View source for Fairlight CMI

{{Short description|Digital audio workstation}}
{{other uses|Fairlight (disambiguation)}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox synthesizer
| synth_name =  Fairlight CMI
| synth_manufacturer = [[Fairlight (company)|Fairlight]] |
|dates        = 1979–1989, 2011–present
|price        = [[Pound sterling|£]] 15,000<!-- (CMI I) --><ref name="mz2662-fairlight-cmi-review">{{cite magazine|last=Beecher|first=Mike|date=Jun 1981|title=Fairlight CMI Review|pages=56–59|url=http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/fairlight-cmi-review/2662|magazine=Electronics & Music Maker|publisher=Music Maker Publications (UK), Future Publishing.|location=United Kingdom|access-date=2023-06-07}}</ref>–112,000<!-- (maxed out CMI III) --><ref name="mz3401-fairlight-cmi-series-iii">{{cite magazine|title=Fairlight CMI Series III|date=Oct 1987|page=37|url=http://www.muzines.co.uk/ad/3401|magazine= [[Sound on Sound]] |publisher=SOS Publications Ltd.|location=United Kingdom|access-date=2023-06-07}}</ref>
| image = Fairlight green screen.jpg
| image_caption = Fairlight CMI ''Series II''<br />exhibited at [[NAMM Show]] in 2011<ref name=mix2011>{{cite journal
 |title        = Mix Announces Certified Hits of NAMM 2011
 |url          = http://mixonline.com/news/mix_namm_certifiedhits_2401/
 |journal      = Mix
 |issue        = 28 January 2011
 |access-date  = 20 February 2011
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20160810090952/http://www.mixonline.com/news/mix_namm_certifiedhits_2401/
 |archive-date = 10 August 2016
 |url-status   = dead
 |df           = dmy-all
}}</ref>
| polyphony    = 8<!-- (CMI I/II) -->–16 <!-- (CMI III) --> voices
| timbrality   = [[Timbrality|Multitimbral]]
| lfo          = for [[vibrato]]<ref name=G.Holmes/>
| synthesis_type=[[Additive synthesis]]<br />[[Sampler (musical instrument)|Sampling]] ({{nobr|8 bit @ 16 kHz –}} {{nobr|16 bit @ 100 kHz)}},<br />[[waveform]]&nbsp;editing/drawing,<br />[[Additive resynthesis|additive&nbsp;resynthesis]]&nbsp;(FFT<!-- , CMI IIx~ -->)
| oscillator   =
| filter       = [[low-pass filter|low-pass]] for [[anti-aliasing]]<ref name=G.Holmes/>
| attenuator   =
| fx           = <!-- No -->
| memory       =
| keyboard     = 73 keys non-weighted, velocity sensitive.<br />Option: slave keyboard<ref name=G.Holmes>
		{{cite web
		 | last      = Holmes | first = Greg
		 | date      = 2010-09-17
		 | title     = The Holmes Page: The Fairlight CMI
		 | url       = http://www.ghservices.com/gregh/fairligh/
		 | publisher = GH Services
		}}</ref> <!-- velocity     = Yes -->
 <!-- aftertouch   = No -->
| split        = maximum 6 zones<ref name=G.Holmes/>
| left_control = 3 sliders, 2 buttons,<br />numeric keypad (right side)<!-- for loading patch --><ref name=G.Holmes/>
| ext_control  = [[Computer keyboard]]<br />[[Light pen]]<br />[[CV/Gate]] (option, CMI II~)<br />[[MIDI]] • [[SMPTE timecode|SMPTE]] (CMI IIx~)
}}
The '''Fairlight CMI''' (short for '''Computer Musical Instrument''') is a [[digital synthesizer]], [[Sampler (musical instrument)|music sampler]], and [[digital audio workstation]] introduced in 1979 by [[Fairlight (company)|Fairlight]].<ref>{{Citation|last=VCO8|title=Peter Vogel demonstrates the Fairlight CMI 30A|date=2015-10-07|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yldcZ65PmVU |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/yldcZ65PmVU| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|access-date=2017-10-26}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="fus">{{cite web
 | title     = Fairlight History
 | url       = http://www.fairlightus.com/about.html
 | work      = FairlightUS.com
}}
</ref><ref name="pvog">{{cite web
 | title     = The Fairlight Story
 | url       = http://www.anerd.com/fairlight/index.htm
 | work      = anerd.com
 | access-date= 5 April 2016
 | last      = Vogel
 | first     = Peter
}} — with links to some Fairlight history and photos
</ref> It was based on a commercial licence of the Qasar M8 developed by Tony Furse of Creative Strategies in [[Sydney]], Australia. It was one of the earliest electronic music workstations with an embedded sampler and is credited for coining the term [[Sampling (music)|sampling]] in music. It rose to prominence in the early 1980s and competed with the [[Synclavier]] from [[New England Digital]].

