Fairlight CMI

Fairlight CMI series II – exhibited at NAMM Show 2011

The Fairlight CMI ('computer musical instrument') is a digital sampling synthesizer. It was designed in 1979 by the founders of Fairlight, Peter Vogel and Kim Ryrie, and based on a dual-6800 microprocessor computer designed by Tony Furse in Sydney, Australia. It rose to prominence in the early 1980s and competed in the market with the Synclavier from New England Digital.

History

Point Piper, New South Wales

Fairlight CMI

The Fairlight CMI was a development of an earlier synthesizer called the Qasar M8, an attempt to create sound by modelling all of the parameters of a waveform in real time. Unfortunately, this was beyond the available processing power of the day, and the results were disappointing. In an attempt to make something of it, Vogel and Ryrie decided to see what it would do with a naturally recorded sound wave as a starting point. To their surprise the effect was remarkable, and the digital sampler was born. In casting about for a name, Ryrie and Vogel settled upon Fairlight, the name of a hydrofoil (named in turn after a suburb of Sydney) that sped each day past Ryrie's grandmother's large house in Point Piper, underneath which Ryrie had a workroom.

By 1979, the Fairlight CMI Series I was being demonstrated in Australia, the UK and the US. In the US, the latter country covered by Bruce Springsteen's concert sound engineer Bruce Jackson, once Ryrie's neighbour in Point Piper.

At this time the sound quality was not quite up to professional standards, having only 24 kHz sampling, and it was not until the Series II of 1982 that this was rectified. In 1983 MIDI was added with the Series IIx, and in 1985 support for full CD quality sampling (16 bit/44.1 kHz) was available with the Series III.

"Page R" and lightpen on Fairlight CMI II

One of the Fairlight's most significant features was the so-called "Page R" software, a real time graphical pattern sequencer, introduced on CMI Series II. This feature was often a key part of the buying decision of artists, and widely copied on other software synths since.

The Fairlight ran its own operating system known as QDOS (a modified version of the Motorola MDOS operating system) and had a menu-driven GUI. The basic system used a number of Motorola 6800 processors, with separate cards dealing with specific parts of the system, such as the display drive and the keyboard interface. The main device for interacting with the machine apart from the keyboard was a light pen, which could be used to select options presented on a monochrome CRT display.

Fairlight Series III (1985)

The Series III model dropped the light pen interface (the light pen cable apparently was one of the most fragile hardware elements in the system) in favour of a graphics tablet interface which was built into the keyboard. This model was built around Motorola 68000 and Motorola 6809 processors, running Microware's OS-9 Level II operating system (6809 version).

The Fairlight CMI was very well built, assembled by hand with expensive components and consequently it was highly priced (around £20,000 for a Series I). Although later models, adjusting for inflation, were getting comparatively less expensive as the relevant technology was getting cheaper, competitors with similar performance and lower prices started to multiply. For some years the CMI was sought after by those who could afford one, but competition made life increasingly difficult for the company. Fairlight managed to survive until the mid-1980s, relying more and more heavily on its revered name and its products' cult status for sales.

Fairlight went bankrupt a few years later due to the expense of building the instruments – A$20,000 in components per unit. As a last-ditch attempt to salvage some revenue, the final run of machines were marketed as word processors. Peter Vogel said in 2005, "We were reliant on sales to pay the wages and it was a horrendously expensive business ... Our sales were good right up to the last minute, but we just could not finance the expansion and the R&D."

Ryrie subsequently set up Fairlight ESP ('electric sound and picture'), a company which sold the Fairlight MFX range of post-production audiovisual workstations. These were initially based on the CMI III, although later versions were entirely independent developments.

In August 2009, Peter Vogel launched a new company, first called Fairlight Instruments but renamed Peter Vogel Instruments in 2012, with the objective of developing a 'retro' CMI-30A (30th Anniversary). This system is supposed to have the look and feel of the 1979 CMI but will use the latest 'Crystal Core media engine' developed by Fairlight.au. Production is to be limited to 100 instruments.

