As far as composing music, it may not be Mozart, but KARMA is getting close. It's only a short step from improvising backing tracks that take their lead from the soloist's input, to producing new and original melody. Computers design chips for the next generation of computers, faster and more intricately than human designers could. We're beginning to get computers that are nearly too complex for us to understand their functioning. Why not a computer that can compose a symphony? Why not?
its tragic that they thought that a saxophone could be reproduced by sampling a single note. Its frustrating to encounter that kind of mentality, which is common even today.
Seems like both Jean Michel Jarre and Jan Hammer used the "Tibethan Chant" sound on their recordings. Jarre used it on Zoolook alboom, and Hammer used it on Miami Vice score.
I wuld love to get my hands on one of these. It;s so immediate. Kontakt etc are great but just library players really. The art of sampling seems to have got lost. What we need is a cool hardware sampler with super filters and loads of hands on control features. The CMI seems to have a sound of its own maybe because of the internal signal processing?
Yeah, the only thing is that for the past 30 years or so, it actually HAS put musicians out of work.
Now there really aren't very many "studio musicians" performing film scores. The performances are almost always done in the studio by the composer using sample libraries. This was already going on in the 80's but was still pretty obvious. Now, it's not so obvious to the casual listener.
That's really cool! it's amazing because it's so advanced and easy and natural now! Well, in 83 I was just a toddler and didn't even had any idea that something like that already existed! And now it's everywhere.
Great TV News..Thanks for sharing..great to see the studio from US or UK ,very intresting to see way of programing from they expensive studios, very very very great ..would be great see a recording session from new age ,guitar solo ,or keyborad solo ..
That system may look absurdly primitive today, but after the Moog synths with all those patch cords and the constantly malfunctioning Mellotrons (although I think the only song that Emerson uses a Mellotron on is "Diamond Hard Blue Apples Of The Moon" by the Nice), the Fairlight must seem like a godsend. Yeah, there are better emulators nowadays, but after all this was 1983. For God-sake, the reporter called the computer keyboard a typewriter!!!
This was 30 years ago, and what do we have now? Just listen to the music at ωωωִrixfmִcom Most music there sounds like having been generated automatically, including the lyrics. They are then produced in a studio and sung by some "pop star". Cheat!
(The link must be read and typed by hand, any copying and pasting will fail)
...and what do we have today? I guess listening to rixfm DOTcom will give a hint of how this sounds nowadays, seems most songs there are programmed and "composed" automatically, with estimated lyrics. Then they are sung by those popular artists.
To think that at the time this instrument of the future cost £100,000. Now any laptop costing £300 can do the same or better.
The original Fairlight was an 8-bit computer so its sampling capabilities were fairly limited by today's standards.
However when I saw first saw it on Tomorrow's World, it was being demonstrated by Kevin Peek of Sky, it just blew my mind away. He was using it to record animal and bird sounds and the fact one could change the waveform using a stylus was incredible.
what do you mean by better?? it can do the same thing but not better ....this machine has 16 bit 44.1 bitrate so its present technology but made 15 years ago . i have alot of synths both digital and analog ...but the fairlight and the buchla are unique ..
That's part of the reason technology is released over time.. it's more profitable for the company, sure, but it's also more affordable to the consumer..
As a result of paying well over $100,000 USD for one of them, you got at least 28 megs of memory.. It took so long for anyone to catch up.. On the other hand, I supposed that's because 1 meg cost $3000, right?
Then again, if you saw one when they were new, I'm sure I'm telling you nothing new. :)
Thank god for the Fairlight, but how funny is it that it didn't end up killing anything. In fact, if gave birth to the very thing that killed it: THE ENSONIQ MIRAGE!
You're thinking of Fred Emerson, that's Keith's half-brother. He also plays keys, but isn't very good. Computers actually played all the ELP keyboard parts.
not true. This is the dude from emerson, lake and palmer. Keith Emerson was the founding member of famous trio. And he played all the keyboard parts of ELP.
@pnnorton Except that Keith Emerson has little to no grasp of harmony. His entire pretentious shtick revolved around playing fast, but with no substance.
@RogueRotting360 So, you play very slowly with a lot of substance? Or is it that you are not a musician at all, but feel fully qualified to criticize those who dedicate years of effort to perfecting their craft? Go on, post one of your own videos and let's hear how substantial it is.
@gridsleep What utter nonsense. You're saying everyone who criticises Keith Emerson's tasteless keyboard playing should upload a video of their own recorded performances? Get a grip.
@RogueRotting360 Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying. Put up or shut up. I've enjoyed Emerson's performances for decades. I wouldn't kiss the hem of his robe, but I'll never hesitate to let people know how much he is admired.
