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RE: [Fairlight-CMI] Re: Recreating the Fairlight

Re: [Fairlight-CMI] Re: Recreating the Fairlight

2008-06-23 by Andrew

----- Original Message ----- 
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From: Harald Feldmann

> Recreating a Fairlight sound completely in software ruins the market for a
> unit. Keep that in mind.

Good point, but I'm not sure it's always the case.  There are always people 
who want the original instrument for the satisfaction of owning it.  With a 
limited number of working Fairlights available, I'd expect there will always 
be enough people to buy with that motivation.

On the other hand it can only be good if those specific sounds are available 
to as many people as possible.  If Fairlight was still in business making 
new instruments it might be a different matter, but with the limited pool of 
existing instruments it seems good to make these sounds more widely 
available.

Personally, I use samplers with much longer sampling times than the 
Fairlight II series, and I use those longer times to the full, so for me a 
Series II might be fun but it would certainly never be essential.  (I'm not 
sure how long the sampling time was with the III.)  It's very unlikely I'd 
ever buy one, and if I did I might be taking one that someone else would 
make much more use of.  I'd seriously consider a software alternative, 
though.  I use one or two classic Fairlight samples already (mostly out of 
historical interest, as  generally prefer making my own samples, synth 
sounds etc), but a software emulation would be a whole new area.  I wonder 
what might happen if Fairlight put their name behind a collaboration with 
Arturia or someone like that?  I'm assuming Peter and Kim still have the 
rights to the Fairlight name.

One thing that does interest me, incidentally, is making sounds by drawing 
them physically.  That's something no one ever really seems to talk about. 
I remember Kate Bush saying they sound too artificial to be really useable, 
but that's the only comment I can ever recall.  Of course I've heard the 
results on several TV programmes featuring the Fairlight.

I think that's the kind of area where a company like Arturia could really 
score if they emulated the Fairlight.  They have a knack of surpassing the 
limitations of the original instrument.  The drawing option for modulations 
in their 2600V is a prime example.

Incidentally I think sampling continues to be a much maligned and 
misunderstood art.  I find it very creative.

Re: [Fairlight-CMI] Re: Recreating the Fairlight

2008-06-23 by Laurent/LIFELIKE

What makes the fairlight interesting is the factory sounds and the nice sequencer,
for a modern use, it is not possible to integrate that in your mixes, you can find
hardware that sound as weird for 200$, per exemple, the CASIO FZ-1, its the same kind
of hardware, mono output etc...
To get a decent high quality mixdown you would need a SSL or so with the Fairlight IIx,
so each musical period has its intrument, today it goes with VST synth, in 10years everybody
will laugh about VSTs (i agree that they doesnt sound that good), but VST will have their own sound,
even if they are copies of original, they have a kind of sound...
l


Le 23 juin 08 à 15:57, Andrew a écrit :



----- Original Message -----
From: Harald Feldmann

> Recreating a Fairlight sound completely in software ruins the market for a
> unit. Keep that in mind.

Good point, but I'm not sure it's always the case. There are always people
who want the original instrument for the satisfaction of owning it. With a
limited number of working Fairlights available, I'd expect there will always
be enough people to buy with that motivation.

On the other hand it can only be good if those specific sounds are available
to as many people as possible. If Fairlight was still in business making
new instruments it might be a different matter, but with the limited pool of
existing instruments it seems good to make these sounds more widely
available.

Personally, I use samplers with much longer sampling times than the
Fairlight II series, and I use those longer times to the full, so for me a
Series II might be fun but it would certainly never be essential. (I'm not
sure how long the sampling time was with the III.) It's very unlikely I'd
ever buy one, and if I did I might be taking one that someone else would
make much more use of. I'd seriously consider a software alternative,
though. I use one or two classic Fairlight samples already (mostly out of
historical interest, as generally prefer making my own samples, synth
sounds etc), but a software emulation would be a whole new area. I wonder
what might happen if Fairlight put their name behind a collaboration with
Arturia or someone like that? I'm assuming Peter and Kim still have the
rights to the Fairlight name.

One thing that does interest me, incidentally, is making sounds by drawing
them physically. That's something no one ever really seems to talk about.
I remember Kate Bush saying they sound too artificial to be really useable,
but that's the only comment I can ever recall. Of course I've heard the
results on several TV programmes featuring the Fairlight.

I think that's the kind of area where a company like Arturia could really
score if they emulated the Fairlight. They have a knack of surpassing the
limitations of the original instrument. The drawing option for modulations
in their 2600V is a prime example.

Incidentally I think sampling continues to be a much maligned and
misunderstood art. I find it very creative.