==History==
{{Listen|filename=Arpegiator.ogg|title=Jean-Michel Jarre – "Arpegiator"|description=An excerpt from "Arpegiator" (recorded October 1981), highlighting the use of the Fairlight CMI}}

==={{vanchor|Origins}}: 1971–1979===
In the 1970s, [[Kim Ryrie]], then a teenager, had an idea to develop a build-it-yourself [[Analog synthesizer|analogue synthesizer]], the ETI 4600, for the magazine he founded, ''[[Electronics Today International]]'' (ETI). Ryrie was frustrated by the limited number of sounds that the synthesizer could make.<ref name="WholeStory">{{cite journal |url=http://www.anerd.com/fairlight/fairlightstory.htm |title=Fairlight – The Whole Story |journal=Audio Media Magazine |issue=January 1996}}</ref> After his classmate, [[Peter Vogel (computer designer)|Peter Vogel]], graduated from high school and had a brief stint at university in 1975, Ryrie asked Vogel whether he would be interested in making "the world's greatest synthesizer" based on the recently announced [[microprocessor]]. He recalled: "We had long been interested in computers{{snd}} I built my first computer when I was about 12{{snd}} and it was obvious to me that combining digital technology with music synthesis was the way to go."<ref name="pvog" />

In December 1975, Ryrie and Vogel formed a [[home business]] to manufacture [[digital synthesizer]]s.<ref name="WholeStory" /> They named the business Fairlight after the [[Sydney hydrofoils|hydrofoil ferry]] passing before Ryrie's grandmother's home in [[Sydney Harbour]].<ref name="WholeStory" /> The two planned to design a digital synthesizer that could create sounds reminiscent of acoustic instruments ([[physical modelling synthesis]]).<ref name="WholeStory" /> They initially planned to make an [[Analog synthesizer|analogue synthesizer]] that was digitally controlled, as the competing [[Moog synthesizer]] was difficult to control.<ref name="Newsscientist" />

===={{vanchor|QASAR}} series====
* '''QASAR M8''' {{smaller|[Multimode 8]}} (1974/1975) by Tony Furse<ref>{{citation |title=Qasar M8 digital synthesizer (1975-1978), Tony Furse (Creative Strategies, Sydney) |url=https://collection.powerhouse.com.au/object/153203 |id=Object No. 96/382/1 |publisher=[[Powerhouse Museum]] |quote=Production: Designed by Tony Furse. Made by Tony Furse and Creative Strategies, Sydney, Australia. / History: Used by Tony Furse, Kim Ryrie and Peter Vogle as prototype to development of Fairlight CMI.}}</ref>
: After six months, the pair met the [[Motorola]] consultant Tony Furse.<ref name="WholeStory" /> In association with the Canberra School of Electronic Music, Furse built a digital synthesizer using two 8-bit [[Motorola 6800]] microprocessors, and the [[light pen]] and some of the graphics that would later become part of the Fairlight CMI.<ref name="WholeStory" /> However, it was only able to create exact [[harmonic]] partials, sounding sterile and inexpressive.<ref name="WholeStory" /><ref name="Chapman2012p3">{{harvnb|Chapman|2012|p=3}} "Furse's next project was an all-digital synthesiser, which he named the Qasar M8 (Multimode 8) synthesiser. In addition to a keyboard, Furse had developed a graphics display which, with the use of a light pen, allowed the operator to create an instrument or voice using waveforms. After having made a deal with the large American electronics company, Motorola to use their programme development system, Furse was able to develop the MUSEQ 8 sequence playing system. The idea was that the MUSEQ 8 system, when used in conjunction with his M8, could be used by composers of all kinds of music, not just electronic, for the composition and the performance of music. Another major innovation with the M8 synthesiser was Furse's use of two 8-bit Motorola 6800 microprocessors in an unusual parallel configuration which greatly speeded up data input and output. / In late 1974, following the success of Furse's lecture and demonstration of the Qasar M8 in Canberra before an audience from the Canberra School of Music, the Australian National University and the College of Advanced Education, Don Banks, who realised the potential of Furse's invention for the School of Music, requested a similar model be made for the School's electronic music studio. Furse continued to work on the prototype making use of the latest technology by incorporating floppy disk storage using the newly released 8 inch floppy disks The disks worked differently from tape recorded music in that a piece of music could be reorchestrated without altering the data on the disk."</ref>
* '''QASAR M8 CMI''' {{smaller|[Multimode 8 Computer Musical Instrument]}} (1976–1978) by Kim Ryrie and Peter Vogl
: Vogel and Ryrie licensed Furse's design, mainly for its [[processing power]],<ref name="WholeStory" /> and decided to use microprocessor technology instead of analogue synthesis.<ref name="Newsscientist" /> Over the next year, they built what Ryrie called a "research design", the bulky, expensive, and unmarketable eight-voice QASAR M8 CMI synthesizer, which included a 2×2×4-foot processing box and a keyboard.<ref name="WholeStory" /><ref name="Chapman2012p4">{{harvnb|Chapman|2012|p=4}} "From 1976 Furse worked with Fairlight on the project, which included producing circuit boards from the circuit board schematics and reconfiguring the synthesiser's keyboard resulting in the production of a totally redesigned version of the synthesiser which was known initially as the M8 CMI (Multimode 8 Computer Musical Instrument). In early 1979 Tony Furse, with less involvement in the project, signed a licence agreement with Fairlight, allowing them the use of his intellectual property for both the synthesiser and the computer."</ref>