Geez, what we thought sounded authentic in the eighties...! I remember when I first got my Juno 106 thinking it sounded like an orchestra. Fast forward to 2009 and the Vienna Symphonic library doing full orchestral mockups for film.
Treasure? You can get samplers 1000 times more powerful than this and implement them in sequencers far easier to use and far more powerful. The sounds are better and it doesn't take a computer programmer to make them work. Still want this? I may have a Commodore 64 or Atari Falcon to sell you.
True but I was responding to someone who considers this a treasure now. It's not a treasure anymore. A museum piece? Yes. I actually remember when this news bit came out. We were already complaining that computers would be writing music in the "future". Lo and behold.
It's a treasure to people like me (in part because it's a museum piece, but also because it represents the genesis of sampling and electronic music as we know it today).
The Fairlight was absurdly expensive and hard to use - a folly - but it has a special place in my heart :)
The whole "computer putting musicians out of business" thing dates back to the sixties with the Mellotron. It still takes a musician to play a Mellotron, Fairlight, etc. Of course, because of these technologies, we are able to have rap. Not really a good thing, IMHO.
...and some of those 1980's synthesized soundtracks (Ladyhawke, for example) are bad enough to keep real acoustic instruments and orchestras in business...
Nothing sounds as cheap as what my daughter calls "fake music."
@Voltor07 I can understand that u don't like rap (there's only a handful of good rappers anyway IMO) but not all rap uses samples. besides digital sampling technology has had a much greater impact on music than simply giving birth to hip-hop
It's kinda sad how the media and people who represent them were/are incompetent and don't understand the technology behind the phenomenon so questions come up about computers writing music, after witnessing a sample playback synth...sort of misleading.
All the fears that were talked about here never materialized. Machines aren't human and recordings always sound like recordings, digital or otherwise. They sound unnatural. Nothing beats the emotion and richness of live instruments.
Music is not the sound it's how you play it. Then again that would require that you actually know how to play an instrument. There is so much music that is generated by sequencers. It's like going to a museum to look at paint by number posters.
Nothing against Keith Emerson. I love ELP. I don't think he ever intended musicians to be taken out of the equation but programs like Fruity Loops and Acid have made that possible. It's a paint by numbers industry now.
Well, it started in the 80's for sure. You're showing your age. "composers of old". Too funny. There is a place for midi. Even for loop based material. I find fault with music that is based solely on samples. When a group takes a song that already has a history of success and builds upon that. I don't call that talent. I call that riding on the coat tails of someone else's success.
Explain "Stomp", The Blue Man Group or any industrial music you can think of. The sound is just a tool. If the person behind the sound is inept, that is the way the "music" will come out. But, apparently a bunch of guys who practice a lot on garbage can lids and brooms can make amazing music.
Of course, it's ABOUT the sound but the sound in itself does not comprise the music. An Orangutan on an organ does not make music though a small child on a piano can.
But thats another discussion altogether. Banging on garbage can lids can SOUND good (and does in this case)
Think of 70's Punk music. A lot of those bands could barley play, but they still made great songs. What I'm saying is that you don't have to be an amazing player to make amazing music. It doesn't bother me when music is made by sequencers, as long as its good music.
Complaining that people can't make music with computers is music elitism. Its the same as when rock 'n' roll started, the elitists hated it because it's "not proper music." Again, for me, as long as It's good music, It's good music. Who cares how it made/played?
This is really an interesting piece. I know the stuff featured here is archaic now, but I had no idea that this technology was available as far back as 1983. It probably has put some musicians out of work, but it's certainly helped me, as I use sequencing in my shows and I don't have to pay a keyboardist, horns, percussion, etc. Less mouths to feed is a good thing when you're a working musician.
For my fellow sound-freaks: my 2008 dance mix of Moments In Love by Art Of Noise, is basically my homage to the Fairlight ARR1preset (the breathy voice-like sound you hear on that record). I use original Fairlight samples to play a nice solo part with it. If you want to check it out - and my other tracks - simply look for the Matt Mix! Matt Pop.
@jhanalog hahahahaha I find that hard to believe, actually. can it draw waves and harmonics? Sampling, sure, but drawing waves and harmonics? that's the best part.
it's interesting that he only sampled 1 note from the sax. I always sampled 1 note from about 3 different octaves because the timbre changes so much when you get into the lower or higher registers. Maybe that idea came later than this.
That was me working as the engineer and doing the sampling demonstration. All the serious sampling was done as multi- samples across the keyboard. This was just a demo for NBC of the very new concept of sampling. I'm glad you liked this post. Check out my videos of Bob Moog and the Fairlight.
I have a question. Which was the film of which OST can we hear in this video? Nighthawks wasn't, because i have the album and it doesn't include this part of music we can hear here.
