The hydrofoil named
"Fairlight"
The hydrofoil that used to pass the offices where the
Fairlight CMI was originally developed. Circa 1975.
A special thank you to
David who wrote the original text below and provided the
images. His original text about the Fairlight CMI and Mellotron can be found on
his WEB site "Candor Chasma"
by clicking
here
In
1976, Fairlight created a
first prototype, that included the concept and the architecture of
Furse's M8. This prototype, which was simply called Qasar,
was a complicated and bulky machine, with a poor sound quality.
Ryrie and Vogel's initial aim was to create a totally digital
synthesizer, that would be able to generate sounds that were very
close to acoustic instruments, and with a total control over the
different sound parameters - exactly like a musician's control over
his instrument's sound. It was a kind of acoustic modelisation
before its time. Disappointed as they were by the poor sound quality
and the lack of variety of the Qasar's sounds, they had the idea of
recording natural sounds digitally, in order to get richer and more
complex sounds. The idea of sampling was born. Ironically, for Vogel
and Ryrie, the sampling technique that would give birth to a
revolution of music and sound creation in the '80s, was only, at
that time, a very limited alternative to their original concept.
Indeed, although the sampled sounds were richer than simple digital
waveforms, they couldn't be controlled as easily as those waveforms.
Only a few parameters (attack, sustain, vibrato and decay) could be
modified. According to Vogel and Ryrie themselves, the sampling
technique was only a roundabout way to get richer sounds out of
their instrument :
"We wanted to digitally create sounds that
were very similar to acoustic musical instruments, and that had the
same amount of control as a player of an acoustic instrument has
over his or her instrument. Sampling gave us the complexity of sound
that we had failed to create digitally, but not the control we were
looking for. We could only control things like the attack, sustain,
vibrato, and decay of a sample, and this was a very, very severe
limitation of the original goal that we had set ourselves. We
regarded using recorded real-life sounds as a compromise - as
cheating - and we didn't feel particularly proud of it." (Kim
Ryrie - Audio Media magazine, January 1996)
However, they decided that
the conception of their machine should now include the sampling
technique. In order to raise funds for this project, Fairlight
produced about 120 office computers for Remington Office Machines.
These computers were based on the bi-processor architecture of the
Qasar.
In
1979, their work resulted
in the creation of the Fairlight
CMI I (CMI for Computer Musical Instrument). Based on the
architecture of the Qasar M8 (two 8-bit 6800 Motorola processors
with 8 voices of polyphony), the CMI I featured a 73 note keyboard,
a central unit with two 8" floppy disk players, an alphanumeric
keyboard, a monochrome monitor, and a lightpen. The operating system
was the QDOS, a variant of the MDOS Motorola system. The CMI I was
the first machine featuring the sampling technique, a graphic
representation of waveforms, additive synthesis, and a sequencer. It
was the first workstation. In spite if the poor sampling quality (8
bits - 24 kHz maximum), the Fairlight was presented as a machine
that was able to perfectly reproduce the sound of real instruments.
It featured a floppy disk with a sound bank that included various
samples of acoustic instruments.
Peter Vogel went looking for
clients and distributors, traveling around the world with a CMI. In
the summer of 1979, he met Peter Gabriel, who was recording his
third album in his studio. Vogel showed a demo of the CMI to
Gabriel, Stephen Paine (a close relation of Gabriel), Hugh Padham
and Steve Lillywhite. Quite impressed by the possibilities of the
machine, Peter Gabriel used the CMI during the whole week of Peter
Vogel's stay. Peter Gabriel eventually bought a CMI, and created
Syco Systems with Stephen Payne. It was the first company to import
and distribute Fairlight In Europe. John-Paul Jones was the second
buyer (he wanted to replace his Mellotron !), followed by Richard
Burgess (Landscape), Kate Bush, Geoff Downes, Trevor Horn, Alan
Parsons, Rick Wright, Thomas Dolby, Stewart Copland, J.J. Jeczalik
(Art of Noise), Mike Oldfield... In the USA, the CMI was successful
too : it was used by Stevie Wonder (first customer), Herbie Hancock,
Jan Hammer, Joni Mitchell... In Austria, Hubert Bognermayr (Eela
Craig), in France, Jean-Michel Jarre, Indochine, Daniel Balavoine,
Louis Chédid... were among the CMI users.
