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Fairlight CMI

Just got off the phone with my brother. He used to play keyboards back in the 80's and knew quite a bit about the older synthesizers. About 1983 he took some lessons on a Moog System 55 at Jacksonville University. Below is a picture listed along with a current eBay auction for a System 55.

http://www.siliconbreakdown.com/moog55.html

http://cgi.ebay.com/MOOG-55-SYSTEM-...6458009?pt=Keyboards_MIDI&hash=item255d246c19

According to my brother, the Fairlight cost $50,000 new. Only studios and top name bands could afford them so they are really rare. If someone is asking $30,000 for an System 55 then a Fairlight should sell for even more.

The Youtube video link you listed is an interview with Keith Emerson from the progressive rock group Emerson, Lake and Palmer. For those not familiar with Keith Emerson, he was one of the best and most influential keyboard players of the 70's and used custom built Moog synthesizrs. He is one of the few people that would have had access to a Fairlight.

Another famous keyboardist from that time was Rick Wakeman from the group "YES". YouTube video link below is a solo he did from a live YES concert. Starts out slow, but about 1/3 of the way through he cuts loose. Really fast!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkpGF4eWufg
 
Both very impressive. I remember when I was young I was watching an episode of Reading Rainbow (I was out of the target audience but we didn't have cable so after school tv was pbs) where they interviewed the musician who did the theme song and his gear. I remember the light pen and him touching what instrument for his keyboard to play (midi controller) but can't find that video in my quick search. I somewhat assumed it was an Atari ST or something which my friend's dad has one still hooked up even though I don't think they use it much anymore (obviously the latest gear has a better bitrate for sampling).

Are you interesting in the system for playing music of from the collectible stand? Samplers you probably know always cost a lot although there have been a few cheap models of keyboards with sampling ability and some older synths which could sample 8-bit quality may not cost much unless the music/synth collectors are watching. Otherwise I'd suggest playing around with the Commodore/Amiga or Atari and seeing what they can generate with the appropriate software and a midi interface or tracking software. Those videos were certainly impressive so maybe these don't stack up but sampling is just that, so your source quality is what gets your output sounding nice and from there it's just how you modify it and create the loop for longer sounds.

Ok not really needed but here's at least a demo of some tracked music on an Amiga.
 
Yeah, I remember the Fairlight, one of THE Sampler/Synths of the day and pretty impressive; I had access to one for a few weeks way back then for a documentary.

Expensive as hell, and any still around today will probably already be in the hands of collectors who wouldn't part with them for love or money.

Anybody want to build an emulator? Could probably put one into a couple of chips these days... ;-)
 
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I don't want to spend the money for one, but having one sure would be neat. I am mainly interested in getting a sampler. Having an emulator would be awesome! Surely with today's technology it could be done. Maybe use a MIDI keyboard for the keyboard and a computer as the sampler?

The Aries synths are really cool too!

Kyle
 
Keith Emerson with a Moog System 55 like the one listed earlier. Notice all the patch cords in use. (Click on image for bigger pic)
keith-emerson System 55.jpg
moz-screenshot.png
moz-screenshot-1.png
keith-emerson%20System%2055.jpg
 
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