Funny how they never mentioned the name of the movie Emerson was scoring; pretty sure it's "Nighthawks". The series II Fairlight was 8 bits; series IIx was 8 bits plus companders added for noise reduction; series III was 16 bits.
"people always want to hear the real live instrument play, and see a person actually perform it" wow, that unfolded quite nasty didn't it Keith? thank you for helping introducing some crap called: techno/house/disco/club
8 bit maybe,but how was the fact this beast of sampler made sound very incredible?Please hear well what its were capable....even now yes we have 32bit but not the same results!Respect for this ancient rock_machine!
Computers could be an ally but a real artist, as Emerson is, do not depend on technology to create, so is Greg and Carl, and all the brilliant musicians of their era. True Artists like emerson, would never have to worry about technology, cause THEY are the creators of good music, not the machines. All those who lean on technology alone to create, are empty from every side you look at them, so is the rap for example: only, noice, boredom and violence is what they have for audiences.
Love Keith's brass sound on Fairlight. Sounds exactly like Fanfare For the Common Man by ELP. Except, the syth Keith used on that one was the Yamaha GX-1 syth
I can answer that, LOL. It's not the fairlight doing the composition. Emerson is a composer, composing the music. You can replace sounds, but it doesn't meant he equipment scored the film. He's clearly mixing up musicians and composers etc. And some musicians are composers too. So they were a bit simplistic here. It's 25 years later and tools like the fairlight, or still just tools.
Wolfy101, You're right of course but technology (including synths) has had a massive effect too. Early amplification meant that small ensembles could replace bigger bands in huge venues for example and nowadays most musical theatre shows have maybe 6 or 7 players ( including a couple of keys) where they would previoysly have had large orchestras. (Remember drummers saying drum machines would never catch on?!!)
greg said in the late 90's something about that line. never thought back in 1973 that anyone would ever be like that. ones personality in a computer, now we are! in our laptop,ipod,dvr,myspace and so on...
what a heap that thing was. it cost the price of a house when it was launched, you can get better software for free nowadays and a system to run it on for less than the monochrome monitor it came with. Still it was a laff sampling bizzare things and playing them back at C-3
yeah if i remember correctly, it was on sale for £25000 so back then, i guess you could get a house for that price but the Fairlight CMI was quite innovative for its time
Yep, i had huge fun sampling with pickups and transducers, recording sewing needles being dropped, playing it low down and getting what sounded like a truck load of scaffold tubes falling over. those were the days......... were was i ? oh yeah, i still think its a heap :o)
I remember using a fairlight at school. I was very depressed when I was thrown off of it. Now I have tons of VSTI's and I still remember the time of experiencing the fairlight.
yeah, but why dont most of those vst"samplers" actually sample from audio inputs? its so ridiculous. morgana seems to sample from inputs sure, but surely there should be way more than that?
I've been trying to watch it for a few days but it seems it's dead. Any chance on reposting it? That's the first time ever I hear of Emerson and The Fairlight together!!!!
As far as composing music, it may not be Mozart, but KARMA is getting close. It's only a short step from improvising backing tracks that take their lead from the soloist's input, to producing new and original melody. Computers design chips for the next generation of computers, faster and more intricately than human designers could. We're beginning to get computers that are nearly too complex for us to understand their functioning. Why not a computer that can compose a symphony? Why not?
gridsleep 1 month ago
Wow, a light pen. That takes me back. The strings sounded more like a glass harmonica, though.
gridsleep 1 month ago in playlist space
To see how music technology went from this to Digital Audio Workstations and pro synth keyboard software today is amazing.
SuperMe4lyfe 8 months ago
2:13 omg its the intro of "Lena" O_o
belpop16 9 months ago
Insightful comment at 3:15
infamycomms 11 months ago
Could someone tell me what movie he's actually scoring in this video? The song at 0:33 sounds like immense cheesy 80's power pop hahaha
rb1a1ba 1 year ago
NO LIMITS! well, not really.
smackyjack 1 year ago
its tragic that they thought that a saxophone could be reproduced by sampling a single note. Its frustrating to encounter that kind of mentality, which is common even today.
firehandszarb 1 year ago
Most expensive casiotone ever made.
mtsn 1 year ago
Seems like both Jean Michel Jarre and Jan Hammer used the "Tibethan Chant" sound on their recordings. Jarre used it on Zoolook alboom, and Hammer used it on Miami Vice score.
dvamateur 1 year ago
"sounds real, doesnt it?" shrugs
strictpolicy 1 year ago 2
Imagine going back in time and using ONE iphone to do ALL these things.
thiagotecnico 1 year ago
I wuld love to get my hands on one of these. It;s so immediate. Kontakt etc are great but just library players really. The art of sampling seems to have got lost. What we need is a cool hardware sampler with super filters and loads of hands on control features. The CMI seems to have a sound of its own maybe because of the internal signal processing?
waheex 1 year ago
Wow - they were touch screen. I didn't know that!
benskia 1 year ago
Yeah, the only thing is that for the past 30 years or so, it actually HAS put musicians out of work.