RE: [Fairlight-CMI] Re: Recreating the Fairlight

2008-06-23 by Rob Puricelli

Harald,

Without wanting to be argumentative, and this is in no way a personal attack, if we are completely honest, the Fairlight “market” was about 30 years ago. There are so few of these machines out there today that to simply knock aside the concept of a software emulation smacks of snobbery and elitism.

As has been pointed out since, a faithful software recreation could actually benefit the minuscule used market in the real thing. Did Rebirth knock down the prices of 808’s, 909’s and 303’s ? Far from it ! Is there still a roaring trade in DX7’s, Jupiter 8’s, Minimoog’s, Wavestation’s, M1’s, MS20’s, MonoPoly’s, Polysix’s, Oscar’s….? I could go on and on.

Suffice to say, if a software recreation materialised, I’d be the first to buy it, and if I ever had the good fortune to have enough money and have it at the same time that a real CMI became available, I’d be buying that too as I’d rather have the real deal every time.

As I have said, this isn’t a personal attack and I hope you don’t take it that way :o)

Rob.

From: Fairlight-CMI@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Fairlight-CMI@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Harald Feldmann
Sent: 23 June 2008 14:04
To: Fairlight-CMI@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [Fairlight-CMI] Re: Recreating the Fairlight

Recreating a Fairlight sound completely in software ruins the market for a
unit. Keep that in mind.

Regards,
Harald.

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Re: [Fairlight-CMI] Re: Recreating the Fairlight

2008-06-23 by krec

I think that it's a waste to use only the factory sounds !
You can create some amazing sounds when you sample with the IIx...






Le Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:02:24 +0200, Laurent/LIFELIKE <lifelike@neuf.fr> a  
écrit:

> What makes the fairlight interesting is the factory sounds and the
> nice sequencer,
> for a modern use, it is not possible to integrate that in your mixes,
> you can find
> hardware that sound as weird for 200$, per exemple, the CASIO FZ-1,
> its the same kind
> of hardware, mono output etc...
> To get a decent high quality mixdown you would need a SSL or so with
> the Fairlight IIx,
> so each musical period has its intrument, today it goes with VST
> synth, in 10years everybody
> will laugh about VSTs (i agree that they doesnt sound that good), but
> VST will have their own sound,
> even if they are copies of original, they have a kind of sound...
> l
>
>
> Le 23 juin 08 à 15:57, Andrew a écrit :
>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Harald Feldmann
>>
>> > Recreating a Fairlight sound completely in software ruins the
>> market for a
>> > unit. Keep that in mind.
>>
>> Good point, but I'm not sure it's always the case. There are always
>> people
>> who want the original instrument for the satisfaction of owning it.
>> With a
>> limited number of working Fairlights available, I'd expect there
>> will always
>> be enough people to buy with that motivation.
>>
>> On the other hand it can only be good if those specific sounds are
>> available
>> to as many people as possible. If Fairlight was still in business
>> making
>> new instruments it might be a different matter, but with the
>> limited pool of
>> existing instruments it seems good to make these sounds more widely
>> available.
>>
>> Personally, I use samplers with much longer sampling times than the
>> Fairlight II series, and I use those longer times to the full, so
>> for me a
>> Series II might be fun but it would certainly never be essential.
>> (I'm not
>> sure how long the sampling time was with the III.) It's very
>> unlikely I'd
>> ever buy one, and if I did I might be taking one that someone else
>> would
>> make much more use of. I'd seriously consider a software alternative,
>> though. I use one or two classic Fairlight samples already (mostly
>> out of
>> historical interest, as generally prefer making my own samples, synth
>> sounds etc), but a software emulation would be a whole new area. I
>> wonder
>> what might happen if Fairlight put their name behind a
>> collaboration with
>> Arturia or someone like that? I'm assuming Peter and Kim still have
>> the
>> rights to the Fairlight name.
>>
>> One thing that does interest me, incidentally, is making sounds by
>> drawing
>> them physically. That's something no one ever really seems to talk
>> about.
>> I remember Kate Bush saying they sound too artificial to be really
>> useable,
>> but that's the only comment I can ever recall. Of course I've heard
>> the
>> results on several TV programmes featuring the Fairlight.
>>
>> I think that's the kind of area where a company like Arturia could
>> really
>> score if they emulated the Fairlight. They have a knack of
>> surpassing the
>> limitations of the original instrument. The drawing option for
>> modulations
>> in their 2600V is a prime example.
>>
>> Incidentally I think sampling continues to be a much maligned and
>> misunderstood art. I find it very creative.
>>
>>
>>
>



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