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Fairlight (founded in 1975 by Peter Vogel and Kim Ryrie in
Sydney, Australia)
Fairlight ESP
("Electric Sound and Picture", since April 1989)
(The content of this web site reflects the personal
opinion of the author, the information given is not guaranteed to
have anything in common with the products of Fairlight. This web site
is in no way affiliated with Fairlight
ESP. Please visit their web site for information about their products.)
Machines discussed on this page:
QASAR: general purpose dual-6800 (later 6809) computer,
control architecture for CMI. Originally developed by Tony Furse (Creative
Strategies).
CMI ("Computer Musical Instrument"): sampler
+ additive synthesizer + sequencer, QASAR control computer architecture.
MFX ("Music and Effects"): hard disk recording
system/digital audio workstation, older models based upon CMI.
Design philosophy:
dedicated multi-processor architecture
with multitasking real-time operating system
Introduction:
The Fairlight CMI is one of the very first samplers and music-workstations
(integrated synthesizer/sampler/sequencer). Sound generation is simply
based upon sample playback (with loops) from waveform RAM. Waveform
data is generated via sampling and/or non-realtime sound editing software.
Early models (Series I/II/IIx) had a sample resolution of 8 Bits (linear
coding), whereas the last Series III provided 16 Bits. Even with the
latest 16-Bit model, the CMI has its "own" sound. One of
the reasons is the usage of analog VCFs and VCAs for subtractive sound
post-processing, providing a certain "warmth" in the sound
quality. On the other hand, a variable sample read-out clock is employed
for pitch variation (possibly with excessive jitter due to the usage of BRMs).
Since no sample value interpolation is employed
in the digital domain, lower playback rates produce audible frequency images
at the DAC outputs if the VCF cutoff frequency is set to very
high values (disabling analog interpolation). This artifact however is
phase-coherent with the played waveform (due to the variable clock
principle) and is therefore incorporated within the total sound reception
as a "crispy", "hissy", "breathy" or
"smoky" component. Apart from sampling, sound creation and
manipulation is possible via (non-realtime) software functions (like
FFT, adding, mixing, envelope shaping, flanger etc.).
Based upon the CMI Series III model with an XDR upgrade, the MFX1
and MFX2 disk recorders were released as successors, still supporting
the CMI functions.
Sound:
Used as a sampler, the CMI is famous for its (infamous) orchestra-hits
("stabs"), "smoky" synthetic vocal sounds, low-pitched
"crispy" percussions, and the unique library of natural
instrument samples. (The sound of older 8-Bit models with their limited
bandwidth is sometimes critized to be like a "nasal honk".)
As for the additive synthesizer capabilities, the CMI typically produces
very bright artificial sounds (which can be characterized by adjectives
like: "breathy", "organ-like", "glass-like",
"metallic", "technical", "digital").
Series IIx: See Greg
Holmes' page for sound examples of 8-Bit models.
Series III: Click here for
a demo (copyright disclaimer).
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(...thanks
to Jean-Bernard for many new links and lots of technical information!) |
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| Models |
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- Qasar
(I) (1970-1971, digital/analog hybrid synthesizer):
(prototype, by Tony Furse (Creative Strategies, Sydney).)
- Qasar
II (1972-1973, duo-phonic digital/analog hybrid synthesizer):
(prototype, by Tony Furse (Creative Strategies, Sydney),
supported by Federal government funding from the Australia Council,
The Canberra School of Electronic Music, and especially Don Banks.)
