SOMETHING I'M THANKFUL FOR: FAIRLIGHT

DORK OUT DEAD AHEAD

For ZinBin's first ever Thanksgiving post, I'd like to take a moment to say how thankful I am for the Fairlight CMI, a pioneering effort in polyphonic digital sampling. For those of you who don't know, long long ago computers had little to nothing to do with commercial music. Funny idea, right? The CMI helped change all that. By making high quality digital sampling available to musicians, the Fairlight CMI and its competitors actually changed what people defined as music. And it still sounds great.


Enough from me, let's hear what Bob Moog has/had to say.


And the company itself. Check out the list of Fairlight users at 1:44 to see what I mean about this instrument being so broadly influential. This video also briefly discusses the Voicetracker and the Fairlight CVI. More on the CVI later.

IN THE NEWS




TESTIMONIALS

Peter Gabriel


Herbie Hancock


And check out the ridiculousness that resulted from a classically trained musician getting his hands on one of these things.


Fairlight also spent considerable effort towards creating a digital video effects device. What ultimately resulted was the Fairlight CVI.


Here's another only slightly cloying promo tape.


Inevitable BBC coverage.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW

Fairlight Instruments currently has a 30 year anniversary revival planned for 2010. You can express your interest in obtaining one here. They are taking feedback from fans and potential users regarding the final specs on their forum . This is super exciting! I can't wait to see how this this new beast turns out.

Good job, Australia! Good job, Peter Vogel! Keep up the good work. And a happy Thanksgiving to you all.

all photos copyright Fairlight Instruments