====Sampling====
By 1978, Vogel and Ryrie were making "interesting" but unrealistic sounds. Hoping to learn how to synthesize an instrument by studying the [[Harmonic analysis|harmonics]] of real instruments, Vogel recorded about a second of a piano piece from a radio broadcast. He discovered that by playing the recording back at different pitches, it sounded much more realistic than a synthesized piano sound. He recalled in 2005:

{{blockquote|It sounded remarkably like a piano, a real piano. This had never been done before&nbsp;... By today's standards it was a pretty awful piano sound, but at the time it was a million times more like a piano than anything any synthesizer had churned out. So I rapidly realised that we didn't have to bother with all the synthesis stuff. Just take the sounds, whack them in the memory and away you go.<ref name = "Newsscientist">{{cite web|last=Hamer|first=Mick|date=26 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080708224444/http://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/mg18524921.400|archive-date=8 July 2008|url=https://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/mg18524921.400|title=Interview: Electronic maestros|work=[[New Scientist]]|publisher=[[Reed Business Information]]|access-date=4 April 2016}}</ref>|sign=|source=}}

Vogel and Ryrie coined the term [[Sampling (music)|sampling]] to describe this process.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/lost-art-sampling-part-1|title=The Lost Art of Sampling: Part 1|website=[[Sound on Sound]]|language=en-gb|access-date=12 October 2018}}</ref> With the Fairlight CMI, they could now produce endless sounds, but control was limited to [[Envelope (music)|attack, sustain, decay]] and [[vibrato]]. According to Ryrie, "We regarded using recorded real-life sounds as a compromise{{snd}} as cheating{{snd}} and we didn't feel particularly proud of it."<ref name="WholeStory" /> They continued to work on the design while creating office computers for Remington Office Machines, which Ryrie described as "a horrendous exercise, but we sold 120 of them".<ref name="WholeStory" />

==={{Vanchor|Series I}}: 1979–1982===
[[File:Fairlight.JPG|thumb|Fairlight CMI]]
In addition to the keyboard, processing, computer graphics and interactive pen borrowed from Furse's synthesizer, the pair added a [[QWERTY]] keyboard, and a large 1×1.5×3-foot box stored the sampling, processing and [[Analog-to-digital converter|ADC]]/[[Digital-to-analog converter|DAC]] hardware and the [[Floppy disk#8-inch floppy disk|8-inch floppy disk]].<ref name="WholeStory" /> The biggest problem was largely considered to be the small 16&nbsp;kB sample memory. To accommodate sample lengths from approximately a quarter of a second to an entire second, a low variable [[sample rate]] between 24&nbsp;kHz and 8&nbsp;kHz was used.<ref name="WholeStory" /> The low sample rate introduced [[aliasing]]; however, Vogel felt that the low quality of the sounds gave them their own character.<ref name="ABC2015">{{cite web|last=Leo Brown|first=Simon|date=17 November 2015|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-18/fairlight-cmi-synthesiser-included-in-sounds-of-australia/6950392|title=Fairlight CMI synthesiser, used by stars like Michael Jackson, added to Sounds of Australia registry|publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]|access-date=5 April 2016}}</ref>