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QASAR M8 (also "M8" or "Multimode 8",
1975, digital synthesizer, 8 Bit, 8 channels, 4KB shared sound
data RAM):
(by Tony Furse (Creative Strategies), wire-wrap STTL technology,
reworked (with PCBs) by Fairlight and released as the Fairlight
QASAR M8 in 1976, direct ancestor of the Fairlight CMI)
dual-6800 Main CPU, 2slot/8Bit/16Bit QASAR Bus, combined channel
processing (8 channels with 4KB shared memory), light-pen
- CMI
(Series I) ("Computer Musical Instrument", 1979,
sampler + additive synthesizer, 8 Bit, 8 channels, 8x separate
16KB waveform RAM, max. 24kHz sampling, pitch by variable sample
clock rate, based upon the QASAR M8 which gave the name "QASAR"
for the control computer part of the CMI):
dual-6800 Main CPU (running QDOS, Q026 + Q032), 2slot/8Bit/16Bit
QASAR Bus, 64KB system RAM (Q096), 512x256 B/W graphics (Q045
+ Q025), light-pen interface (Q148), 8 channel boards (with 16KB
private waveform RAM, CMI-01), channel master board (main sample
clock, sample in, CMI-02), optional analog interface board (CMI-07)
- CMI
Series II (1982, max. 30.2kHz sampling):
(Improved CMI Series I)
new channel boards (CMI-01-A), optional MIDI (68B09, CMI-08)
- CMI
Series IIx (also called "CMI-09", 1983):
(improved Series II with new dual-6809 computer; typically Q2xx,
CMI-2x)
new main board (CMI-25), new front panel (Q137), dual-6809 Main
CPU (running 6809-QDOS or OS-9/6809 Level 2, Q209 + Q133), 256
KB system RAM with MMU (Q256), 512x256 B/W graphics + light pen
interface (Q219), optional MIDI (68B09, CMI-08), later optional
68000 general interface (CMI-28, for MIDI/SMPTE, output board:
CMI-29), optional DMA hard disk interface (Q077)
- CMI
Series III (1985, 16 Bit, 16 channels standard, max. 14 MB
shared waveform RAM, max. 50/100kHz sampling, pitch by variable
sample clock rate):
(Basically, the main computer parts of the Series IIx and the
Series III are the same: Q209, Q133, Q256, QFC9, Q219, Q014, Q137;
and even some CMI parts: CMI-28, CMI-07. The waveform processing
with shared waveform memory is a new design: CMI-3x, CMI-3xx,
software Rev6 and below)
dual-6809 Main CPU (running OS-9/6809 Level 2, Q209 + Q133), 2slot/8Bit/16Bit
QASAR Bus, system RAM with paging hardware (2xQ256/1xQ356: 512KB/1MB),
512x256 B/W graphics (Q219, light-pen interface not used: graphics
pen integrated into Preh Alpha-keyboard), general interface (68000
CPU,CMI-28, for MIDI/SMPTE, output boards: CMI-332, CMI-333),
SCSI board (Q777), waveform processor (68000 CPU, CMI-33), 8slot/16Bit/23Bit
waveform Bus (14MB waveform address space), waveform RAM boards
(2MB, CMI-39, 7 slots for max. 14MB), channel support board (CMI-32),
8x channel cards (2 channels per card: clock + address generators,
6 DACs for CVs (for VCFs/VCAs on analog board), 68B09 control
CPU, later optional alternating looping, CMI-31), 8x analog output
boards (2 audio channels per card, VCFs/VCAs/Main DACs, CMI-331),
sample input board (2 channels, CMI-337)
- MFX
sound design console (also "MFX III" (not to be
confused with MFX3), MFX="Music and Effects", 1987,
audio post-production option)
(special control keyboard for CMI Series III, for use with Cue
List timecode sequencer and DTM (later: MDR) harddisk recording
software)
MFX keyboard "generation 0" (68000 master CPU, 6809
slave CPU for trigger keys, built-in: Alpha-keyboard, trigger-keys,
mode/transport-keys, jogger-wheel, character LCD-display, mouse-port)
- Waveform
Supervisor, etc. (1988, max. 32MB waveform RAM)
(upgrades for CMI Series III; typically CMI-4x, CMI-34x, software
Rev7)
waveform supervisor (replaces waveform processor CMI-33, 68020+68881+68450
CPU+FPU+DMA, on-board NCR5380 SCSI controller, CMI-41), 8slot/16Bit/24Bit
waveform Bus (32MB waveform address space), new waveform
RAM board (4MB, CMI-40, 7 slots for max. 28MB), new sample
input module (digital + analog, CMI-346+347)
-
XDR ("Extended Disk Recorder", 1989, now Fairlight
ESP):
(upgrade package for Series III, software Rev8 with dynamic channel
allocation, preliminary 8(16)-track version of MDR harddisk recording
software; typically ESP-xxx)
waveform supervisor (see above, CMI-41), new waveform RAM board
(8MB, CMI-43D, now 32MB possible with 7 slots), 24(12) channel
output router (arbitrary dynamic mapping/mixing of the 16 channel
outputs to 24(12) extra outputs, ESP-RT1), new 2-channel
analog + digital sample input + digital output module (56001 24-Bit
