I came across this video and it just blew my mind, because I just now learned how so many of the 80’s famous disco and electronic songs were made.
I saw a perfect parallel between this machine and Sonic Pi, and how far technology has taken us. I’m not up to the task (music ability wise) but a demonstration of the Fairlight CMI and Sonic Pi, simultaneously on stage, would propel Sonic Pi to an even greater audience. Someone somewhere must have a working Fairlight machine! An event like this would be incredible.
The Fairlight has always been mythical and magical
I wonder if anyone ever performed with one live? If not, then perhaps a fairer comparison is with modern studio production software such as Ableton Live and Logic Pro.
Personally, I think it’s interesting to see that Sonic Pi already has many of the features of the Fairlight, yet all packaged in a system which focusses on live playback and performance.
thank you both for sharing the videos, I found them both very interesting. Fairlight CMI is pretty much a synth unicorn that I just knew from some magazines, but never had the chance to see such a beast in the wild…
Very inspiring to get an idea what the workflow was like (and how much of that is still present in the way DAWs are used these days).
Enjoy