The Music Composition Language feature was criticised as being too difficult for empirical users.<ref name="WholeStory" /> Other primitive aspects included its limited amount of RAM (208 kilobytes) and its green-and-black graphics.<ref name="WholeStory" /> Nonetheless, the CMI garnered significant attention from Australian distributors and consumers for being able to emulate sounds of acoustic instruments, as well as for its light pen and three-dimensional sound visualisation. Still, Vogel was unsure whether there would be enough interest in the product.<ref name="WholeStory" /> The CMI's ability to emulate real instruments made some refer to it as an "orchestra-in-a-box", and each unit came with 8-inch, 500-kilobyte floppy disks that each stored 22 samples of orchestral instruments.<ref name="WholeStory" /> The Fairlight CMI also garnered publicity in the science industry, being featured on the [[BBC]] science and technology series ''[[Tomorrow's World]]''. The [[Musicians' Union (United Kingdom)|Musicians' Union]] described it as a "lethal threat" to its members.<ref name="WholeStory" />

In the summer of 1979, Vogel demonstrated the Fairlight CMI at the home of English singer-songwriter [[Peter Gabriel]], where Gabriel was working on his [[Peter Gabriel (1980 album)|third solo studio album]].<ref name="WholeStory" /> Gabriel, as well as many other people in the studio, was instantly engrossed, and he used strange sounds such as breaking glass bottles and bricks on the album.<ref name="WholeStory" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Stump |first=Paul |title=The Music's All that Matters: A History of Progressive Rock |date=1997 |publisher=Quartet Books Limited |isbn=0-7043-8036-6 |page=267}}</ref> One of those present for the demonstration, Stephen Paine, recalled in 1996: "The idea of recording a sound into solid-state memory and having real-time pitch control over it appeared incredibly exciting. Until that time everything that captured sound had been tape-based. The Fairlight CMI was like a much more reliable and versatile digital [[Mellotron]]. Gabriel was completely thrilled, and instantly put the machine to use during the week that Peter Vogel stayed at his house."<ref name="WholeStory" />

Gabriel was also interested in selling the CMI in the United Kingdom, and he and Paine formed Syco Systems to distribute it for £12,000.<ref name="WholeStory" /> The first UK customer was [[Led Zeppelin]] bassist [[John Paul Jones (musician)|John Paul Jones]], followed by musicians including [[Boz Burrell]], [[Kate Bush]], [[Geoff Downes]], [[Trevor Horn]], [[Alan Parsons]], [[Richard Wright (musician)|Richard Wright]] and [[Thomas Dolby]].<ref name="WholeStory" /> The Fairlight CMI was also a commercial success in the United States, used by acts such as [[Stevie Wonder]], [[Herbie Hancock]], [[Jan Hammer]], [[Todd Rundgren]] and [[Joni Mitchell]].<ref name="WholeStory" /> Musicians came to realize that the CMI could not match the expressiveness and control that could be achieved using acoustic instruments, and that sampling was better applied as imaginative sound than pure reproduction.<ref name="WholeStory" /><ref name="billboard1986">{{cite magazine
 | title   = Gabriel looks for live sound in the studio
 | url     = https://books.google.com/books?id=7iQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT19
 | magazine = [[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]
 | issue   = 26 July 1986
 | date    = 1986-07-26}}</ref>

==={{vanchor|Series II}}: 1982–1985===
[[Image:Fairlight CMI-IIx.jpg|thumb|Fairlight CMI ''Series&nbsp;IIx'' (1983)]]
The second version of the Fairlight CMI, Series II, was released at a price of £30,000 in 1982.<ref name="WholeStory" /> The sampler's maximum sample rate was increased to 32&nbsp;kHz, allowing a reduction of aliasing, but only for short samples, as its sample memory was not increased. The [[audio bit depth|bit depth]] of the sampler also remained 8&nbsp;bits.<ref name="WholeStory" /> The CMI's popularity peaked in 1982 following its appearance on a special of the arts magazine series ''[[The South Bank Show]]'' that documented the making of [[Peter Gabriel (1982 album)|Peter Gabriel's fourth self-titled studio album]], where he used 64 kilobytes worth of samples of [[world music]] instruments and sequenced percussion.<ref name="TheRegister">{{cite web|last=Moran|first=Michael|date=29 April 2011|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/04/29/fairlight_synthesiser/|title=Fairlight: The Rolls Royce of synthesizers|work=[[The Register]]|publisher=[[Situation Publishing]]|access-date=5 April 2016}}</ref>

