTTLE - The urgent piano line and some jamming with the right hand start this track, that leads to a fast-pasced, raw guitar rocker with some guitar solo. It emulates the feel of a lot of cars racing through the highway at night - much more redeeming than the previous two tracks.

TRANQUILITY AGAIN - And so, the trip comes to an end with this little reprise of Tranquility, At Last. A much lighter and simpler version, symbolising the sunrise of the other day.


THE BINARY SOUNDS OF NATURE (October 2002)

My latest album, this one leans much more over Progressive rock than Highways. It contains my biggest track ever (Down In The Valley), a three part piece (The Spirit Of The Tree), and a rework of an older epic (Water). Several tracks here have a meaning, and like the title suggests, they have this running theme of nature and landscapes. It represents another musical advance to me, but I still don't know if it's better or worse than Highways. Another thing is that, in the original CD version I made, the tracks are enhanced with neat sound effects, when Musics For Highways didn't use a single SFX. For instance, PPOOLK has a message in Morse code all through it. So, the MIDI version isn't as complete as the CD version, but is still enoyable.

Don't forget that you can also download the whole album, lovingly recorded, produced and mixed by Yours Truly, in MP3 format right here, for free.


DOWN IN THE VALLEY - The centrepiece of the album. This 23 minute, ultra pretentions song was created based on a simple guitar line I discovered one day. With time, the other themes and riffs were developed, and the song was born. It had a very slow development on the start, but it was completed very quickly.

PPOOLK - The idea was to write a little letter for a certain someone, translate it into Morse code and lay a backing track on it. And when I had the whole letter finished, I opened the window to save it and just randomly hit the keyboard to write the name, and what appeared was "ppoolk", so I kept it as the song title. What you hear here is the backing track of the song.

THE SPIRIT OF THE TREE part 1 - The last part of the suite to have its concept created, but the first one to be executed. I almost lost this MID file due to computer problems, so I subtitled it The Victory Anthem. It, in fact, has a kinda victorious feel, with the flute melody on the chorus.

THE SPIRIT OF THE TREE part 2 - The opening riff starts this fast paced rocker off, and in the middle, comes in a slower, acoustic guitar line, giving a little taste of part 3. Later on, a guitar solo comes in.

WATER - A slightly reworked version of one of my first and best songs ever. It features my best piano part in any song I ever made, delivering a beautiful melody and a memorable chorus. The song slow-builds and evolves into a fast-paced guitar rocker, but morphs back into the main theme, that leads into the grand finale. If you don't like this new version, don't panic. The old version is still here, if you want. In my mind, though, there's no reason to prefer the older version to this one.

THE SPIRIT OF THE TREE part 3 - This riff started the whole suite, and starts this part off. The flute melody drives the song towards a nice guitar/bass jam in the middle. Probably the nicest of the three parts, and my personal favourite.

ROLLOVER - The album could have perfectly ended with TSOTT pt 3, but I had this nice track on the stock, and thought "hey, it fits in here, why not to add it?" So, this rocker made its way into the album. It has one of my finest melodies and probably my best guitar solo over the frantic guitar backing.

ZERO HOUR - The piano that closes Rollover begins this dark piece with a keyboard background and a light melody, that is only redeemed by the guitar that fades out at the end. It closes the album for good.


CONCERTO SCHIZOPHRENIA I: "WINGS"

You might be asking yourself what the hell is this supposed to be. Let me explain you. In a very distant kingdom - also known as the GFC (The Groening Fanworks Central) - there is a group of freaks dedicated to writing fanfiction to the comedy series The Simpsons, drawings and other similar works. In a certain moment, one of the site admins came up with an idea for a new, revolutionary, and completely freaky piece of fanfiction. Unfortunately, he was unable to continue it, and abandoned the partially written story. But since the idea was way too good to be dumped, it was transformed into a Round Robin: That is, a story that is written by many people, each one having his turn to write as much as he wants and add to the story. One day, one of the members of the community named Fernie Canto (aka Sir Mustapha, *ahem*) decided to start a project of transforming the Round Robin into music. The story itself was never finished, but my music project has resulted in a 39-minute "suite", entitled Concerto Schizophrenia I: "Wings". The unifinished story is available HERE, and you can find the MP3 files for the "suite" on the GFC, too, on the "Music" section (and tell me what other Fanfiction website has a Music section?). And here, you have some of the songs in MIDI format. Perhaps, but only perhaps, I will continue writing songs for the story. Someday.

The "Wings" Round Robin is being written by Steven Scott, Jenniffer Howe, Christina Nordlander, Rich Wilson, D.B. and me. The music is written by me, and is dedicated to all the people at the SFWC.