In 2011, Fairlight also released a CMI app for the Apple iPad and Apple iPhone. The app includes the complete CMI sound library and an accurate translation of the CMI's renowned Page R sequencer. It is also available in a cut-down version.

Adoption

A Fairlight CMI keyboard, featuring signatures from 43 celebrity musicians, composers and producers.

The first buyers of the new system were Peter Gabriel, Richard James Burgess of Landscape (who demonstrated it to many British musicians and on BBC TV's Tomorrow's World), Iva Davies of Icehouse, Thomas Dolby, Kate Bush, In the US, Jackson demonstrated the Series I sampler for a year before selling units to Herbie Hancock and Stevie Wonder in 1980 for US$27,500 each. Meat-packing heir Geordie Hormel bought two for use at The Village Recorder in Los Angeles. Other early adopters included Todd Rundgren, Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran, producer Rhett Lawrence and Ned Liben of EBN-OZN. The first commercially released album to incorporate it was Kate Bush's Never for Ever (1980), programmed by Richard James Burgess and John L. Walters. Wonder took his Fairlight out on tour in 1980 in support of the album Stevie Wonder's Journey Through "The Secret Life of Plants" to replace the Computer Music Melodian sampler he had used on the recording. Geoff Downes of Yes conspicuously used a CMI with monitor on the band's 1980 tour to support the album Drama.The first classical album using the CMI was produced by Folkways Records in 1980 with composers Barton McLean and Priscilla McLean. Titled "Computer Music from the Outside In," it was adopted extensively in electronic music courses worldwide. Jean Michel Jarre used a Fairlight on Magnetic Fields (1981) and also made extensive use of it on his The Concerts in China (1982) and Zoolook (1984) albums. The 1982 movie Liquid Sky featured a soundtrack entirely performed on the Fairlight CMI.

Peter Gabriel's "Shock the Monkey" and its parent album Peter Gabriel (1982) also featured the CMI. In 1981, Austrian musicians Hubert Bognermayr and Harald Zuschrader started composing a whole symphony Erdenklang – Computerakustische Klangsinfonie. This work premiered live on stage, using five music computers, during the Ars Electronica festival in Linz , and was released on LP in 1982.

EBN-OZN's "AEIOU Sometimes Y" was the first American single recorded entirely on a Fairlight in 1981, released in 1983 by Elektra Records and Arista Records in London. The first American album recorded entirely via Fairlight was Feeling Cavalier by EBN-OZN (1984).

Producer Tony Mansfield used the instrument heavily on the B-52's album "Bouncing Off The Satellites". Whilst the band initially disliked the Fairlight, it ended up becoming useful. Guitarist Ricky Wilson died during the making of the album, and so the Fairlight was used to make up for the lack of guitar parts on the album.

Jan Hammer used the CMI to compose the original soundtrack of the 1980s TV drama Miami Vice.

The British new wave band The Art of Noise and producer Trevor Horn used the instrument extensively. In the mid-90's, Art Of Noise member JJ Jeczalik would release a sample CD titled The Art of Sampling, which featured all of the unique CMI samples they had used throughout their career.

Influence

The success of the Fairlight CMI caused other firms to introduce sampling. New England Digital modified their Synclavier digital synth to perform sampling, while E-mu introduced a less costly sampling keyboard, the Emulator, in 1981.

In the United States, a new sampler company called Ensoniq introduced the Ensoniq Mirage in 1985, at a price that made sampling affordable to the average musician for the first time. Though the Mirage was essentially a poor man's sampler with significantly inferior hardware specs, at less than $2000 it was nevertheless sufficiently powered (8-bit microprocessor) to signal the beginning of the end of the CMI. In addition to these low-cost dedicated systems, very cheap add-in cards for popular home computers started to appear at this time, for example the Apple II-based Greengate DS3 sampler card.

