Conference napalm::commusic_v1

    ;^)
    
    Edd

>	Well, I'm opening up my beginner's mouth for my foot, but I have a
>question.  And DON'T TELL ME TO DIR/WHATEVER!  Note 6xx says a little tidbit
>about the Fairlight CMI Series III, and from what I gather it's either a 

Might I ask why you started a new topic on this if you already found a topic
dedicated to the subject?

/Mitch

< Note 1638.2 by HPSRAD::NORCROSS >

>Might I ask why you started a new topic on this if you already found a topic
>dedicated to the subject?

>/Mitch

	Well, from the comments in that note it doesn't seem like they were
too dedicated.

--mike--

	C'mon, someone has to know something about this beast?  Is everyone
ignoring me?  WHAT IS FAIRLIGHT?

--mike--

While I admit to knowing 0 details about the beast, I'm pretty sure it is
a high end synth/sampler/sequencer/sound processor (music workstation).

/Mitch

    The earlier Fairlights (Series I and II) had a MicroVAX inside them;
    they were A/D-->DSP-->RAM-->D/A mostly but the MicroVAX could
    (and usually did) diddle with the values in RAM.  One of the early
    Fairlight tricks was to connect the A/D input transducer(s) to 
    something like a crystal goblet, and then excite the goblet with
    feedback from a nearby speaker.  Can you imagine Hendrix playing
    a goblet in feedback? :-)
    
    The Series III machines are based on the 68020 CPU.  They still
    do about the same thing- sample, mung, store, replay; but the users
    are moving more toward better munging and less toward sampling.    
    
    -----
    
    And it does have a sequencer in it (as well as some pretty good
    software to sync to SMPTE and compress/expand/slide tempo to fit
    a score _exactly_ to a movie scene that's exactly N seconds long,
    etc.)                    
    
    Enough?
        -Bill

--mike--

Herbie Hancock uses a Fairlight. It is a high end MIDI workstation with lots
of processing power, memory, storage, terminal, etc.

dave

    Everybody that has (or had) the money uses (or at least used) a
    Fairlight.  Thomas Dolby uses one almost exclusively.  It is a high-end
    audio workstation commonly found in large studios.  Good for soundtrack
    work.
    
    They are designed by some Australian, and their main competition
    are the Kurzweil 250 and the Synclavier.

    Peter Gabriel can be seen occasionally lurking with a large,
    heavy-looking, two-manual job with a vt100 on top. Makes all the
    odd noises that loiter menacingly in the background on "So".
    Many people play fairlight on the record, and Yam on T.V. (except
    Pet Shop Boys, who seem to do it the other way round). They cost
    a fortune, and are often the major asset of a studio that's going
    out of business.
    
    Richard.

    Can anyone out there give me some info on the old Series IIx.
    
    There seems to be a number of these flooding on to the second 
    hand market at around 3500 - 4500 pounds. Are these machines
    still a viable proposition, compared with the Emulator III's
    etc in that price bracket. I know some of the limitations, e.g.
    size, limiting sampling quality and simple sequencer (by todays
    standards), but a little voice in the back of my head still says
    "Buy one, buy one", purely for je ne sais whatsit of owning a
    *FAIRLIGHT*
    
    Thanks,
    
    Tony.

    From what I can remember from a Keyboard article, the Fairlight was
    originally designed by an Aussie telephone company as an afterthought. 

    The Series II is still a nice board - have seen them from $4500 - 10K
    here (shape unknown).  There are still many in use in the studio.

    Series III starts at $32K, with a full blown (whatever that means)
    system running somewhere around $97k.  A bit pricey for me, thanks.

-b

    re: .11
    
    The afterthought was adding sampling.  Originally it was just going
    to be a music workstation, and then Kim Ryrie said "hey, we can
    do this sampling thing, why not".  
    
    Thus was born the orchestra hit.
    
    Everything I've heard lately says that the series II is a dog, compared
    to what's out now.  The Page R sequencer is supposed to be the best
    in the business, though; and the series III is supposed to be
    marvelous.
    
    I'll take a Synclavier.
    
    Ashley

    I'd go the other way around; I'd prefer the Fairlight over the
    SinkYerBeer.  At least the older hardware of both (I haven't touched
    one of either that's less than 7 years old).
    
    Go take a long play and a long listen, and decide if you like it!
    
    	-Bill

    Everybody knows how Fairlight got its name?
    
    Seems Kim and his cofounders were somewhere harborish one afternoon
    consuming business planning fluid when this super neat yacht goes
    by, with the name Fairlight.  "What a neat name for a company" and
    the rest is history.
    
    The instrument itself is called the CMI, for "Computer Musical
    Instrument".
    
    len.
    

    > Business planning fluid...
    
    All right!!! A deduction!!!
    
    Edd