The Fairlight CMI Series II became widely used in popular music recordings of the early to mid-1980s,<ref name="WholeStory" /> and its most commonly used presets included an [[orchestra hit]] ("ORCH&nbsp;5") and a breathy vox ("ARR&nbsp;1").<ref name="TheRegister" />

====Page R====
The popularity of Series II was in large part due to a new feature, Page&nbsp;R, their first true [[music sequencer]].<ref name="WholeStory" /> As a replacement for the complicated Music Composition Language (MCL) used by Series&nbsp;I, Page&nbsp;R helped the Fairlight CMI Series&nbsp;II become a commercial juggernaut. Page&nbsp;R expanded the CMI's audience beyond that of accomplished keyboard players.<ref name="WholeStory" /> ''Audio Media'' magazine described it as an echo of the [[punk rock]] era: "Page&nbsp;R also gave rise to a flow of quasi-socialist sounding ideology, that hailed the impending democratisation of music creation, making it available to the musically chops-challenged."<ref name="WholeStory" /> Graphically depicting editable notes horizontally from left to right, the [[Programming (music)|music programming]] profession and the concepts of [[Quantization (music)|quantization]] and cycling patterns of bars where instrument channels could be added or removed were also born out of the Page&nbsp;R sequencer.<ref name="WholeStory" /> CMI user Roger Bolton recalled: "By definition, its sampling limitations and the Page&nbsp;R sequencer forced the composer to make high-quality decisions out of necessity. The CMI&nbsp;II was a high-level composition tool that not only shaped the sound of the 80s, but the way that music was actually written."<ref name="MusicTech" /> Fairlight kept making updates to the system, such as a 1983 upgrade called the CMI Series&nbsp;IIx, which now allowed for [[MIDI]], until the release of Series&nbsp;III in 1985.<ref name="WholeStory" />

==={{vanchor|Series III}}: 1985–1989===
[[Image:Fairlight CMI III (1985).jpg|thumb|Fairlight CMI ''Series&nbsp;III'' (1985)]]
The sampler of the Series III featured many improvements on its predecessors. It was capable of 16-bit sampling, with a maximum sample rate of 44.1&nbsp;kHz, across 16 channels. This was enabled by the increase in sample memory from 16&nbsp;kB per channel to 14&nbsp;MB across all channels, an increase by a factor of 56, even when all channels are in use.<ref name="WholeStory" /> Its design, graphics, and editing tools were also improved, such as the addition of a tablet next to the QWERTY keys, using a stylus instead of the on-screen lightpen;<ref name="WholeStory" /> this change was made due to complaints from users regarding arm aches from having to hold the pen on the screen.<ref name="MusicTech">{{cite web|last=Willox|first=Mike|date=28 May 2014|url=http://www.musictech.net/2014/05/studio-icons-fairlight-cmi/|title=Studio Icons: Fairlight CMI Series|work=Music Tech|publisher=[[Anthem Publishing]]|access-date=6 April 2016|archive-date=30 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181130123350/https://www.musictech.net/2014/05/studio-icons-fairlight-cmi/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

====CAPS====
An enhanced version of the Page R sequencer called Composer, Arranger, Performer, Sequencer, or CAPS, as well as Eventsync, a post-production utility based on [[SMPTE timecode]] linking, were also added to the Series&nbsp;III computer.<ref name="WholeStory" /> However, while many people were still using CMIs, sales were starting to diminish significantly due to much lower-cost, MIDI-based sequencers and samplers including the [[Atari&nbsp;ST]] and [[Akai]]'s S612, [[Akai S900|S900]] and [[Akai S1000|1000]] samplers appearing on the market.<ref name="WholeStory" /> Paine stopped selling the CMI in the United Kingdom because of this.<ref name="WholeStory" /> The Fairlight company was becoming more focused on post-production products, a market Paine had a hard time getting used to, and when HHB Communications Ltd took over distribution for the United Kingdom, they failed to sell any.<ref name="WholeStory" />