In America, Joan Gand of Gand Music and Sound in Northfield, Illinois was the top salesperson for Fairlight. The Gand organisation sold CMIs to Prince, James "J.Y." Young of Styx, John Lowry of Petra, Derek St. Holmes of the Ted Nugent band, Al Jourgensen of Ministry, and many private studio owners and rock personalities. Spokesperson Jan Hammer appeared at several Gand-sponsored Musictech pro audio events, to perform the "Miami Vice Theme", as well as Keith Emerson, Stanley Jordan, Allan Holdsworth, Todd Rundgren, Jeff Baxter, Terry Fryer, Pat Leonard (Michael Jackson), engineers Roger Nichols (Steely Dan), Bob Clearmountain (David Bowie), Al Schmidt (Frank Sinatra, Diana Krall) and Cubby Colby (Phil Collins). A lawsuit was won by the Gands against Fairlight in California, for unpaid sales commission on the last Series IIx to be sold. It was never settled as Fairlight went bankrupt within days of the judgment and is still outstanding.

Perhaps in response to the pervasiveness of the Fairlight during the early 1980s, the credits of Phil Collins' No Jacket Required stated "There is no Fairlight on this Record."

Features timeline

Series comparison

Models		Year	Price	Notable new features	Voice#		Synthesis	Software	I/O
Qasar I, II, M8	1975 ~1977	$20,000 base price	Dynamic harmonic control Waveform editing No sampler		?	Dynamic harmonic control (128 harmonics additive) Waveform editing	?
CMI Series I	1979	~£18,000	Sampler (8 bit, 8 voice, monaural) Lightpen		8	Sampling: 8bit @ 16 kHz Dynamic harmonic control Waveform editing/drawing	Basic keyboard sequencer Musical Composition Language (MCL)
CMI Series II	1980	~£25,000	"Page R" (Rev.10–)		8	Sampling: 8bit @ 2.1–30.2 kHz Dynamic harmonic control (32 harmonics additive) Waveform generating/drawing	"Page R" Realtime Composer Basic keyboard sequencer MCL	CV/Gate interface (optional)
CMI Series IIx	1983	~£27,000	MIDI and SMPTE interface FFT (Rev.12–)		8	Sampling: 8bit @ 2.1–30.2 kHz FFT (additive resynthesis) Waveform editing/drawing	"Page R" Realtime Composer Basic keyboard sequencer MCL	MIDI and SMPTE interface
CMI Series III	1985	£50,000	16 voices (expandable), 16bit sampling CAPS sequencer, maximum 80 tracks Graphics tablet (instead of lightpen)		16	Sampling: 16bit @ 100 kHz(mono) or 50 kHz(stereo) FFT (additive resynthesis) Waveform editing/drawing	CAPS (Composer, Arranger, Performer Sequencer), 80 tracks MCL	MIDI and SMPTE interface
CMI Series 30A	2009/ 2011	~£20,000	Reissued using Crystal Core Sound Engine Sampling rate: 44.1, 48, 96, 192 kHz		?	?	?	Analog: 2in / 12+2out Digital: SPDIF, 64ch BNC MADI, Wordclock Timecode: MIDI, LTC MIDI, USB
Fairlight Pro App	2011	£29.99	Running on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch (iOS 4.0 or later) Sampling (ver.1.1–)		?	Sample player with: entire IIx library (564 voices) selected III sounds (over 100) User sampling (ver.1.1–)	"Page R" Realtime Comporser "Page D" Display waveform in 3D graphics	MIDI input via external interface Import/export CMI data files

Qasar I, II, and (last) M8 (1975–1977)

Made by Fairlight and Creative Strategies

• Price: $20,000 base price
• CPUs: Dual Motorola 6800
• Storage: Hole paper tape reader
• Memory: 4 kB per voice
• Voices: 8 voices (no sampling, just numeric additive synthesis with 128 harmonics)
• Synthesis: Additive synthesis; dynamic harmonic control, waveform editing

CMI Series I (1979)

Musical sampler was introduced.