DSP, sample-rate conversion, ESP-348+349)
- MFX1
(also called "MFX" or "MFX.DR", 1990, hard
disk recording system/sampler)
(CMI Series III XDR and new MFX keyboard, 2/24 channels in/out
with 16 simultaneous and 8 tracks sustained output, software Rev9,
full CMI functionality, MDR hard disk recording software, support
for 2-channel digital audio output)
new "Mini-Floppy" controller (for PC-type floppy drives),
color graphics controller card (ESP-CG1, and new monitor), MFX
keyboard (generation 1)
- MFX2
(1992)
(improved MFX1, 2/24 channels in/out with 16 tracks sustained
output, software Rev10 and Rev11, full CMI functionality)
8slot/16Bit/25Bit waveform bus (64MB waveform+extension address
space), TurboSCSI card (NCR53C94 SCSI controller, higher SCSI
transfer rate for 16 tracks simultaneous and sustained output,
contains CMI-32 functionality, ESP-TS1), improved graphics card
(ESP-CG2/CG3), optional waveform accelerator card (96002 32-Bit
DSP, multiple banks of SRAM and WRAM, ESP-96K), MFX keyboard (generation
1)
- MFX3
(1994, digital audio workstation/hard disk recording system, not
to be confused with "MFX III" console)
(24 channels analog+digital 16-Bit in/out, software Rev12 and
Rev13, CMI functionality still supported in Rev12)
QASAR CPU (Q256, Q133, Q209), 2slot/8Bit/16Bit QASAR Bus, Waveform
Supervisor (CMI-41 or CMI-41R w/o CMI sample input), 8slot/16Bit/25Bit
waveform bus, SMPTE/MIDI (CMI-28), color graphics (ESP-CG3), TurboSCSI
card (ESP-TS1 or ESP-TSR w/o CMI-32 functionality), digital channel
cards (ADSP-21020 SHARC 32/40-Bit floating point DSP, multiple
banks of SRAM and WRAM, 4 channels audio I/O per card, ESP-DCC),
8Bit timesliced bus, digital audio I/O cards (4 channels
per card, 68HC11 control CPU, ESP-DIO), optional analog audio
I/O (ESP-AIO, daughter board for ESP-DIO), SYNC card (68030+68882
CPU+FPU, AES/EBU I/O, ESP-SYN), Digital MFX Synchronisation I/O
(frontend to SYNC, ESP-MIDI + ESP-PLL + ESP-9PIN + ESP-LTC), optional
CMI channel + WRAM cards, MFX keyboard (generation 1)
- MFX3plus
(1996)
(improved MFX3, revised MFX keyboard, 24 channels analog+digital
16...24-Bit in/out, no CMI functionality anymore, software Rev14)
Wave Executive (68040 control CPU, running OS-9/68K, PCI-Bus interface,
ESP-WX and ESP-RIO frontend, replacing: QASAR CPU + CMI-28 + CMI-41)
with new color graphics (ESP-CG4, replacing ESP-CG3), PCI bus
interface (PCI interface, 56002 DSP as PCI-to-waveform-bus DMA
bridge, ESP-PCI), optional TurboSCSI controller (ESP-TSR), optional
PCI SCSI controller, optional PCI 100MBit/s Ethernet controller,
MFX keyboard (generation 2)
- MFX3.48
(2000)
(improved MFX3plus, 48 channels analog+digital 24-Bit @48-96kHz
in/out, software Rev15)
QDC channel cards (8x ADSP-21061 SHARC 32/40-Bit floating point
DSP, 128MB private waveform RAM, 24 channels audio I/O per card,
max. 8 QDCs in system), MFX keyboard (generation 2)
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| Download |
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Please
see disclaimer for downloads
!
Also try this to find more software
on the KMI site.
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Programs,
Disk/Tape Images
PROM/EPROM/FPGA Images
Schematics, Datasheets
Sounds, Samples
-
OS9/MDR-DOS file system manager for ftp-like access to Fairlight
disks and for backup purposes: cmios9 (Rev.2.0)
(to be used with an image file or device, e.g. "cmios9 /dev/rz4c"
for access to drive rz4, read-only via -r option)
- OS9
module information, extraction, fix CRC: ident9
(Rev.55)
(for OS9/6809, OSK=OS9/68K, OSK J-modules, and OS9000 modules)
(bad CRC/header overwrite via -f, extract module via -x <modname>,
-s <start>, fix CRC via -c (OS9/9000) or -j (J-module))
- CMI
screendump to bmp converter: bmp9 (Rev.2)
- BMP-file
to MFX2 picfill picture converter: bmp2pic (Rev.1.0)
- MDR
MT-file tools (file info and MT-to-WAV converter): mdrtools
(Rev 1.0)
- CMI
Series III voice file information: voice (Rev.9)
- 6809
disassembler with automatic label generation: dis9
(Rev.1003)
originally posted to comp.sys.m6809 by Didier Derny (didier@aida.remcomp.fr),
minor hacks by Alan DeKok, changes by Klaus Michael Indlekofer
(KMI) (11-24-01)
(generates verbose output and assembler output,
compile options for "cc -O2 -o dis9 dis9.c":
-DOS9 for OS9 and CMI-specific extensions,
-DP1EXEC for CMI P1-task-specific extensions,
-DCMI31 for CMI-31 extensions.
