Fairlight CMI

The Fairlight CMI is the first digital sampler in history. CMI is the acronym for Computer Music Instrument.

Before this sampler, the Mellotron was used, which was a polyphonic electromechanical musical instrument that appeared in the mid-sixties, and that used tapes to take samples (recordings), which were turned on using the keys on the keyboard.

In 1979, the invention of Australians Kim Ryrie and Peter Voguel was marketed, which in the first series did not have support for the MIDI system. The price was around $25,000, but despite the high price, about 100 units were made.

Musicians who used it

The Fairlight CMI was widely used by musicians in the eighties, such as

• Laurie Anderson
• Arthur Baker (from the Afrika Bambaataa band)
• Boris Blank
• David Bowie
• Lindsey Buckingham
• The Buggles (e.g. in their latest album Adventures in Modern Recording)
• Vince Clarke.
• Stewart Copeland (the Police band drummer)
• Chick Korea
• Elvis Costello
• Iva Davies
• Thomas Dolby
• Geoff Downes (from Kate Bush's band, for example in the album Never for ever1980)
• Keith Emerson
• Brian Eno
• Erasure
• Peter Gabriel (for example, in the song "Sledgehammer", and in the albums "Shock the monkey" and Security1982)
• Barry Gibb
• Billy Gibbons
• David Gilmour
• Daryl Hall
• Nacho Cano
• Jan Hammer (for example, in the music video of the main theme of the television series Miami Vice)
• Devo (for example, in the music video of the song "We are Devo")
• Herbie Hancock (e.g. in “Rocket”)
• Greg Hawkes
• David Hirschfelder
• Trevor Horn
• Michael Jackson (e.g. on “Thriller”)
• Jean-Michel Jarre (for example, in his album Magnetic Fields1981)
• JJ Jeczalik
• Howard Jones
• John Paul Jones
• Jim Kerr
• Kate Bush
• Mark Knopfler
• Annie Lennox
• Sir George Martin
• Joni Mitchell
• Mark Mothersbaugh
• Naked Eyes
• Mike Oldfield
• Alan Parsons
• Todd Rundgren
• Midge Ure
• U2 (e.g. in The Unforgettable Fire)
• Brian Wilson
• Steve Winwood
• Stevie Wonder (for example, on your album Happy Birthday1980)
• Hans Zimmer
• Pet Shop Boys
• Tears For Fears

In Spain

In Spain it was used for the first time by Tino Casal, later by Nacho Cano (from the group Mecano), as well as by Josep Maria Mainat (from the musical-comedy group La Trinca and the production company Gestmusic) or by Semen Up in their second album. Golpes Bajos used Josep Maria Mainat's in the Maxi version of "Colecciono Moscas" published on his only LP, A Santa Compaña (1984).

Innovations

The Fairlight CMI was the world's first digital sampler, and featured other radical advances for its time, such as stylus operation and a menu-driven user interface. One of the most significant software features of the CMI was the so-called Page R, which was the world's first real-time graphical music sequencer, and has since been widely copied in other software synthesizers.

Controversies

The instrument was widely used in the futuristic videos that dominated the music scene of the 1980s and, as the first device to cross the line between computer and instrument, was the subject of passionate debate within the artist community.

In the liner notes of the album No Jacket Required (from 1985), by Phil Collins - who was a detractor of the Fairlight CMI - there was an announcement "No Fairlight has been used".

WCC reached its peak of popularity in artistic circles when it appeared in the now legendary performance of Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Thomas Dolby and Howard Jones at the 1985 Grammy Awards. Ironically, the album of the year at the Grammy Awards 1985 was No Jacket Required.

End of sales

Although still sold to the musical elite of the time, the cost of manufacturing forced Fairlight to discontinue the CMI in the late 1980s, as the company migrated its business to manufacturing digital audio workstations and mixing desks for Hollywood film production companies, the television and high-profile music recording markets, where the 'Fairlight sound' is still highly prized.

Charity auction

On December 11, 2006, Witness's annual benefit was hosted by the organization's founder and president, British musician Peter Gabriel, and Mexican actor Gael García Bernal. The event included performances by Paul Simon, Angélique Kidjo, as well as Kate Pierson and Fred Schneider of the B-52s.

Speaking about the auction, John Lancken, chief executive of Fairlight, said:

Meeting artists and the instrument that revolutionized music in the 1980s is a fascinating exercise in the history of music, but doing so with the support of Witness to contribute to peace and human rights around the world is especially rewarding. We believe that this project, the culmination of two years of hard work, is only the beginning of a long and productive relationship between Fairlight and Witness in which we will help with our experience in the field of digital media and with our user base in studios and broadcasters from around the world, to be able to advance the great cause for which Witness fights every day.

Echoing this sentiment, Gillian Caldwell, director of Witness, said:

The eighties are remembered, among other things, by the music of the time, much of which was created at the Fairlight CMI. Today, Witness seeks to ensure that the current decade is not remembered as a time when the world closed its eyes on human rights abuses worldwide. To open the eyes of the world to these abuses, Witness is based on audio and video technologies, so it is especially exciting to see that a company like Fairlight supports our cause.

The December 11, 2006 auction marked the end of a two-year program that Fairlight, Witness and New York PR agency Griffin Public Relations & Marketing to contact artists who had used the keyboard. Working with artists, agents and managers, agreements were made for autographs, and then the keys were sent individually to artists around the world. Each autographed key was returned to Fairlight in Sydney, Australia, and the keyboard was recently reassembled and shipped to New York, where it will be displayed at a VIP reception before the auction.