Now there really aren't very many "studio musicians" performing film scores. The performances are almost always done in the studio by the composer using sample libraries. This was already going on in the 80's but was still pretty obvious. Now, it's not so obvious to the casual listener.
InsertName125 1 year ago
That's really cool! it's amazing because it's so advanced and easy and natural now! Well, in 83 I was just a toddler and didn't even had any idea that something like that already existed! And now it's everywhere.
LadySamRu 1 year ago
Great TV News..Thanks for sharing..great to see the studio from US or UK ,very intresting to see way of programing from they expensive studios, very very very great ..would be great see a recording session from new age ,guitar solo ,or keyborad solo ..
thx and greetings
PatrickMusicJurney 1 year ago
2:14 the "tibet chant" sample is used in "Body", The Jacksons (Victory) !
messager3000 1 year ago
See kids? the segment @ 2:55/3:00 is how sampling's originally done.
egyptianminor 1 year ago
wow you can do that stuff now ???
exodus2142 1 year ago
That system may look absurdly primitive today, but after the Moog synths with all those patch cords and the constantly malfunctioning Mellotrons (although I think the only song that Emerson uses a Mellotron on is "Diamond Hard Blue Apples Of The Moon" by the Nice), the Fairlight must seem like a godsend. Yeah, there are better emulators nowadays, but after all this was 1983. For God-sake, the reporter called the computer keyboard a typewriter!!!
thatmuse76 1 year ago
I want!!!!!!
workidsaworkieticket 1 year ago
This was 30 years ago, and what do we have now? Just listen to the music at ωωωִrixfmִcom Most music there sounds like having been generated automatically, including the lyrics. They are then produced in a studio and sung by some "pop star". Cheat!
(The link must be read and typed by hand, any copying and pasting will fail)
MinEgenKanal 1 year ago
@MinEgenKanal it was 27 years ago.... fail
coolbluelights 1 year ago
This was 30 years ago...
...and what do we have today? I guess listening to rixfm DOTcom will give a hint of how this sounds nowadays, seems most songs there are programmed and "composed" automatically, with estimated lyrics. Then they are sung by those popular artists.
MinEgenKanal 1 year ago
E w/o L & O
Hot80s 2 years ago
Hot80s, I think you mean "P" ?
djcsr 2 years ago
your right! i got my wires crossed and thought of electric light O.
MontrealMan1970 2 years ago
I used to play/program a fairlight in the 80's & 90s. That was an amazing machine! I miss it.
maddogmcrae 2 years ago
3:05 hahah, 50% of the disney orchest got fierd couse the samples these days are good enough
thephaseshifter 2 years ago
a £300 using laptop running fl studio na mate!
geofferzh79 2 years ago
To think that at the time this instrument of the future cost £100,000. Now any laptop costing £300 can do the same or better.
The original Fairlight was an 8-bit computer so its sampling capabilities were fairly limited by today's standards.
However when I saw first saw it on Tomorrow's World, it was being demonstrated by Kevin Peek of Sky, it just blew my mind away. He was using it to record animal and bird sounds and the fact one could change the waveform using a stylus was incredible.
williamgeorgefraser 2 years ago
what do you mean by better?? it can do the same thing but not better ....this machine has 16 bit 44.1 bitrate so its present technology but made 15 years ago . i have alot of synths both digital and analog ...but the fairlight and the buchla are unique ..
MalteSer001 2 years ago
@williamgeorgefraser
That's part of the reason technology is released over time.. it's more profitable for the company, sure, but it's also more affordable to the consumer..
As a result of paying well over $100,000 USD for one of them, you got at least 28 megs of memory.. It took so long for anyone to catch up.. On the other hand, I supposed that's because 1 meg cost $3000, right?
Then again, if you saw one when they were new, I'm sure I'm telling you nothing new. :)
ORUPRANKSTAZ 2 years ago
any music at one point was "wrong" and all instruments were new at one point
MitchTenderness 2 years ago
I love to work with the CMI... even todays sampler can't compete with it... this old ugly box is way more faster than all samplers i've ever used
Tittlekopf 2 years ago
Another Australian invention.
lensdarkly 2 years ago
Intresting.
C.K.
ChristianAether 2 years ago
Thank god for the Fairlight, but how funny is it that it didn't end up killing anything. In fact, if gave birth to the very thing that killed it: THE ENSONIQ MIRAGE!
screenwriter09 2 years ago
Isnt this the dude from emerson lake & palmer?
chucharaO2 2 years ago
You're thinking of Fred Emerson, that's Keith's half-brother. He also plays keys, but isn't very good. Computers actually played all the ELP keyboard parts.
cyberwing777 2 years ago
not true. This is the dude from emerson, lake and palmer. Keith Emerson was the founding member of famous trio. And he played all the keyboard parts of ELP.