Because of the poor quality of the
CMI's initial sounds, many users created their own samples. Some of them
would later be included in Fairlight's official sound bank.
In
1982, the CMI II, a slightly improved
version of the CMI, was created. The sampling rate turned from 24 to 32 kHz,
still in 8 bits ; but the main innovation was the inclusion of the "R page",
the first sequencer with a graphic representation of the 8 tracks and notes.
It was based on a system of patterns (sets of bars) that you could repeat,
copy, paste... You could also quantify the notes. The R page was a
revolution in the use of sequencers. Some musicians bought a CMI only for
this graphic sequencers. 1982 also saw the release of "Shock The Monkey" by
Peter Gabriel, the first hit single featuring a Fairlight.
In 1983, a major CMI
update appeared : the Fairlight CMI IIx. Several internal
cards were modified. The two 6800 processors were replaced by 6809
processors, and a MIDI/SMPTE interface was added.
In
1985, the Fairlight CMI III was a new step
forward. Although it had the same architecture as the CMI I, the CMI III was
the first 16 bit sampler with a sample rate of 50 kHz max in stereo, or 100
kHz in mono. The polyphony turned from 8 to 16 voices. A hard disk drive was
added. A new operating system (OS 9) was created. The lightpen was replaced
by a graphic tablet. The R page was replaced by a new sequencer, the CAPS
(Composer, Arranger, Performer, Sequencer).
A
few months later, the Voice Tracker (a Pitch-to-Midi
converter for the voice or acoustic instruments) and the CVI
(Computer Video Instrument, a picture and video processing machine), were
released.
In
1987, Fairlight turns to the post-production market with
the MFX ("Music and effects"). Basically, the MFX, which
was also called MFX III, was a CMI III with a new control keyboard that
fitted the new Cue List sequencer.
At the same time, other manufacturers
released cheap priced samplers : Akai with the S612, the S900, and then the
S1000 ; Ensoniq with the Mirage. Sequencers also appeared on computers such
as the Atari ST or the Macintosh. Fairlight was slowly losing its supremacy
in these two sectors (sampling and "graphic" sequencing). Moreover, with
about 50 CMI sold in England, the market was saturated.
Fairlight ESP decided to work
exclusively on the post-production market, with machines such as the
MFX1 (1990), MFX2 (1992),
MFX3 (1994), MFX3plus (1996),
MFX3.48 (2000) or, more recently, the
DREAM
(2003). Up until the MFX3 model, the MFX were always based on the
CMI III system, and still had these functions. It was only from the
MFX3plus that the CMI III compatibility was given up.
Qasar (I) (1970-1971,
digital/analog hybrid synthesizer): (prototype, by Tony Furse (Creative
Strategies, Sydney).)
Qasar II (1972-1973,
duo-phonic digital/analog hybrid synthesizer): (prototype, by Tony Furse
(Creative Strategies, Sydney), supported by Federal government funding from
the Australia Council, The Canberra School of Electronic Music, and
especially Don Banks.)
QASAR M8 (also "M8" or
"Multimode 8", 1975, digital synthesizer, 8 Bit, 8 channels, 4KB shared
sound data RAM): (by Tony Furse (Creative Strategies), wire-wrap STTL
technology, reworked (with PCBs) by Fairlight and released as the Fairlight
QASAR M8 in 1976, direct ancestor of the Fairlight CMI) dual-6800 Main CPU,
2slot/8Bit/16Bit QASAR Bus, combined channel processing (8 channels with 4KB
shared memory), light-pen
CMI (Series I) ("Computer
Musical Instrument", 1979, sampler + additive synthesizer, 8 Bit, 8
channels, 8x separate 16KB waveform RAM, max. 24kHz sampling, pitch by
variable sample clock rate, based upon the QASAR M8 which gave the name
"QASAR" for the control computer part of the CMI): dual-6800 Main CPU
(running QDOS, Q026 + Q032), 2slot/8Bit/16Bit QASAR Bus, 64KB system RAM
(Q096), 512x256 B/W graphics (Q045 + Q025), light-pen interface (Q148), 8
channel boards (with 16KB private waveform RAM, CMI-01), channel master
board (main sample clock, sample in, CMI-02), optional analog interface
board (CMI-07)
CMI Series II (1982, max.