This suite represents a challenge I proposed to myself of featuring more than, er, 8 different instruments. So far, the count is Acoustic guitar, Electric guitar, Bass, Drums, Keyboards, Flute, Sax, Harp, Glockenspiel, Oboe, Bassoon, Violin, Cello, plus Tubular Bells. Quite an advancement from the, um, "minimalism" of The Binary Sounds Of Nature, eh? :-)

SOMEDAY - This song starts off the suite. A gentle, melancholic ballad orbiting a nice piano melody.

THE HOBGOBLIN - A funny, more or less theatrical song inspired by a scene on the story telling a brutal clash of cultures: a rich, evil businessman and a clueless redneck. The song has it all: bassoons, guitars, drums, strings, and of course, tubular bells.

A RIDE - A three part song, that begins as the second part to Someday, but soon transforms itself into a tense slow rocker, and furthermore, into a chaotic mess of mindless chord progressions, random time signatures and a saxophonist trying to solo over it. King Crimsonesque self-indulgence? Or unashamed self-parody? You decide. You'll certainly know which part of the story this song represents.

NOT A GOOD DAY - A slow, charming ballad that reuses the same melodies from Someday and A Ride for, *ahem*, conceptual reasons. I tried to pick "bubbly" instruments to make that song, so I hope you know what part of the song this is.

"JUST A FEATHER." - More King Crimsonesque chaos, but this one is *real* chaos. The instruments go wild all over the place, BUT, there IS a storyline to all that mess. Remember, this is a *conceptual* suite, huh? And since this is the best way I can represent a nightmare sequence... well...

LONG PATH TO COLLAPSE - Another multipart song a la A Ride, and that also plays a key role in the development of the story. It begins with a serious, dramatic sounding ballad, and it melts into... another faux-Prog Rock saxophone jam? Nope, not anymore. You'll see when you listen to it.

GLOOM IN G# MAJOR - A very melancholic and slow ballad created around a beautiful piano line. The piece represents Lisa in a very depressed state, something that's not... um, very rare to see.

WATCHING - The continuation to Gloom, a very short piece that uses the same melodies from Gloom (again, for conceptual reasons: This is Lisa's gloom by the point-of-view of very curious eyes).

THE REUNION - A cool rock song (in the good ol' Fernie Canto tradition), with a neat melody and a cool guitar solo. This was a great opportunity for me to go crazy with those drum fills.

WET FEATHERS - A lovely scene written by Rich Wilson inspired me to do this piece. It's a simple, short, but very beautiful song (and it's not only me who's saying this), and I happen to like it very much. The melody came almost all at once, at a very inspired moment, and the synth arpeggios and complex chord progressions make this song something very special to me. Definitely one of the best songs in the project so far, that unforunately didn't make it into the "suite". It's a kind of an "outtake" right now.


OTHER SONGS


TETRALOGY (Added October 17, 2004) - The first song completed for my upcoming album, this one was based on an interesting concent: it's a musical palindrome. So, if you have means to play this MIDI backwards, you should hear exactly the same. There are five instruments: electric piano, bass, flute, harp and guitar, and a percussion track. The arrangement of the song is pretty much atonal and clockwork, or like one of my friends described, "a construction / traffic jam set to music". In the finished recording, most of the instruments were recorded with Reason, and the percussion is made with househeld objects.

THEME FOR DULCIANA - Let me explain, a friend of mine asked me to write some songs for a project she's working on, having one song as a theme for each character of hers. This one was the first one I did, with a fiddle playing the main role supported by a flute, in a rhythm that faintly reminds me of Alternate World, but far better, if you understand me.

THEME FOR JO - Another song for another character: a vampyre, this time. She told me that Wreck was the perfect song for him, so I did a rework of that song, with electric guitars and a far more complete arrangement that beats the hell out of the older rework of that same song, first used in Musics For Highways.

THEME FOR HOWIE - And alas, the third and last (so far) song for the project, which she dubbed one of the best things I've ever done (and more people, too). And indeed, I like very much the way it turned out. So much, in fact, that it spawned a whole 75-minute album entitled Concerto Schizophrenia II: "Buses", that you can download from my MP3 website for free.

THE GIANT - Also from Electronic Rock. This one's based on a concept of using reversed cymbals with snare drums to form the percussion. Mixed with a scorching guitar solo and, a playful melody and Reggaeish stacatto guitar chords, it forms the base of this cool song, that's to be reworked in a near future.

WRECK - This one is just an 1 minute drum/bass passage, very simple but effective. Also from Electronic Rock. I dunno why, but I've received a good amount of very positive comments on this song. I definitely won't waste this bass line.

WRECK (new version) - This song used to be on Musics For Highways, in place of A Landscape In Black, but I found it very out-of-place there. It has the same bass line from Wreck, but featuring a full band, and has a bigger ending.

WATER (old version) - Here it is, the first version of Water from Electronic Rock. If you hear the two versions, you can notice the changes, and I prefer the new version. But if you're still fond of the old version, get it here.

