Fairlight-CMI

Greetings fellow forum users – 

I post this message in an effort to provide Mr. Vogel and Mr. Wielk some insight from you, and sincerely hope that those who reply will do so respectfully with thoughts that lean more a toward viable product rather than a fleeting comment.

Now that we all have a general idea of what the Series 30A will consist of as a system, my mind wanders to the faintly mentioned future Series IV… Like many, the main reason for this is that I am not in the financial position to purchase a Series 30A at the moment, but clearly understand the short-term success of Fairlight Instruments rests heavily against sales of this edition. With that in mind…

I think it can safely be said for any of us that own one of the series CMI's that part of the attraction – sound aside – are the actual components of the system. Whether they be crème or white, there is a certain tactile and aesthetic appeal attached to using a CMI, which includes (but is definitely not limited to) things like the loading of floppy disks, the use of the lightpen, the waveform display of Page D, the actual physical presence it can have in a studio or on stage, etc. Everyone in the room knows you're a Fairlight user because your system stands apart from everything else.

And the same should be said for what will become the Series IV. But what would that "system" actually consist of? True, technology has drastically diminished in size and stature over the last quarter century, but I think that many would agree owning a Fairlight needs to go beyond the typical "software plug-in" mindset present in electronic music today. 

Much more could be presented and argued on this position, but let's skip all that and look ahead: I ask that we as a community begin to provide Peter and Peter our thoughts on the physical designs on what will become the Series IV. The brain of this system will be the CC-1 and will most likely contain some of the functions and features of the forthcoming Series 30A , so start with that build upon it… I hope that reason & reality, mixed with healthy dose of creativity will produce some great ideas. Give it some real thought and share with us. 

Thanks for taking the time to read and consider…

Best to all – 

Frank

Series 4?  Alright I'll jump in with some of what I'd like to see.

Lets start off with cost - way under $10k. Whether that needs to be a standalone device or hardware pci-e plugin to a pc to meet that price is up to the engineers.  Series IV should continue in the tradition as the ultimate sampling workstation and should support sampling, sequencing and resynthesis.  The system should be expandable so more power could be added as necessary.

Fairlight sound - Should be able to sound like series I-III (crunchy) but also sound as pristine as the xynergi.  

Resynthesis should be updated to compete with Kyma.

I'd like to see something like Korg's wavesequencing with user created samples.

Interface should be intuitive and fast to use.  This is key.  All of this stuff can be done already today using existing DAW's and vst plugins but it is clunky and not fast intuitive.  I think that is what systems like the Fairlight, Synclavier, and Waveframe had going for them.  You could do everything in one piece of hardware/software interface and not have to kludge a bunch of tools together to get your job done.  Integration is key.

I want to see support for multi-terabyte sized sample libraries. The system should support a database for cataloging and searching sounds and some method for tracking samples on backup/archive media.

Memory - the system should support multiple gigabytes of RAM and also support playback of samples direct from disk.

Filtering - I'd like to be able to choose from a selection of filters for various special effects.

I'd like to see support for some kind of 3rd party plugin system/api so that the system can be expanded with new forms of synthesis and effects.

That should get you started...

Peter, a few thoughts and questions regarding he Series 30A.

- Dynamics and EQ? Any chance of including the channel section from  
the Fairlight Dream system?

- Voice characteristics. Switching between a IIx, III and 30A, is that  
selectable per voice or set for the whole system, or both?

- RAM? No reason to hold back on the ram, can't have too much. Lot's  
of ram = MIDI triggered HD recorder / vocal arranger.

- Time stretch / pitch shift? Arranging ADR, vocals, drums etc, this  
is a truly valuable timesaving tool to have inside the box.

- Network? WiFi? Yeah, these days drag n drop files via network is  
taken for granted (USB keys and FWdrives gets old real quick). Would  
be nice if the S30 could do the same.

- Layers / Velocity layers? How many? Cross fade or switch or both?  
MIDI assignable to the modwheel or a foot pedal.
If I remember correctly the CMI has one layer of sound per instrument  
patch and the Synclavier has 4.



Cheers!

Tobias Enhus

Thanks so much for the great response! Your list of features is impressive
 So I am curious to know what kind of package you would like this system to be in
? Are you thinking separate components like the existing CMI's, or perhaps something different?

My thoughts are varied
 Here's a couple idea to get everyone's wheels turning:

An integrated keyboard version, something like the Korg Oasys or Arturia Origin, perhaps crossed with a workstation from Open Labs (like the Neko)... Something that would take the traditional CMI components and combine them into a single unit. This would definitely satisfy the "presence" quotient.

Or a more minimal design, like a 1 or 2 unit rackmount "engine" with an external control surface. Thinking of a notepad-like touch screen (complete with stylus/lightpen) that could rest on your lap
 Engine could connect to your computer for data storage and interfacing to existing hardware. This would satisfy the "tactile" element of using a CMI.

I like the idea of the Series IV being something practical & functional, yet completely different in appearance than what is out there today.  But it goes without saying that it needs to be white or crème in color ;).

C'mon gang! Let get some positive thoughts out there
 Share your ideas! Thanks!


--- In Fairlight-CMI@yahoogroups.com, "splitpoint" <splitpoint@...> wrote:

>
> Series 4?  Alright I'll jump in with some of what I'd like to see.
> 
> Lets start off with cost - way under $10k. Whether that needs to be a standalone device or hardware pci-e plugin to a pc to meet that price is up to the engineers.  Series IV should continue in the tradition as the ultimate sampling workstation and should support sampling, sequencing and resynthesis.  The system should be expandable so more power could be added as necessary.
> 
> Fairlight sound - Should be able to sound like series I-III (crunchy) but also sound as pristine as the xynergi.  
> 
> Resynthesis should be updated to compete with Kyma.
> 
> I'd like to see something like Korg's wavesequencing with user created samples.
> 
> Interface should be intuitive and fast to use.  This is key.  All of this stuff can be done already today using existing DAW's and vst plugins but it is clunky and not fast intuitive.  I think that is what systems like the Fairlight, Synclavier, and Waveframe had going for them.  You could do everything in one piece of hardware/software interface and not have to kludge a bunch of tools together to get your job done.  Integration is key.
> 
> I want to see support for multi-terabyte sized sample libraries. The system should support a database for cataloging and searching sounds and some method for tracking samples on backup/archive media.
> 
> Memory - the system should support multiple gigabytes of RAM and also support playback of samples direct from disk.
> 
> Filtering - I'd like to be able to choose from a selection of filters for various special effects.
> 
> I'd like to see support for some kind of 3rd party plugin system/api so that the system can be expanded with new forms of synthesis and effects.
> 
> That should get you started...
>