SLOFILM 2 years ago
Don't listen to that guy, he's senile
shwilly 2 years ago 5
No he's joking.
Roddors 2 years ago
there is only one keith really
newageworld 2 years ago
Let's face it Keith Emerson is the equivalent of an entire orchestra. That is the only reason this works!
pnnorton 2 years ago 13
@pnnorton Except that Keith Emerson has little to no grasp of harmony. His entire pretentious shtick revolved around playing fast, but with no substance.
RogueRotting360 10 months ago
@RogueRotting360 So, you play very slowly with a lot of substance? Or is it that you are not a musician at all, but feel fully qualified to criticize those who dedicate years of effort to perfecting their craft? Go on, post one of your own videos and let's hear how substantial it is.
gridsleep 1 month ago
@gridsleep What utter nonsense. You're saying everyone who criticises Keith Emerson's tasteless keyboard playing should upload a video of their own recorded performances? Get a grip.
RogueRotting360 1 month ago
@RogueRotting360 Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying. Put up or shut up. I've enjoyed Emerson's performances for decades. I wouldn't kiss the hem of his robe, but I'll never hesitate to let people know how much he is admired.
gridsleep 1 month ago
@gridsleep I'm not denying he's admired, I just don't think he's a very interesting musician.
RogueRotting360 1 month ago
@pnnorton
And much like a whole orchestra, he spends more time playing the music of classicals composers rather than his own.
thatmuse76 8 months ago
@thatmuse76 yeah and much unlike you, hes famous and can do whatever he wants to
totaLybeetLeJuice 6 months ago
robots are taking over the world. they are quietly replacing emerson with a robot right now as we speak.[ROBOT VOICE***AFFIRMATIVE***]
Ureallydontknow 2 years ago
Brain Salad Surgery!
jax1moi8 2 years ago
Very cool.
Thanks for posting.
unamacarana 3 years ago
Good!
Aleciano 3 years ago
Geez, what we thought sounded authentic in the eighties...! I remember when I first got my Juno 106 thinking it sounded like an orchestra. Fast forward to 2009 and the Vienna Symphonic library doing full orchestral mockups for film.
kujotek 3 years ago 3
brilliant...!
VBreyer 3 years ago
Fanfare for the Common Man @ 1:23
GrayLeader2184 3 years ago 2
it does a pretty good creaking chair
ybot1983 3 years ago 2
can i still find this treasure?
MPOURNOUZIS 3 years ago
Treasure? You can get samplers 1000 times more powerful than this and implement them in sequencers far easier to use and far more powerful. The sounds are better and it doesn't take a computer programmer to make them work. Still want this? I may have a Commodore 64 or Atari Falcon to sell you.
hueseph 2 years ago
Now you can, but 27 years ago the Fairlight was state-of-the-art. That's why it cost $25,000.
cyberwing777 2 years ago
True but I was responding to someone who considers this a treasure now. It's not a treasure anymore. A museum piece? Yes. I actually remember when this news bit came out. We were already complaining that computers would be writing music in the "future". Lo and behold.
hueseph 2 years ago
It's a treasure to people like me (in part because it's a museum piece, but also because it represents the genesis of sampling and electronic music as we know it today).
The Fairlight was absurdly expensive and hard to use - a folly - but it has a special place in my heart :)
uttermadnes 2 years ago
The whole "computer putting musicians out of business" thing dates back to the sixties with the Mellotron. It still takes a musician to play a Mellotron, Fairlight, etc. Of course, because of these technologies, we are able to have rap. Not really a good thing, IMHO.
Voltor07 3 years ago 29
Rap? Not a good thing at all.
BlackmoonUK 2 years ago
Or if you really want to rewind, the invention of the Chamberlin back in 1946 which inspired the Mellotron.
Stratman78 2 years ago
Can't forget the Rhythmicon, either. That was going to replace drummers.
Voltor07 2 years ago
...and some of those 1980's synthesized soundtracks (Ladyhawke, for example) are bad enough to keep real acoustic instruments and orchestras in business...
Nothing sounds as cheap as what my daughter calls "fake music."
jonahbegone 1 year ago
@Voltor07 I can understand that u don't like rap (there's only a handful of good rappers anyway IMO) but not all rap uses samples. besides digital sampling technology has had a much greater impact on music than simply giving birth to hip-hop
Tranzphonic 1 year ago
It's kinda sad how the media and people who represent them were/are incompetent and don't understand the technology behind the phenomenon so questions come up about computers writing music, after witnessing a sample playback synth...sort of misleading.
szojkatomi 3 years ago
amazing !