30.2kHz sampling): (Improved CMI Series I) new channel boards (CMI-01-A),
optional MIDI (68B09, CMI-08)
CMI Series IIx (also called
"CMI-09", 1983): (improved Series II with new dual-6809 computer; typically
Q2xx, CMI-2x) new main board (CMI-25), new front panel (Q137), dual-6809
Main CPU (running 6809-QDOS or OS-9/6809 Level 2, Q209 + Q133), 256 KB
system RAM with MMU (Q256), 512x256 B/W graphics + light pen interface
(Q219), optional MIDI (68B09, CMI-08), later optional 68000 general
interface (CMI-28, for MIDI/SMPTE, output board: CMI-29), optional DMA hard
disk interface (Q077)
CMI Series III (1985, 16 Bit,
16 channels standard, max. 14 MB shared waveform RAM, max. 50/100kHz
sampling, pitch by variable sample clock rate): (Basically, the main
computer parts of the Series IIx and the Series III are the same: Q209,
Q133, Q256, QFC9, Q219, Q014, Q137; and even some CMI parts: CMI-28, CMI-07.
The waveform processing with shared waveform memory is a new design: CMI-3x,
CMI-3xx, software Rev6 and below) dual-6809 Main CPU (running OS-9/6809
Level 2, Q209 + Q133), 2slot/8Bit/16Bit QASAR Bus, system RAM with paging
hardware (2xQ256/1xQ356: 512KB/1MB), 512x256 B/W graphics (Q219, light-pen
interface not used: graphics pen integrated into Preh Alpha-keyboard),
general interface (68000 CPU,CMI-28, for MIDI/SMPTE, output boards: CMI-332,
CMI-333), SCSI board (Q777), waveform processor (68000 CPU, CMI-33),
8slot/16Bit/23Bit waveform Bus (14MB waveform address space), waveform RAM
boards (2MB, CMI-39, 7 slots for max. 14MB), channel support board (CMI-32),
8x channel cards (2 channels per card: clock + address generators, 6 DACs
for CVs (for VCFs/VCAs on analog board), 68B09 control CPU, later optional
alternating looping, CMI-31), 8x analog output boards (2 audio channels per
card, VCFs/VCAs/Main DACs, CMI-331), sample input board (2 channels,
CMI-337)
MFX sound design console (also
"MFX III" (not to be confused with MFX3), MFX="Music and Effects", 1987,
audio post-production option) (special control keyboard for CMI Series III,
for use with Cue List timecode sequencer and DTM (later: MDR) harddisk
recording software) MFX keyboard "generation 0" (68000 master CPU, 6809
slave CPU for trigger keys, built-in: Alpha-keyboard, trigger-keys,
mode/transport-keys, jogger-wheel, character LCD-display, mouse-port)
Waveform Supervisor, etc. (1988, max.
