Fairlight-CMI

Hi Peter,

As a newbie on the forum, I was completely stunned when I logged in and saw this 
thread.  I have to say that it would be amazing if this instrument could be brought up to
date & fit easily into a modern studio setting, but still retain the classic sound.

The studio in a box concept intrigues me too, (particularly given the proposed price
tag), but it would have to fit seamlessly into a modern workflow.  
What sort of latencies are we talking about on the CC-1?

Do you have any details of the proposed CMI feature set?  Are we talking the full software
running on the card, or just a subset?

Thanks,

Jim.


--- In Fairlight-CMI@yahoogroups.com, "Peter Vogel" <peter.vogel@...> wrote:
>
> Yes, a studio in a box should be possible for $5K. I will have to have
> further discussions with Fairlight, but I don't see why the CC-1 can't run
> say 64 tracks of sound/sequncer/mixer.  The question is, what would make it
> more attractive than what's already available? I would need to sell several
> hundred just to recoup the development cost.
> 
> 
>   _____  
> 
> From: Fairlight-CMI@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Fairlight-CMI@yahoogroups.com]
> On Behalf Of Al Curatolo
> Sent: Wednesday, 5 November 2008 7:38 AM
> To: Fairlight-CMI@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [Fairlight-CMI] Fairlight CMI series IV?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Intriguing. 
> 
> If it were going to be $5k it would have to bring significantly more to the
> table than the original Series III for me to be interested.  At $5K I'd
> expect hundreds of voices of Fairlight sounding sampling/synthesis,
> sequencing, lots of tracks of hard disk recording and some DSP processing
> (EQ, delay, possibly reverb), basically a studio in a box.  
> 
> I would pay up to $1500-2000 for something equivalent to CMI III/MFX II
> functionality.  For just sampling emulation with nothing else it would have
> to be well under $1k. When people were talking software emulation I'm
> guessing they were thinking of something in the under $500 range. 
> 
> 
> Thanks for posting Peter, I'd like to see something like this happen but I
> also understand that to make it happen at a price point that folks will jump
> onboard is probably going to be difficult, especially if it's going to be a
> PC card. 
> 
> Al 
> 
> 
> ------ Original Message ------ 
> Received: Tue, 04 Nov 2008 04:58:40 AM MST 
> From: <peter.vogel@...> 
> To: <Fairlight-CMI@yahoogroups.com> 
> Subject: [Fairlight-CMI] Fairlight CMI series IV? 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 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.fairligh
> <http://www.fairlightau.com/downloads/public/Fairlight%20NEW%20CC-1%20Brochu
> r> tau.com/downloads/public/Fairlight%20NEW%20CC-1%20Brochur 
> 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 assess the level of 
> interest in this project and whether the significant investment in R&D will 
> be worthwhile. 
> 
> The Fairlight Series IV (CC-1, I/O box and software) might be sold for 
> approximately $US5,000.00. 
> 
> So my question is, what do you think of this idea? How would a Fairlight CMI
> 
> at this sort of price be received by the market? Who would the buyers be and
> 
> how would I tap into them? 
> 
> What do you think? 
> 
> Peter Vogel
>