In the credÂits of Phil Collins’ No JackÂet Required appears the disÂclaimer that “there is no Fairlight on this record.” CrypÂtic though it may have appeared to most of that album’s many buyÂers, techÂnolÂoÂgy-mindÂed musiÂcians would’ve got it. In the half-decades since its introÂducÂtion, the Fairlight ComÂputÂer MusiÂcal InstruÂment, or CMI, had reshaped the sound of pop music — or at least the pop music creÂatÂed by acts who could afford one. The device may have cost as much as a house, but for those who underÂstood the potenÂtial of playÂing and manipÂuÂlatÂing the sounds of real-life instruÂments (or of anyÂthing else besides) digÂiÂtalÂly, monÂey was no object.
The hisÂtoÂry of the Fairlight CMI is told in the video above from the SydÂney MornÂing HerÂald and The Age, incorÂpoÂratÂing interÂviews from its AusÂtralian invenÂtors Peter Vogel and Kim Ryrie. AccordÂing to Ryrie, No JackÂet Required actuÂalÂly did use the Fairlight, in the sense that one of its musiÂcians samÂpled a sound from the Fairlight’s library. To musiÂcians, using the techÂnolÂoÂgy not yet wideÂly known as digÂiÂtal samÂpling would have felt like magÂic; to lisÂtenÂers, it meant a whole range of sounds they’d nevÂer heard before, or at least nevÂer used in that way. Take the “orchesÂtra hit” origÂiÂnalÂly samÂpled from a record of StravinÂsky’s The FireÂbird (and whose stoÂry is told in the Vox video just above), which soon became pracÂtiÂcalÂly inescapable.
We might call the orchesÂtra hit the Fairlight’s “killer app,” though its breathy, faintÂly vocal samÂple known as “ARR1” also saw a lot of action across genÂres. A desire for those parÂticÂuÂlar effects brought a lot of musiÂcians and proÂducÂers onto the bandÂwagÂon throughÂout the eightÂies, but it was the earÂly adopters who used the Fairlight most creÂativeÂly. The earÂliÂest among them was Peter Gabriel, who appears in the clip from the French docÂuÂmenÂtary above gathÂerÂing sounds to samÂple, blowÂing wind through pipes and smashÂing up teleÂviÂsions in a junkÂyard. Kate Bush embraced the Fairlight with a speÂcial ferÂvor, using not just its samÂpling capaÂbilÂiÂties but also its groundÂbreakÂing sequencÂing softÂware (includÂed from the Series II onward) to creÂate her 1985 hit “RunÂning Up That Hill,” which made a surÂprise return to popÂuÂlarÂiÂty just a few years ago.
The Fairlight’s high-proÂfile AmerÂiÂcan users includÂed SteÂvie WonÂder, Todd RundÂgren, and HerÂbie HanÂcock, who demonÂstrates his own modÂel alongÂside the late QuinÂcy Jones in the docÂuÂmenÂtary clip above. With its green-on-black monÂiÂtor, its giganÂtic flopÂpy disks, and its futurÂisÂtic-lookÂing “light pen” (as natÂurÂal a pointÂing device as any in an era when most of humanÂiÂty had nevÂer laid eyes on a mouse), it resemÂbles less a musiÂcal instruÂment than an earÂly perÂsonÂal comÂputÂer with a piano keyÂboard attached. It had its cumÂberÂsome qualÂiÂties, and some leaned rather too heavÂiÂly on its packed-in sounds, but as HanÂcock points out, a tool is a tool, and it’s all down to the human being in conÂtrol to get pleasÂing results out of it: “It doesÂn’t plug itself in. It doesÂn’t proÂgram itself… yet.” To which the always-preÂscient Jones adds: “It’s on the way, though.”
RelatÂed conÂtent:
Watch HerÂbie HanÂcock Demo a Fairlight CMI SynÂtheÂsizÂer on Sesame Street (1983)
How the YamaÂha DX7 DigÂiÂtal SynÂtheÂsizÂer Defined the Sound of 1980s Music
Thomas DolÂby Explains How a SynÂtheÂsizÂer Works on a Jim HenÂson Kids Show (1989)
How the Moog SynÂtheÂsizÂer Changed the Sound of Music
Based in Seoul, ColÂin Marshall writes and broadÂcasts on cities, lanÂguage, and culÂture. His projects include the SubÂstack newsletÂter Books on Cities and the book The StateÂless City: a Walk through 21st-CenÂtuÂry Los AngeÂles. FolÂlow him on the social netÂwork forÂmerÂly known as TwitÂter at @colinmarshall.
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