32MB waveform RAM) (upgrades for CMI Series III; typically CMI-4x, CMI-34x,
software Rev7) waveform supervisor (replaces waveform processor CMI-33,
68020+68881+68450 CPU+FPU+DMA, on-board NCR5380 SCSI controller, CMI-41),
8slot/16Bit/24Bit waveform Bus (32MB waveform address space), new waveform
RAM board (4MB, CMI-40, 7 slots for max. 28MB), new sample input module
(digital + analog, CMI-346+347)
XDR ("Extended Disk Recorder",
1989, now Fairlight ESP): (upgrade package for Series III, software Rev8
with dynamic channel allocation, preliminary 8(16)-track version of MDR
harddisk recording software; typically ESP-xxx) waveform supervisor (see
above, CMI-41), new waveform RAM board (8MB, CMI-43D, now 32MB possible with
7 slots), 24(12) channel output router (arbitrary dynamic mapping/mixing of
the 16 channel outputs to 24(12) extra outputs, ESP-RT1), new 2-channel
analog + digital sample input + digital output module (56001 24-Bit DSP,
sample-rate conversion, ESP-348+349)
MFX1 (also called "MFX" or "MFX.DR",
1990, hard disk recording system/sampler) (CMI Series III XDR and new MFX
keyboard, 2/24 channels in/out with 16 simultaneous and 8 tracks sustained
output, software Rev9, full CMI functionality, MDR hard disk recording
software, support for 2-channel digital audio output) new "Mini-Floppy"
controller (for PC-type floppy drives), color graphics controller card
(ESP-CG1, and new monitor), MFX keyboard (generation 1)
MFX2 (1992) (improved MFX1,
2/24 channels in/out with 16 tracks sustained output, software Rev10 and
Rev11, full CMI functionality) 8slot/16Bit/25Bit waveform bus (64MB
waveform+extension address space), TurboSCSI card (NCR53C94 SCSI controller,
higher SCSI transfer rate for 16 tracks simultaneous and sustained output,
contains CMI-32 functionality, ESP-TS1), improved graphics card
(ESP-CG2/CG3), optional waveform accelerator card (96002 32-Bit DSP,
multiple banks of SRAM and WRAM, ESP-96K), MFX keyboard (generation 1)
MFX3 (1994, digital audio
workstation/hard disk recording system, not to be confused with "MFX III"
console) (24 channels analog+digital 16-Bit in/out, software Rev12 and
Rev13, CMI functionality still supported in Rev12) QASAR CPU (Q256, Q133,
Q209), 2slot/8Bit/16Bit QASAR Bus, Waveform Supervisor (CMI-41 or CMI-41R
w/o CMI sample input), 8slot/16Bit/25Bit waveform bus, SMPTE/MIDI (CMI-28),
color graphics (ESP-CG3), TurboSCSI card (ESP-TS1 or ESP-TSR w/o CMI-32
functionality), digital channel cards (ADSP-21020 SHARC 32/40-Bit floating
point DSP, multiple banks of SRAM and WRAM, 4 channels audio I/O per card,
ESP-DCC), 8Bit timesliced bus, digital audio I/O cards (4 channels per card,
68HC11 control CPU, ESP-DIO), optional analog audio I/O (ESP-AIO, daughter
board for ESP-DIO), SYNC card (68030+68882 CPU+FPU, AES/EBU I/O, ESP-SYN),
Digital MFX Synchronization I/O (front-end to SYNC, ESP-MIDI + ESP-PLL +
ESP-9PIN + ESP-LTC), optional CMI channel + WRAM cards, MFX keyboard
(generation 1)
MFX3plus (1996)
(improved MFX3, revised MFX keyboard, 24 channels analog+digital 16...24-Bit
in/out, no CMI functionality anymore, software Rev14) Wave Executive (68040
control CPU, running OS-9/68K, PCI-Bus interface, ESP-WX and ESP-RIO
frontend, replacing: QASAR CPU + CMI-28 + CMI-41) with new color graphics
(ESP-CG4, replacing ESP-CG3), PCI bus interface (PCI interface, 56002 DSP as
PCI-to-waveform-bus DMA bridge, ESP-PCI), optional TurboSCSI controller
(ESP-TSR), optional PCI SCSI controller, optional PCI 100MBit/s Ethernet
controller, MFX keyboard (generation 2)
MFX3.48 (2000) (improved
MFX3plus, 48 channels analog+digital 24-Bit @48-96kHz in/out, software
Rev15) QDC channel cards (8x ADSP-21061 SHARC 32/40-Bit floating point DSP,
128MB private waveform RAM, 24 channels audio I/O per card, max. 8 QDCs in
system), MFX keyboard (generation 2
CC-1 (2006) Crystal-Core technology takes over
from DSP's. 1 x Altera FPGA now takes over what a fully loaded QDC used to
do (64 x DSP's). System now runs on Windows XP. Nothing from the original
QDC used except I/O cards if you use the SX-48.
