Arturia CMI V | Enjoying Fairlight sample library 

I was enjoying playing around with the CMI V last night. Didn't explore the samples category because I didn't know how before your video, and I think a user can load their own personal samples as well. Wouldn't mind Arturia releasing modeled versions of their polybrute, matrixbrute, and perhaps others.

Awesome sampler, way ahead of its time! And that famous ARR1 choir sound @ 27:21, used in tons of tracks from the 80's ;) Tears For Fears' "Shout", Art of Noise's "Moments in Love" as you mentioned, and many others... and, for French people around there, Daniel Balavoine's "Sauvez l'Amour" ;)

that choir5 sound at 26:49 blew me away. Thanks Woody for opening my eyes to this.

31:48 this string appears in The Dreaming by Kate Bush, she used Fairlight a lot in her songs

If you were a fan of Miami Vice you'll instantly recognize the sound ARR1 in the chorals samples. I love that breathy sound used in Crocketts theme and I still can't seem to recreate it. Maybe I needed to go 8bit!

13:20 I just got a call from Neil Tennant, he's got a fabulous idea for a song, I believe it's called "Suburbia". Might not really catch on with all the barking, though.

The Fairight sampler still sounds amazing today.

I will always hold the CMI Fairlight the one instrument that changed my outlook on music and genius of Kate Bush and what she was able to produce from it in the studio.

I hardly ever comment twice on the same upload, but THIS... Well Arturia CMI V is just stunning. I'm really, really impressed! Even more so with the original Fairlight device! Really, really ahead of its time!

what an extremely advanced sampler, way ahead of their time.

I own the arturia version too and i am blown away. Its also cool to recognize so many sounds from many 80s hits

This channel is so wholesome it makes me happy.

The "bizarre" sample appears in Jarre's album "Zoolook" :) Even having a powerful sampler at that time, he couldn't prevent from using a preset! LOL...he did that again with some presets from the Roland D-50 for the album "Revolutions".... BTW, a great plugin, sounds really nice!! ;) Thanks Gareth.

When the Art Of Noise released Beatbox/Moments In Love there was this tectonic shift in pop music that lasted well into the 90s. I mean certainly you had other recordings like Owner Of the Lonely Heart. But those orchestra hits and the guitar chords on Owner Of the Lonely Heart chisel out sculptures on the sonic granite that isn't easily forgotten.

BTW yes I watched to the end - so be amazed LOL ;) You're videos are always great viewing / listening, thank you.

I just had to post this while listening to this. What a quote. "For once, lo-fi is good-fi". That's wonderful! Poetic truth. :)

I've actually got the Arturia V8 collection and this is one of my favourite vst's. I've just read Thomas Dolbys book (speed of sound ) and it's got me back on creating music again with the CMI. I love the ARR1 sound TD used in on Screen kiss it's just a beautiful sound. Always fab videos Woody cheers

The mother of all layers ... :) Nearly laughed my head off there.

I really enjoyed watching this, brings back a lot of good memories! Back in that time I was listening to Frankie Goes To Hollywood a lot. I read Trevor Horn used the Fairlight CMI for their music as well. Although other nowadays exotic instruments like the Emulator, the Synclavier and the PPG Wave were used even more extensively. These three would be great candidates for a review, too. I would definitely be looking forward to it! Thanks a lot for bringing up all these entertaining videos!

13:52 Kate Bush-"Under Ice" cello/upright bass sound. 14:04 Dead or Alive- "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" slap bass sound!

18:50 Brasfal1 patch was used in Terminator 2 Movie at low pitch

Last week I was playing on an original Fairlight at an expo. Samples like Art of noise, close to the edit...'tum tum'. MJ Beat it intro clang. And the brass stab that was used several octaves down to make the Terminator drone that slides down in pitch. The best fun!

Pure gold- an element of seriousness in the delivery not like the fake-peppy presenters of today. Kerian Prendeville exuded a casual gravitas.