54spiritedwill54 3 years ago
All the fears that were talked about here never materialized. Machines aren't human and recordings always sound like recordings, digital or otherwise. They sound unnatural. Nothing beats the emotion and richness of live instruments.
kirkmach32 3 years ago 2
if we could only use "live" instruments, music would be pretty boring.
God bless electronic intruments.
Reeno
MARANTZamp 2 years ago
Music is not the sound it's how you play it. Then again that would require that you actually know how to play an instrument. There is so much music that is generated by sequencers. It's like going to a museum to look at paint by number posters.
Nothing against Keith Emerson. I love ELP. I don't think he ever intended musicians to be taken out of the equation but programs like Fruity Loops and Acid have made that possible. It's a paint by numbers industry now.
hueseph 2 years ago
true...it's how you play it, but the sound for me is at least 50% of the package.
Good sounds are very important.
MARANTZamp 2 years ago
That describes it perfectly. well said.
supahfly1972 2 years ago
So all the composers of old started this "paint by numbers industry."
ossilation 2 years ago
Well, it started in the 80's for sure. You're showing your age. "composers of old". Too funny. There is a place for midi. Even for loop based material. I find fault with music that is based solely on samples. When a group takes a song that already has a history of success and builds upon that. I don't call that talent. I call that riding on the coat tails of someone else's success.
hueseph 2 years ago
"Music is not about the sound, It's how you play it."
What??
It's all about the sound!
Just because someone can't play like ELP doesn't mean they cant make good music!
As far as I'm concerned, If its good music, then its good music, no matter how it's played.
StuartFerguson88 2 years ago
Explain "Stomp", The Blue Man Group or any industrial music you can think of. The sound is just a tool. If the person behind the sound is inept, that is the way the "music" will come out. But, apparently a bunch of guys who practice a lot on garbage can lids and brooms can make amazing music.
hueseph 2 years ago
Incidentally, what I said was:
"Music is not the sound"
I did NOT say:
"Music is not ABOUT the sound"
Of course, it's ABOUT the sound but the sound in itself does not comprise the music. An Orangutan on an organ does not make music though a small child on a piano can.
hueseph 2 years ago
But thats another discussion altogether. Banging on garbage can lids can SOUND good (and does in this case)
Think of 70's Punk music. A lot of those bands could barley play, but they still made great songs. What I'm saying is that you don't have to be an amazing player to make amazing music. It doesn't bother me when music is made by sequencers, as long as its good music.
StuartFerguson88 2 years ago
Complaining that people can't make music with computers is music elitism. Its the same as when rock 'n' roll started, the elitists hated it because it's "not proper music." Again, for me, as long as It's good music, It's good music. Who cares how it made/played?
StuartFerguson88 2 years ago 2
what is a "live instrument"?
Look at rock N roll these days...live instruments don't always amount to much...coldplay ring a bell?
MARANTZamp 2 years ago
"when Emerson didn't like the way the orchestra played part of the music for the movie he reproduced the entire orchestra."
Damn, that's a bit vindictive. Don't piss this guy off.
andocrates 3 years ago 3
i thot keith was aware that it didn't sound like the instrument and thats why he used it. was he joking? :0( <disalousioned
angelicb4me 3 years ago
QUOTE i thot keith was aware that it didn't sound like the instrument and thats why he used it. was he joking? :/QUOTE
That was the Moog. ELP was a moog band, here he's going for realism.
andocrates 3 years ago
Good points. ELP used synthesizers for unique tones and textures acoustic instruments can't provide.
written12 3 years ago 2
This is really an interesting piece. I know the stuff featured here is archaic now, but I had no idea that this technology was available as far back as 1983. It probably has put some musicians out of work, but it's certainly helped me, as I use sequencing in my shows and I don't have to pay a keyboardist, horns, percussion, etc. Less mouths to feed is a good thing when you're a working musician.
governorgilf 3 years ago
For my fellow sound-freaks: my 2008 dance mix of Moments In Love by Art Of Noise, is basically my homage to the Fairlight ARR1preset (the breathy voice-like sound you hear on that record). I use original Fairlight samples to play a nice solo part with it. If you want to check it out - and my other tracks - simply look for the Matt Mix! Matt Pop.
producermattpop 3 years ago
I have a Casio that can do that.
Snotra 3 years ago
thats nice, my iPhone can do all that now !!!
jhanalog 3 years ago 4
@jhanalog hahahahaha I find that hard to believe, actually. can it draw waves and harmonics? Sampling, sure, but drawing waves and harmonics? that's the best part.