BACK IN TIME - My very first original MIDI to make its way into an album. It's also based on a bass line, but has a pan flute melody, some keyboard chops and a cool organ solo. It has a dark setting, and the ending features some good drumming.

A BIT OF DANCE - This one was done as a segment from Back In Time, and has a much happier setting: A great guitar riff, some guitar melody, a nice chorus and a cool keyboard solo in the middle with nice reverb effects. It's also a favourite of mine.

THE CLOUDS - Continuing the Back In Time/A Bit Of Dance medley, I added this nice little song with lots of guitar parts and a brief sax line. It has a good rhythm, and a driving ending.

CLOCKIN' AROUND - Very experimental, this one. It consists of several noises resembling clocks in a perfect 120 bpm rhythm, that leads to a nice rocker with cool guitar solos.

RIDING - A very simple concept, consisting of a keyboard solo, some simple chords and a nice melody, originated this song. It has a nice feel, and makes a good ballad.

MATTER OF FACT - This starts as a nice, little ballad, but it goes a little beyond the simple concept and throws in some nice twists. It ends being a funny experimentation.

ALTERNATE WORLD - Now look at this: I added a glockenspiel, a guitar, an harp, a fiddle, a clarinet, a flute and a tambourine in a 7/4 time signature to create a rocker. Sounds twisted? Well, listen to the song then.

HYPERSPACE - Complete freakout here. A ridiculously fast rhythm filled with synths and guitars make up this 50 second rocker. It created an interesting contrast when put right next to Alternate World on Electronic Rock.

WATER (reprise) - I don't know exactly why I did this, but I did. It's a MUCH simpler and shorter (and worse) version of Water, that's there for some reason.

THE LAST SUNSHINES - A mellow, sarcastically soppy little piano ballad with a lovely flute melody that's thrown in here just as a joke. Still, the song is quite nice.

Untitled - My tribute to the first name every song I ever made had... It has a nice bass line, a cool solo and nice drumming.

COVERS (Adaptations of existing songs)


EXODUS - The famous movie theme in a simple guitar/flute arrangement, also taken from Electronic Rock. Quite beautiful, and has a rain background.

EXODUS (reprise) - The recapitulation of the first Exodus, that closes Electronic Rock (while the other one opened it), without rain, and in a shorter version.

INTO THE HEART - My version of an U2 song from their first album, it consists of the first minutes with Adam's bass line with The Edge's guitar soloing over it. This is a song I like very much, and this version is on Electronic Rock too. Unfortunately, it ends where Bono was supposed to start singing...

LETTERA - This is an Italian song that's originally performed by Laura Pausini, but this MIDI is based on the version of the Brazilian rocker Renato Russo on his solo CD. His version is gorgeous, the melody is great, his guitar playing is perfect and the keyboard comes in marvellously. It's one of the most beautiful songs I've heard in my life, and I was obliged to do this rendition. Check it out.

EPITÁFIO (Epitaph) - This one is a song by a Brazilian rock band. It's also a very beautiful song, with very haunting lyrics, and here goes my rendition.


ELECTRONIC ROCK (June 2001)


*sigh* I didn't want to do this. I REALLY didn't want to do this, but if you're curious about Electronic Rock, here it goes. But be aware that this album doesn't officialy exist anymore. Some of these tracks are lost, but several of these tracks might be used in future albums, like happened with Water. I won't waste the good material that dwells here, but some stuff is garbage, really. So, here it goes, if anyone's interested.

Here goes the songlist:

1. Exodus
2. Quickie Jam
3. The Giant
4. Wreck
5. Water
6. Back On Time
7. A Bit Of Dance
8. The Clouds

9. Clockin' Around
10. Riding
11. Matter Of Fact
12. Alternate World
13. Hyperspace
14. Into The Heart
15. Water (reprise)
16. The Last Sunshines
17. Untitled
18. Exodus (reprise)


MY PALS


These are some interesting sites I found on the Internet, and they were kind enough to publish a link to my site. So, in return, I post here the links for their sites. It's fair, isn't it?
Naturally, you can freely post a link to my site, but be sure to contact me first, and I'll stick a link to your site as well. Just, please, don't link to the files directly. Otherwise, new pals are welcome!

RJB Software

A nice site made by Rian Bury, with his cool series of space arcade games StarGun, a fun random phrase generator program Regnus, and the project for his RPG game Evowok. Check it out! Very fun stuff in there.






The WebTerritory of Fottifoh

The wonderful site of a programmer/artist/whatever he is. Get his jaw-droppingly superb space simulation Noctis, his programming language LINOLEUM, other cool and useful software and many other stuff. A mandatory site for anyone who wants good content on the Internet - like the banner says, it's the WWW like everybody wants it.


To find other sites with MIDI files, visit Standard MIDI Files on the Net,
The Internet MIDI Community's List Of Sites With MIDI Files


Comments? Suggestions? Mail me!