• Price: ~£18,000
• CPUs: Dual Motorola 6800
• Storage: Two 8" floppy drives
• Memory: 16 kB per voice, System: 64 kB, Video: 16 kB (512x256 pixels)
• Voices: 8 voices of polyphony
• Synthesis: waveform drawing via lightpen; dynamic harmonic control, waveform editing
• Sampling: 8 bits at 16 kHz (mono)
• Sequencer: Basic keyboard sequencer, Musical Composition Language (MCL),
• Keyboard: 73 note unweighted velocity sensitive + slave keyboard

CMI Series II (1980)

• Price: ~£25,000
• CPUs: Dual Motorola 6800
• Storage: Two 8" floppy drives
• Memory: 16 kB per voice, System: 64 kB, Video: 16 kB (512x256 pixels)
• Voices: 8 voices of polyphony
• Synthesis: dynamic harmonic control (Page 4); waveform generating (Page 5); waveform drawing via lightpen (Page 6)
• Sampling: 8 bits at 2100 Hz to 30.2 kHz (mono) (Page 8)
• Sequencer: Basic keyboard sequencer (Page 9), Musical Composition Language (MCL, Page C), Realtime Composer (Page R)
• Keyboard: 73 note unweighted velocity sensitive + slave keyboard
• I/O: No MIDI, optional CV/Gate interface (Page A)

CMI Series IIx (1983)

• Price: ~£27,000
• CPUs: Dual Motorola 6809
• Storage: Two 8" floppy drives
• Memory: 16 kB per voice, System: 256 kB, Video: 16 kB (512x256 pixels)
• Voices: 8 voices of polyphony
• Synthesis: waveform drawing via lightpen; dynamic harmonic control, waveform editing
• Sampling: 8 bits at 2100 Hz to 30.2 kHz (mono) (Page 8)
• Sequencer: Page R, Basic keyboard sequencer, Musical Composition Language (MCL)
• Keyboard: 73 note unweighted velocity sensitive + slave keyboard
• I/O: MIDI, SMPTE

CMI Series III (1985)

• Price: £50,000
• CPUs: Dual Motorola 6809 CPUs, and one 6809 CPU for each voice card, one Motorola 68000 (to 68020) for waveform processor card
• Storage: Hard drive and Tape DC600 Streamer (ESDI, SCSI), one 8" floppy drive
• Memory: 14 MB, expandable to 32 MB and maximum 64 MB on last hard revision (RAM RAM disk), System: 356 kB
• Voices: 16 voices of polyphony (expandable)
• Synthesis: waveform drawing via graphics tablet; FFT; waveform editing
• Sampling: 16 bits at 100 kHz (mono) or 50 kHz (stereo)
• Sequencer: CAPS (Composer, Arranger, Performer Sequencer), 80 track polyphonic, Musical Composition Language (MCL),
• Keyboard: 73 note unweighted velocity sensitive (MIDI compatible)
• I/O: MIDI, SMPTE

CMI Series 30A (30th Anniversary) (announced in 2009, released in 2011)

• ~$20,000
• Retro look and feel of the original CMI
• Sound architecture based on the new Crystal Core

CMI-30A Hardware Specifications

System Components

• Mainframe — free-standing and adaptable to rack mount, includes 500GB SATA hard drive, DVD R/W drive, USB ports.
          (Welded aluminium enclosure. Width:58 cm, Depth:50 cm, Height:30 cm, Weight:32 kg)
• Monitor — 17" 1280 x 1024 pixels
          (Width:51 cm, Depth:28 cm, Height:38 cm, Weight:12 kg)
• Lightpen — Precision machined stainless steel pointer with left/right click button
• QWERTY keyboard — 85 clicky keys, USB output
• Music keyboard — Fatar 76 key TP40GH, with weighted keys and hammer action for a real piano feel,
  velocity and aftertouch, pitch wheel, mod wheel, 3 assignable rotary controls, 2 assignable switches, assignable multitouch colour screen
          (Width:130 cm, Depth:44 cm, Height:9.5 cm, Weight:25 kg)

