Fairlight-CMI

Hey!
For me, sound quality, speed and reliability is the
most important. Sound with depth and organic
character. More so than track count and flashy
graphics.

The Synclavier sampler changes its sample pitch by
changing the clock speed of the card that the sample
is loaded onto. Polyphony depends on how many cards
are in the system. The output from all cards are
summed up in the analog bus. 
This makes for a very pleasant rich sound, quite like
an array of tape machines with vari speed. 

The inherit problem with a computerbased system is the
steady master clock. If you want to change the pitch
of the sample, you have to do a a software realtime
varispeed conversion with up/down sample on the output
to match the master clock. This introduces unwanted
coloration and aliasing. 

Cheers!
Tobias 


--- Peter Vogel <peter.vogel@vogelfamily.net> wrote:

> Hi Tobias,
> 
> Could you explain what you mean by "individual clock
> speed per voice card?"
> 
> When you say "high end system", do you mean high
> performance (as in
> excellent sound quality) or large capacity (number
> of tracks) or something
> else?
> 
> What in particular would appeal to you about a
> CMI-V?
> 
> Thanks for your input,
> 
> Peter
> 
> ________________________________
> 
> 	From: Fairlight-CMI@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:Fairlight-CMI@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
> Tobias Enhus
> 	Sent: Friday, 7 November 2008 7:06 PM
> 	To: Fairlight-CMI@yahoogroups.com
> 	Subject: Re: [Fairlight-CMI] Re: Fairlight CMI
> series IV?
> 	
> 	
> 
> 	I would like to chime in with Fabian on this. 
> 	Im using a combo of Kyma and Synclavier as my main
> 	Synthesis tools. 
> 	There simply is no high end system like a CMI-IV
> 	available today.
> 	
> 	I would be more than happy to pay $5k for a
> dedicated
> 	high end system like CMI IV. 
> 	
> 	Now, how would you solve something like individual
> 	clock speed per voice card? 
> 	
> 	Cheers!
> 	Tobias
> 	
> 	--- d_40q <retinalburn@ngi.de
> <mailto:retinalburn%40ngi.de> > wrote:
> 	
> 	> 
> 	> Hello Peter,
> 	> 
> 	> 
> 	> although I am not a Fairlight but a Synclavier
> user,
> 	> I follow this forum due to my 
> 	> appreceation of the original CMI's sound, concept
> 	> and design.
> 	> 
> 	> In my humble opinion your exiting proposal to
> create
> 	> a CMI-IV unsing today's technology 
> 	> could hit a market-gap, if it was executed with
> the
> 	> same strong conceptual foundation as 
> 	> the original CMIs.
> 	> 
> 	> At the moment there is no High-End Computer
> Musical
> 	> Instrument available, that would 
> 	> enable the creative musician to work intuively by
> 	> integrating deep performance, recording 
> 	> and sound design capabilities in one coherent
> 	> instrument.
> 	> Wich is what the Fairlight CMI and the NED
> 	> Synclavier achieved in their day.
> 	> 
> 	> Looking at what is available today:
> 	> 
> 	> 1. A system freely combining a standard PC/MAC,
> any
> 	> software, a controller keyboard and 
> 	> external AD/DA:
> 	> A standard System like this does not give you the
> 	> best possible sound quality, it is 
> 	> unstable, and due to its lack of integration it
> is
> 	> not verry intuitive.
> 	> The user interface arguably hinders the creative
> 	> process.
> 	> 
> 	> 2. A workstation keyboard like the Korg Oasis:
> 	> A pretty well integrated Instrument, but
> technically
> 	> and software-wise it does not 
> 	> represent the state of the art. In terms of sound
> 	> qualitiy it can't even compete with a 20 
> 	> years old CMI-3 or a Synclavier.
> 	> 
> 	> 3. DSP based Workstations like Kyma:
> 	> Great sound design tool, but not necessarily an
> 	> intuitive musical instrument.
> 	> 
> 	> 
> 	> Now if you compare the pricetags of the
> 	> aforementioned, I am pretty sure, customers 
> 	> (including myself) would be willing to pay more
> than
> 	> the proposed $US5,000.00 if the 
> 	> CMI-4 came with its own specialized keyboard
> 	> controller/user interface, that would match 
> 	> the CC-1's audio processing capabilities in terms
> of
> 	> Quality and Design.
> 	> 
> 	> 
> 	> Best regards,
> 	> Fabian
> 	> 
> 	> 
> 	> 
> 	> 
> 	> 
> 	> --- In Fairlight-CMI@yahoogroups.com
> <mailto:Fairlight-CMI%40yahoogroups.com> ,
> 	> <peter.vogel@...> wrote:
> 	> >
> 	> > 
> 	> > There have been discussions from time to time
> 	> about replicating the CMI
> 	> > using a software emulation. These efforts will
> 	> have limited success because
> 	> > the "Fairlight sound" relies on the
> peculiarities
> 	> of the hardware used in
> 	> > the original design.
> 	> > 
> 	> > In the days when I was the designing CMI
> hardware,
> 	> my greatest challenge was
> 	> > to minimise the distortions and artifacts that
> 	> were inherent aspects of the
> 	> > hardware available at that time. In effect, we
> 	> struggled to make the
> 	> > Fairlight sound less "Fairlight". So the
> intimate
> 	> details of what makes a
> 	> > Fairlight sound like a Fairlight are indelibly
> 	> etched in my brain.
> 	> > 
> 	> > When Fairlight brought out the Crystal Core
> Engine
> 	> last year, my imagination
> 	> > ran wild. Here was a tiny board with enormous
> 	> capabilities that could be
> 	> > configured to faithfully reproduce the CMI
> 	> hardware in its FPGA (Field
> 	> > Programmable Gate Array). Every bit of the
> 1980's
> 	> CMI hardware, the essence
> 	> > of its sound, could be reconstructed faithfully
> in
> 	> digital hardware form. 
> 	> > 
> 	> > To fully appreciate the astounding potential of
> 	> the CC-1, download the
> 	> > brochure here:
> 	> >
> 	>
> 	
>
http://www.fairlightau.com/downloads/public/Fairlight%20NEW%20CC-1%20Brochur
>
<http://www.fairlightau.com/downloads/public/Fairlight%20NEW%20CC-1%20Brochu
> r> 
> 	> > e%20for%20WEB%20VIEW.pdf
> 	> > 
> 	> > I also recently discovered that ALL the IP
> 	> relating to the original
> 	> > Fairlight CMI including all of the hardware and
> 	> filter designs, sample
> 	> > libraries etc are still retained by
> Fairlight.au
> 	> in Sydney.
> 	> > 
> 	> > So I have been wondering if it would be
> worthwhile
> 	> to develop a faithful
> 	> > reproduction of the CMI on the "Virtual
> Hardware"
> 	> of the CC-1?
> 	> > 
> 	> > This would perform identically to the original
> CMI
> 	> series II or III, but run
> 	> > on a PC fitted with the Crystal Core card. The
> 	> MIDI input would come
> 	> > directly into the CC-1 so there would be no
> 	> problem of latency introduced by
> 	> > the PC.
> 	> > 
> 	> > At this stage I'd like to "feel out" the market
> to
> 
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