I too remember seeing the Fairlight on Tomorrows World when it was originally broadcast, was it really in 1980... Wow.

instant 80's

Well that half hour went fast. Such magical sounds.

I had this playing on the TV and the 10 year old came in to watch and listen. He was amazed. I remember being amazed by a demo of the real Fairlight when I was a kid. He was even more amazed when I said I have that if you want to try it out ☝🏼😄

27:38 "I'm playing all the right notes... but not necessarily in the right order." Happy Christmas and New Year, Woody. ;)

21:54 - The beginning of "Tiger Tiger" by Duran Duran.

I think the tomorrow's world presenter is not quite correct because the Fairlight sounds are actually recordings, digitally recorded sounds that we call these days 'samples'. The CMI Fairlight was a sophisticated sampling synthesizor.

Relevant trivia: Jan Hammer's most well known use of the Fairlight is actually it's additive synthesis engine. He used it to make the arpeggio/sequence line to the Miami Vice Theme. Of course, he also used the Fairlight for the orchestra sample stack punctuating the end of the song as well. Throughout his time scoring the weekly series, Hammer made extensive use of the Fairlight's samples. The same vocal sample Art of Noise used for their song Moments In Love was used by Hammer to provide the main melody for Crockett's Theme. He even amassed his own sample library (largely by accident) as he carried on scoring Miami Vice for 5 out of it's 6 year run.

I always wanted a Fairlight CMI when I was a kid :)

Great demo Woody👍🏻 I remember the orch hit being on everything back then lol. One that springs to mind is Jon Andersons(from Yes) Do You Want to Be a Hero from the Biggles movie😆

Woody, i don't know why but i've always hated vst synths but this CMI just AMAZING, so atmospheric, so inspiring! Maybe that's because it based on real samples, thank you!

That BELLTREE sample at16:00 is the first sound you hear in OMD’s ‘So in love’.

So much Art Of Noise in here

Excellent research into the background of this extraordinary instrument and a good introductory demonstration. I'll definitely look into Arturia's product so I can get my piece of the Fairlight. It was actually the first set of orchestral hits that you auditioned that were frequented ( on 90s rap/hip_hop ). But yes you did hear the last set of orchestral hits on Play At Your Own Risk and Planet Rock

Getting serious ‘Look Around You’ vibes from that 80s show. Where’s Synthesizer Patel when you need him!

great vintage sounds , thanks for the video!

Thanks for this, Woody. I’m now ready to buy this.

That brass fall @18:53 was most famously used as the eerie noise that plays in Terminator 2 when the T-1000 is on screen

I've bought this following your review, Woody. Thanks! I'm just about old enough to remember this the first time around!

Thank you so much for this Woody. As you know I enjoy all of your videos, I think though this is my favourite. Arturia may have brought this amazing product back to life, but if I go out and buy it, it will be through this video. I cannot tell you how badly I wanted one of these all those years ago, all the memories have just come flooding back. Many thanks for this! Oh and I cant be sure, but that 'bell' you chose I believe was used in the original 'Bagpuss' Children's TV programme!

2:28 The dog sound from Goosebumps.

Amazing. Thanks for the heads up on this product and an informative demo 👍

Trevor Horn produced "Owner of a Lonely Heart" which that awesome horn stab sample was on. Very clever, Arturia.

"Date modified 01/01/1985" Delightful :D

Thanks for the great video - they are always entertaining and informative! I was checking this out specifically because the entire V collection 7 is currently on sale for half off - so only $100 more than buying the CMI on its own and I wanted to actually see their CMI recreation in action. Your video is better than anything they have put out!

Yup that reverb on that CMI fairlight program sounds rather gnarly! 🙂🎵🙂

And the most famous of them all, could it be the Sakuhashi? Love Fairlight. This will be a part of my arsenal very soon. Thx for a nice walk through.