Audio Outputs

• 12 channels analogue, balanced TRS
• 2 channels analogue monitor mix, balanced TRS (front panel access)
    (Dynamic range > 100 dB (unweighted); THD < 0.002% @ 1 kHz, −1dBFS; Frequency response +0.05 / −0.15 dB, 20 Hz – 20 kHz)
• Digital output: 64 channel BNC MADI

Audio Inputs

• 2 balanced mic/line inputs XLR, phantom power 48V option
    (Sample rate: 44.1, 48, 96, 192 kHz; THD < 0.002% @ 1 kHz, −1dBFS; Frequency response +0.05 / −0.15 dB, 20 Hz – 20 kHz)
• SPDIF

Other I/O

• USB, Pedal x 3
• MIDI and MIDI Timecode input and output via 5 pin DIN
• LTC (Linear Time Code) input and output
• Word clock (for synchronisation to external sources)

Power

• 100–240V AC — Mainframe & Keyboard: 9W, Monitor: 50W

Fairlight Pro App for iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad, iOS 4.0 or later. (2011)

• £29.99
• Entire original Fairlight CMI IIX Sound Library containing 564 voices.
• 100+ selected CMI III sounds – play the CMI voices from an external MIDI input or the on-screen keyboard.
• Display voices graphically using ‘Page D’, and change your viewpoint by tilting the iPhone/iPad.
• Authentic Fairlight CMI user interface.
• 8 track composition using ‘Page R’ pattern-based sequencer.
• Ability to create instrument sets that store settings for all 8 channels, including the voices, pitch shifts, volumes, release times etc.
• Import/export voices, compositions, MIDI and instruments.
• Audiobus Audio Routing Support (ability to combine in tandem with other running sound processing/recording apps)

Sound clips

Note: These sound clips require an Ogg Vorbis player. Click here for a list of downloadable players.

• A sequenced, multi-sound song played on the Fairlight CMI. Composer: Greg Holmes
• You're the Voice — the unmistakable "clack-clack" sound etc. is a chief sound of the Fairlight CMI, as used in this John Farnham song.
• A Touch of Paradise — This John Farnham song makes extensive use of the Fairlight CMI for background atmosphere and lead parts
• Fairlight IIL demonstration by Kendall Wrightson at Syco Systems, from a BBC MicroLive documentary.

Artists who used the Fairlight CMI

4

Devo used the CMI extensively on their 1984 album, Shout, but only occasionally after that (mostly being used by frontman Mark Mothersbaugh's music composing company, Mutato Muzika). It also appears as a prop in their home video release, We're All Devo, where it is used by Timothy Leary's character.

Jan Hammer's music video for the Miami Vice theme song features a CMI. It also makes an appearance being operated by Nick Rhodes in Duran Duran's video "The Reflex". Al Di Meola's Sequencer video has many shots of the Fairlight CMI and its software. You can see Fairlight CMI (series II presumably) in the music video "Etude" by Mike Oldfield (track from the album The Killing Fields, can be seen on the Elements DVD). It can also be seen in the Queen documentary "Magic Years" and on the back cover of Mecano's live album.

Herbie Hancock made an appearance on Sesame Street in the early 1980s demonstrating the Fairlight.

Jean Michel Jarre's 1983 album Zoolook and the single of the same name features the Fairlight's extremely famous Sararr lead throughout the song, predominately in the chorus and with the sampled voices.

David Hirschfelder made extensive use of the Fairlight CMI while recording with John Farnham for the 1986 album Whispering Jack.

Hans Zimmer used the CMI III to make the soundtrack for the oscar-winning 1988 film, Rain Man.

External links

• Fairlight Main Site
• Fairlight App for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad
• Fairlight Instruments
• Fairlight CMI II restauration(sic) report, technical photos, test programs, PC interface, sound examples etc.
• Candor Chasma : Information about Fairlight CMI and other vintage keyboards
• More history, technical info and links
• Greg Holmes' Fairlight CMI page
• Norm Leete's Sound on Sound article
• Technical and historical infos: CMI hardware + software (site by K.M.I.)
• Herbie Hancock plays a CMI on Sesame Street
• Virtual Music Synthesizer Service – various manuals, service hints etc