==Adoption==
[[Peter Gabriel]] was the first owner of a Fairlight Series I in the UK. [[Boz Burrell]] of [[Bad Company]] purchased the second, which [[Hans Zimmer]] hired for many recordings during the early part of his career.<ref>
{{cite journal
 | last      = Dawson | first = Giles
 | title     = Machines alive with the sound of music
 | journal   = [[New Scientist]]
 | date      = 4 August 1983 | page  = 333
 | url       = https://books.google.com/books?id=F8EuToKH45QC&pg=PA335
}}</ref> In the US, [[Bruce Jackson (audio engineer)|Bruce 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.<ref name="Stewart AT40">
{{cite journal
 | last      = Stewart | first = Andy
 | title     = Name Behind the Name: Bruce Jackson – Apogee, Jands, Lake Technology
 | journal   = Audio Technology
 | issue     = 40
}}</ref> Meat-packing heir [[Geordie Hormel]] bought two for use at [[The Village (studio)|The Village Recorder]] in Los Angeles.<ref name="Stewart AT40" /> Other early adopters included [[Todd Rundgren]], [[Nick Rhodes]] of [[Duran Duran]], producer [[Rhett Lawrence]] and Ned Liben of [[Ebn Ozn]],<ref name="WholeStory" /> the owner of Sundragon Recording Studios who served as the demonstration representative for Fairlight for the U.S. east of the Mississippi.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

The first commercially released studio album to incorporate the Fairlight was [[Kate Bush]]'s ''[[Never for Ever]]'' (September 1980), programmed by [[Richard James Burgess]] and [[John L. Walters]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-08-07 |title=About Fairlight CMI {{!}} Artrocker |url=http://www.artrocker.com/rrpedia/Fairlight_CMI |access-date=2023-06-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807024201/http://www.artrocker.com/rrpedia/Fairlight_CMI |archive-date=7 August 2011 }}</ref>
Wonder took his Fairlight out on tour in 1980 in support of the soundtrack album ''[[Stevie Wonder's Journey Through "The Secret Life of Plants"]]'' to replace the [[Computer Music Melodian]] sampler he had used on the recording.<ref name="Stewart AT40" /> [[Geoff Downes]] used the Fairlight on [[Yes (band)|Yes]]' 1980 studio album ''[[Drama (Yes album)|Drama]]'' and its subsequent tour. Downes later used the Fairlight on [[the Buggles]]' 1981 studio album ''[[Adventures in Modern Recording]]'', and both in the studio and live with [[Asia (band)|Asia]]. [[Mike Oldfield]] used the Fairlight CMI extensively on side one of his 1983 studio album ''[[Crises (album)|Crises]]''.
The first classical album using the CMI was produced by [[Folkways Records]] in 1980 with composers [[Barton McLean]] and [[Priscilla McLean]].<ref name="FolkMcLean">
{{cite book | last = Olmsted | first = Tony | title = Folkways Records: Moses Asch and Folkways Records | year = 2003 | publisher = Routledge | location = New York, N.Y. | isbn = 978-1-56098-812-0 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/makingpeoplesmus00gold }}</ref>

[[Peter Gabriel (1982 album)|Peter Gabriel's 1982 studio album]] also featured the CMI. In 1981, Austrian musicians [[Hubert Bognermayr]] and Harald Zuschrader composed a symphony, ''Erdenklang – Computerakustische Klangsinfonie''.<ref name="Erdenklang">
{{cite web
 |title=About us
 |url=http://www.erdenklang.de/about-us.html
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080421003649/http://www.erdenklang.de/about-us.html
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-date=2008-04-21
 |publisher=Erdenklang Musikverlag
}}</ref> This work premiered live on stage, using five music computers, during the [[Ars Electronica]] festival in Linz.<ref>{{cite web
 | author1   = Hubert Bognermayr
 | author2   = Harald Zuschrader
 | title     = Erdenklang - Computer-Acoustic Dance Theatre
 | url       = http://www.aec.at/en/archives/festival_archive/festival_catalogs/festival_artikel.asp?iProjectID=9388
 | work      = Ars Electronica 1982<!-- , Ars Electronica Archive -->
 | publisher = [[Ars Electronica]] (aec.at)
 | archive-url=

https://web.archive.org/web/20060128135724/http://www.aec.at/en/archives/festival_archive/festival_catalogs/festival_artikel.asp?iProjectID=9388
 | archive-date = 2006-01-28
}} (see also [http://90.146.8.18/en/archives/festival_archive/festival_catalogs/festival_artikel.asp?iProjectID=9388 other archive] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130708155443/http://90.146.8.18/en/archives/festival_archive/festival_catalogs/festival_artikel.asp?iProjectID=9388 |date=8 July 2013 }})</ref> In 1984, he released an album by the singer and songwriter Claudia Robot. (Phonogram) Her studio album ''Alarmsignal'' consisted of songs written by the female vocalist, with tracks produced by the Fairlight CMI.