VacTrooper 1 year ago
@jhanalog what app do you have that does sampling and key mapping?
tlorg 9 months ago
@jhanalog yes i'm sure your iphone would sound exactly the same LOL
Radicdj 8 months ago
@Snotra And i have a Fairlight... you failed!! BTW: Love that Tibet3 Loop ^^
Tittlekopf 1 year ago
@Snotra
I think you should look at this more closely.
bishopdante 1 year ago
@Snotra but you can't furnish your place with a casio..
TheMaxhood 9 months ago
The wonders of youtube never cease. Thanks for posting this!
Salmagundiii 3 years ago 2
it's interesting that he only sampled 1 note from the sax. I always sampled 1 note from about 3 different octaves because the timbre changes so much when you get into the lower or higher registers. Maybe that idea came later than this.
At any rate, awesome post, thanks!
feelie75 3 years ago 2
That was me working as the engineer and doing the sampling demonstration. All the serious sampling was done as multi- samples across the keyboard. This was just a demo for NBC of the very new concept of sampling. I'm glad you liked this post. Check out my videos of Bob Moog and the Fairlight.
jhanalog 3 years ago 6
I have a question. Which was the film of which OST can we hear in this video? Nighthawks wasn't, because i have the album and it doesn't include this part of music we can hear here.
SLOFILM 2 years ago
It was Murderrock or Best Revenge
EugenCluster 2 years ago
@jhanalog I wonder what the name of the song that Emerson play here are?
nostalgikeren 1 year ago
Funny how they never mentioned the name of the movie Emerson was scoring; pretty sure it's "Nighthawks". The series II Fairlight was 8 bits; series IIx was 8 bits plus companders added for noise reduction; series III was 16 bits.
synthforhire 3 years ago
"people always want to hear the real live instrument play, and see a person actually perform it" wow, that unfolded quite nasty didn't it Keith? thank you for helping introducing some crap called: techno/house/disco/club
HammondB200 3 years ago
techno may be crap, but disco is awesome.
MARANTZamp 2 years ago
I bet Keith Emerson had his Fairlight in the 1990s for the music for season 1 of the Iron Man Animated Series.
Sulaco516 3 years ago
I couldn't agree more!
ctspf 3 years ago
At 1:43 it sounds like the inside of the castle on Super Mario 64.
Amishman35 3 years ago
Wow those trumpets sounded totally gm. Lol.
coolshit28 3 years ago
8 bit maybe,but how was the fact this beast of sampler made sound very incredible?Please hear well what its were capable....even now yes we have 32bit but not the same results!Respect for this ancient rock_machine!
LuxX63 3 years ago
Impressive how good the synth sounded with it's limited digital range. I think it may have only been able to handle 8 bit samples and 8 bit output.
MichaelJHuman 3 years ago
yup, but i think in the start of digtal era some of them just used digital circuits to drive analog oscilators _=?
cybercow222 3 years ago
Computers could be an ally but a real artist, as Emerson is, do not depend on technology to create, so is Greg and Carl, and all the brilliant musicians of their era. True Artists like emerson, would never have to worry about technology, cause THEY are the creators of good music, not the machines. All those who lean on technology alone to create, are empty from every side you look at them, so is the rap for example: only, noice, boredom and violence is what they have for audiences.
pontianlucy 3 years ago
these computers are getting so advanced...they may not even be green one day...
benjaminshinobi 4 years ago 5
What was the input to the screen? a little IR pen?
benjaminshinobi 4 years ago
A light pen.
Sulaco516 3 years ago
"Keith Emerson an engineer and programmer" haha had heard that before...and here's me thinking he was a composer and piano player.
ozmitch 4 years ago
He said " Keith Emerson, an engineer and a programmer" as in THREE people.
FlatTube2 4 years ago 4
Love Keith's brass sound on Fairlight. Sounds exactly like Fanfare For the Common Man by ELP. Except, the syth Keith used on that one was the Yamaha GX-1 syth
JIF882 4 years ago 2
There is also a video of Peter Gabriel using the fairlight here on youtube, that's just as amazing
backslash68 4 years ago
Wish there was one w/ Geoff Downes. He used it on bits of the Yes album Drama
JIF882 4 years ago
thats some old boyd footage as well
bentsynth 4 years ago
I can answer that, LOL. It's not the fairlight doing the composition. Emerson is a composer, composing the music. You can replace sounds, but it doesn't meant he equipment scored the film. He's clearly mixing up musicians and composers etc. And some musicians are composers too. So they were a bit simplistic here. It's 25 years later and tools like the fairlight, or still just tools.
flyp1001 4 years ago
What is title of the song in background?
mistrzkamil93 4 years ago
amazing !
VddEnergise 4 years ago
20 years later, you could just add a usb "piano" keyboard and some software and voila... you've got a Fairlight. Big up the poster.
EcksAddikMcAddik 4 years ago 2
It's not the synthesizer that put musicians out of business, it was MTV, corporate suits, and the internet. We didn't see that one comming did we?