-DQDOS for QDOS-specific extensions.
usage example: "dis9 myfile f123 ffff f000| more": disassemble
from $f123 to $ffff with $f000 at file begin.)
- DSP56001
disassembler: dis56 (Rev.31)
(still alpha-grade!)
- DSP96002
disassembler: dis96 (Rev.91)
(still alpha-grade!)
- CMI
Series III Alpha-keyboard code list
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links:
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| Pictures |
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Please
see disclaimer for downloads
!
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(QASAR)
M8:
Peter
Vogel's Failight gallery:
prototype
(with Tony Furse)
prototype (with Bruce Williams)
Fairlight's
QASAR M8 prototype
see also www.soundbyte.org
and AMOL:
switched on for Qasar II and M8
CMI (Series I)
www.corestore.org/w.htm:
front, boards
system
front panel
backside
monitor
Q096
Q014 (Rev2a)
CMI-01
CMI Series II:
System (Greg
Holmes)
cardcage (Peter
Vogel)
CMI-01-A (Joe
Britt)
other cards see CMI Series I
CMI Series IIx:
System (Greg
Holmes)
CMI-02
CMI-08 (Joe
Britt)
CMI-28
CMI-01-A (Joe
Britt)
CMI-07
Q256 (Joe Britt)
Q014 see CMI Series I
Q133 (Joe Britt)
Q209 (Joe Britt)
Q219 (Joe Britt)
QFC9
Q077
Q087
CMI Series III, XDR:
System (Greg
Holmes)
XDR:
Fairlight ESP News 1 (1990)
logo
CMI-39 (Rev2.5)
CMI-40
CMI-43D
WFM32 (Joe
Britt, Joe
Britt)
CMI-31 (Rev1.9, Rev2A,
Rev2A.4)
CMI-32 (Rev2)
CMI-33
CMI-41 (Rev1, Rev2.4)
CMI-28
CMI-07
Q256 (Joe Britt)
Q356 (Joe Britt)
Q014 see CMI Series I
Q133 (Joe Britt)
Q209 (Joe Britt)
Q219 (Joe
Britt)
QFC9
Q777
CMI-337
CMI-346+347
ESP-348+349 (Rev1.5), ESP-348,
ESP-348 solder-side
CMI-331 (Rev7.1)
CMI-334
ESP-RT1 (topview
with ESP-RT1B)
CMI-333
CMI-332
CMI-310
SMPSU (open cover w/o fans)
front view (Joe
Britt)
top view
bottom view, bottom
view with open SMPSU
back view (Greg
Holmes: first model)
connectors MFX version
drives: floppy, tape, harddisk
front panel
main switch, phones output
back control LEDs
Startup
logo (Rev9.34)
Sample page (Rev6
Joe Britt)
FFT page (Rev9.34)
MFX keyboard
MFX III sound design console (generation 0):
www.fairlight.free.fr: old
MFX keyboard
Fairlight
Newsletter 12 (1988)
MFX1/MFX2/MFX3 console (generation 1):
Peter Vogel: MFX1
keyboard + B/W monitor
www.fairlight.free.fr: MFX2
keyboard
Greg Holmes: MFX3
keyboard + monitor
MFX010 board (Rev1)
MFX2 keyboard inside (MFX040+LCDs
left, MFX020 right, MFX010 top)
MFX3plus/MFX3.48 console (generation 2):
www.fairlight.free.fr: MFX3plus
keyboard
www.fairlightesp.com.au: MFX3.48
keyboard
MFX1 (MFX.DR)
MFX.DR
announcement: Fairlight ESP News 1 (1990)
ESP-CG1
MFX2
www.fairlight.free.fr: MFX2
brochure cover
MFX2 main-frame (taken from
MFX2 brochure)
CMI-41 (Rev1, Rev2.4)
ESP-CG2
ESP-CG3 (Rev 3.0)
ESP-TS1 (Rev3.1T)
ESP-96K (Rev1)
MFX3
Greg Holmes: MFX3
keyboard + monitor
ESP-SYN
ESP-DCC
ESP-ACC
ESP-DIO
MFX3plus
keyboard + monitor (Peter
Vogel, fairlight.fr)
Fairlight
ESP Newsletter (November 1996)
review
MFX3.48
keyboard + monitor (fairlight.fr)
Fairlight
ESP News Bulletin
(IBC 2000 issue)
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