The first commercially released single in the US made with a computer, a Fairlight CMI, was [[Ebn Ozn]]'s "AEIOU Sometimes Y" ([[Elektra Records|Elektra]] 1983) - actually recorded in 1981-1982,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.artrocker.com/rrpedia/Fairlight_CMI | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807024201/http://www.artrocker.com/rrpedia/Fairlight_CMI | archive-date=7 August 2011 | title=About Fairlight CMI {{pipe}} Artrocker }}</ref> along with their studio album "Feeling Cavalier" ([[Elektra Records]] 1984).

[[Devo]]'s 1984 studio album ''[[Shout (Devo album)|Shout]]'' heavily featured the Fairlight CMI at the expense of analog instruments. [[Gerald Casale]] later stated that ''Shout'' was the biggest regret of his career, "because the Fairlight [synthesizer] just kind of took over everything on that record. I mean, I loved the songwriting and the ideas, but the Fairlight kind of really determined the sound."<ref name="Billboard">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1055867/the-billboardcom-qa-devo|title=The Billboard.com Q&A: Devo|magazine=Billboard|access-date=22 March 2021}}</ref> Frontman [[Mark Mothersbaugh]] later used the CMI in the soundtrack of the 1991 children's television show ''[[Rugrats]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Klickstein |first1=Mathew |title=Mark Mothersbaugh on Rugrats |url=https://www.vulture.com/2012/03/mark-mothersbaugh-on-rugrats.html |access-date=22 November 2022 |work=Vulture |date=5 March 2012|language=en-us}}</ref> The instrument is most prominently heard as the lead instrument in the show's theme song – it is the 'Swannee' sample with a [[low-pass filter]] applied.

Australian singer [[John Farnham]] used a Fairlight CMI on his twelfth album, ''[[Whispering Jack]]'', in 1985 and 1986.<ref>{{cite news |last=Adams |first=Cameron |date=11 April 2018 |title=Why John Farnham was nearly rock-blocked from 'You're the Voice' |url=https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/why-john-farnham-was-nearly-rockblocked-from-youre-the-voice/news-story/9e048f2d4550a8b4c1a28e2eba4909f6 |work= |location=News.com.au |access-date=12 April 2021}}</ref>

==Influence and legacy==
After the success of the Fairlight CMI, other firms introduced sampling. [[New England Digital]] modified their [[Synclavier]] digital synthesizer to perform sampling, while [[E-mu Systems]] introduced a less costly sampling keyboard, the [[E-mu Emulator|Emulator]], in 1981. In the United States, a new sampler company, [[Ensoniq]], introduced the [[Ensoniq Mirage]] in 1984 for the price of $1,695, less than a quarter of the price of other samplers.<ref>{{cite book |page=65 |title=Any Sound You Can Imagine: Making Music/Consuming Technology |author=Paul Théberge |date=1997 |publisher=Wesleyan University Press |isbn=9780819563095}}</ref>

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 (musician)|Prince]], [[James Young (American musician)|James "J.Y." Young]] of [[Styx (band)|Styx]], [[John Lawry]] of [[Petra (band)|Petra]], [[Derek St. Holmes]] of the [[Ted Nugent]] band, [[Al Jourgensen]] of [[Ministry (band)|Ministry]], and many private studio owners and rock personalities.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/joan-gand |title=Joan Gand |website=NAMM |date=24 October 2016}}</ref> Spokesperson [[Jan Hammer]] appeared at several Gand-sponsored Musictech pro audio events, to perform the "[[Miami Vice Theme]]".