Wolfy101 4 years ago 8
Wolfy101, You're right of course but technology (including synths) has had a massive effect too. Early amplification meant that small ensembles could replace bigger bands in huge venues for example and nowadays most musical theatre shows have maybe 6 or 7 players ( including a couple of keys) where they would previoysly have had large orchestras. (Remember drummers saying drum machines would never catch on?!!)
Mogpiano 4 years ago
What about timber?
johnarthurknight 4 years ago
Hahaha :D "Is music still music if its played by computers?"
Downmaster 4 years ago
hillarius music!!
vvintage128 4 years ago
Hillariously Funny $:-) sounds real doesn't it €;~/
PAULLONDEN 4 years ago
what movie is this for, whats the song called
sandyroad 4 years ago
I guess it didn't put musicians out of business, they all just adapted to leanr how to play keyboard :P
saltmiser 4 years ago
Ohhh, to worship at the shrine of the Fairlight.
elGUAPOgigante 4 years ago
Load your program. I am yourself.
BillyShears06 4 years ago 4
*Laughs* The perfect timing for that lyric.
TonyNewman 4 years ago
greg said in the late 90's something about that line. never thought back in 1973 that anyone would ever be like that. ones personality in a computer, now we are! in our laptop,ipod,dvr,myspace and so on...
socalltd 4 years ago
"I am perfect, now are you?"
Stratman78 2 years ago
do anyone have the film best revenge a.k.a. misdeal?
theschool123 4 years ago
This clearly put all musicians out of business.
xajinsu 4 years ago
the ones that only followed sheet music.. If there was human thought, or composition behind it then no.
flyp1001 4 years ago
"one may even estimate the royalties as you play the song" sweeet!
cityzenart 4 years ago
"this typewriter" hahahaha
jordanhedlund 4 years ago
yea thats hard out funny, its kinda amusing how people were a little scared of computers back then
toamaori 4 years ago
I like the Sesame Street clip where Herbie Handcock records little Tatiana Ali's name, and plays it back, and the little kids giggle.
I like this CMI cuz you can perform the sounds of horns without all the attitude of the musicians.
DancingSpiderman 4 years ago
we've come a long way. Look at todays Melodyne f.i.
amazing.
thomashagenbeek 4 years ago
what a heap that thing was. it cost the price of a house when it was launched, you can get better software for free nowadays and a system to run it on for less than the monochrome monitor it came with. Still it was a laff sampling bizzare things and playing them back at C-3
gordongate 4 years ago
Let's not discuss the cost of ONE meg of ram.
ORUPRANKSTAZ 4 years ago
you know it!
gordongate 4 years ago
yeah if i remember correctly, it was on sale for £25000 so back then, i guess you could get a house for that price but the Fairlight CMI was quite innovative for its time
Gatdecor 4 years ago
Yep, i had huge fun sampling with pickups and transducers, recording sewing needles being dropped, playing it low down and getting what sounded like a truck load of scaffold tubes falling over. those were the days......... were was i ? oh yeah, i still think its a heap :o)
gordongate 4 years ago
Correction - totally revolutionary - first of its kind! :)
tubey2007 4 years ago
Let's not discuss the price of a meg of ram back then.
Lol. They eventually made it expandable to 64 meg.
PaulJonProductions 4 years ago
oh the power the power
gordongate 4 years ago
it still has a sound of its on. I imagine most early Peter Gabriel wouldn't sound the same with a VST sampler. In fact it doesn't
sleestack808 2 years ago
I remember using a fairlight at school. I was very depressed when I was thrown off of it. Now I have tons of VSTI's and I still remember the time of experiencing the fairlight.
vividesigner 4 years ago
consider yourself lucky you got to even touch it. :-)
flyp1001 4 years ago
yeah, but why dont most of those vst"samplers" actually sample from audio inputs? its so ridiculous. morgana seems to sample from inputs sure, but surely there should be way more than that?
youarelackluster 3 years ago
Nice clip..
markduff 4 years ago
emerson legend
EnnesymousError 4 years ago
It doesn't matter what video I check out, there's always a bunch of hate in the comments. Great job, humanity. No wonder we don't progress.
sentient 4 years ago 4
lol
rusticman 4 years ago
You got it right. On every video on youtube I'd sat 80 percent are haters. It's ridiculous.
kennedy78757 4 years ago 2
so true. In light of this enlightenment. Die Fag!
kIDDING
sleestack808 2 years ago
Love the way the presenter calls the computer keyboard a 'typewriter!'
UncleFeedle 5 years ago
I've been trying to watch it for a few days but it seems it's dead. Any chance on reposting it? That's the first time ever I hear of Emerson and The Fairlight together!!!!
xanski 5 years ago