The ubiquity of the Fairlight was such that [[Phil Collins]] stated on the sleeve notes of his 1985 studio album ''[[No Jacket Required]]'' that "there is no Fairlight on this record" to clarify that he had not used one to synthesize horn and string sounds.<ref>
{{Cite web
 | title     = Phil Collins - No Jacket Required
 | url       = http://www.genesis-news.com/c-Phil-Collins-No-Jacket-Required-CD-review-s327.html
 | work      = Genesis News
 | access-date= 25 April 2014
}}</ref>

Swedish [[warez]] and Commodore [[demo scene]] group [[Fairlight (group)|Fairlight]] took its name from this device, which [[Jean-Michel Jarre]] used on some of his records.<ref name=idg>{{cite web |url=http://www.idg.se/2.1085/1.444716/we-might-be-old-but-were-still-the-elite |title=We might be old, but we're still the elite |work=IDG |date=2012-04-20 |first=Daniel |last=Goldberg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421163751/http://www.idg.se/2.1085/1.444716/we-might-be-old-but-were-still-the-elite |archive-date=2012-04-21 |translator=Anders Lotsson }}<!-- http://www.idg.se/2.1085/1.444383/vi-ma-vara-gubbar-men-vi-ar-fortfarande-elit--></ref>

Experimental music group [[Coil (band)|Coil]] considered the device unique and unsurpassed, describing using the Fairlight as "An aural equivalent of [[William S. Burroughs|William Burroughs]] [[cut-up technique|cut-ups]]".<ref>
{{cite AV media
 | title     = COIL - Part 1 - rare unedited May 2001 interview w/ John Balance & Peter Christopherson <!-- title     = COIL Interview - Part 1 (unedited, 5-31-2001) -->
  <!-- date      = 2001-05-31 -->
 | url       = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAtMumJ3qfM
 | medium    = video
 | via  = [[YouTube]]
}}
</ref>

In 2005, the Fairlight CMI was inducted into the [[TECnology Hall of Fame]], an honor given to "products and innovations that have had an enduring impact on the development of audio technology."<ref>{{cite web|title=TECnology Hall of Fame, 2005|url=http://legacy.tecawards.org/tec/05TECnologyHOFdetails.html|website=TECawards.org|date=2005|access-date=12 December 2024}}</ref> In 2015, the Fairlight CMI was inducted into the [[National Film and Sound Archive]]'s [[Sounds of Australia]] collection.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/sound/sounds-australia/2015-registry-additions/#Fairlight|title=2015 Registry additions|publisher=[[National Film and Sound Archive]]|access-date=5 April 2016}}</ref>

In February 2025, an Australian documentary called [https://youtube.com/watch?v=puERSQbBofs The birth of electronic music | How the Qasar & Fairlight CMI pioneered computer music technology] was released. It uncovered a lot of previously unreported or mis-reported information about the Fairlight CMI. 

==References==
'''Citations'''
{{Reflist}}

'''Sources'''
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book
   | first     = Mark | last = Vail
   | title     = Keyboard Magazine Presents Vintage Synthesizers: Pioneering Designers, Groundbreaking Instruments, Collecting Tips, Mutants of Technology|publisher=[[Hal Leonard Corporation#Backbeat Books|Backbeat Books]]
   | year      = 2000
   | isbn      = 978-0-87930-603-8
  }}
* {{citation
 |last         = Chapman
 |first        = Jill
 |date         = 2012
 |title        = Guide to the Qasar Tony Furse archive <!-- in the Powerhouse Museum, 96-382-2 -->
 |url          = http://images.powerhousemuseum.com/images/pdfs/382297.pdf
 |publisher    = [[Powerhouse Museum]]
 |location     = Sydney, Australia
 |id           = 96/382/2
 |access-date  = 4 August 2014
 |archive-date = 3 March 2016
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303232154/http://images.powerhousemuseum.com/images/pdfs/382297.pdf
 |url-status   = dead
}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category multi|Fairlight (digital audio)}}
* [http://www.fairlightau.com/ Fairlight Main Site]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110219013808/http://fairlightinstruments.com.au/ios Fairlight App for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180425134527/http://www.fairlightinstruments.com/ Fairlight Instruments]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKoisNv1ftw Herbie Hancock plays a Fairlight CMI on Sesame Street]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cgzo6KCjYeQ Beethoven performed on a Fairlight CMI]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairlight CMI}}
[[Category:Products introduced in 1979]]
[[Category:Fairlight synthesizers]]
[[Category:Music workstations]]
[[Category:Samplers (musical instrument)]]
[[Category:Digital synthesizers]]
[[Category:Music sequencers]]
[[Category:Music technology]]
[[Category:Australian musical instruments]]
[[Category:Australian inventions]]
[[Category:Synthesizers with preset storage]]
[[Category:Synthesizers]]