It's fun to illustrate Arturia's CMI V program with the BBC demonstration video (1'35"). Because the machine that has served to do modeling and testing is precisely what comes from the BBC. I checked the serial number is the same.

Another proudly Australian invention.

Thank’s a lot as always for your time and effort doing this demos!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Very interesting and helpful. I'm testing the demo version. I sampled my voice and very easily made a choir. I remember spending hours of fun programming the Ensoniq ASR sampler. I'm very tempted to buy it even if I do mostly acoustic jazz. Just for fun.

we have a lot to be thankful for. with onset of samplers digital to analog convertors etc etc... but more importantly if computers had'nt been invented all this would never of happened.

Al Jourgensen used the Fairlight CMI exclusively for Ministry’s Twitch.

There was a good deal of collaboration between Yes and the Art Of Noise centered around the Series ll Fairlight.

Kieran Prendiville went on to write "Ballykissangel". What a legend.

Wasn't the Fairlight used extensively in Jane Child's "Don't Wanna Fall In Love?" Man that was an amazing track. I don't know that I've ever heard anyone try to recreate that? A Challenge!

26:40 Am I in a dream? Loved that performance, the reverb fits so well! I recognise a lot of these sounds from Amiga modules too! Of course, stuff like the bass and choirs came from the CMI originally, but the one guitar.. I can't remember it from the CMI IIX sample library (which is free to download and public domain if people only want the sounds!) BELL3 reminds me of the 'Vibraphone' from the D-50, btw. I wonder if it was used as a base?

3min of sampling was for sure an eternity back then. To me, by far the best CMI user and exponent is Peter Gabriel. He probably is the owner of THE mother of all Fairlight CMI self made libraries. I wish one day he decides to make them public. Does anyone knows?

31:50 orchestral hits - One of the most famous examples can be found in the song "Hello Again" by The Cars - At 2 min 57 secs on THAT video (not here) a guy in black shirt turns towards the camera and you hear that sound. They used many many of these fairlight sounds on 'Hello Again' and album. They also recorded their own voices and sound into the fairlight. Something that Arturia, unfortunately, does not allow. The cars were one of the first groups to do this. michelle jean zarre was an earlier example and it used much of the library. The cars video with fairlight sounds - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-KXpJ0bM5zbM.html

Love this - even though I bought the Arturia collection, it was fun watching you plow through so many great samples. Two highlights for me: 1. When the guy on the video you shared selected to Load and you immediately hear the floppy disc load sound ... love it. We had to program for light pen in one of my engineering classes :) 2. The lo-fi sounds! I have an Ensoniq Mirage (8-bit sampler from ~1985) and the sounds are notoriously lo-fi, something I tried to move away from as quickly as possible, but since no one ever wanted to pay decent money for the Mirage I just ended up keeping it around! Now to spend more time with my own CMI V plugin!

I'm confused, Arturia tutorial vids say they left Page R out since people would be using their DAW for that instead.

Hope you've been having a great holiday break Woody. Good to see someone taking time to play with the CMI V. My turn soon :). Just getting over visitors for Xmas etc. I think the potential of it is amazing. Oh and, if I forgot to tell you, or anyone, check out cut the talking, done by a Australian band (The Dugites) in the 80s, using the fairlight.

Well played at 10:21 :)

Thanks so much for this video! I'll buy this one for sure!! K

The pitched down EEERRRY1 sample is what Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes used on the beginning of Tiger Tiger, off the Seven and Ragged Tiger album. In fact you almost played the same notes.

Nice work Woody. Very tempted to get this😊

Great stuff Woodster! So much of my favourite music used this machine. Crazy price tag, back then! Happy festive season to you & your family :--)

Cool demo - thanks! I even have an original Fairlight CMI colour brochure. Maybe its time to try a demo vst since the real deal is out of the question :)

That "Eery" sound pitched down is definitely in the intro to Tiger Tiger by Duran Duran. I always wondered what they sampled but now I know. Nick Rhodes used the Fairlight a LOT on Seven and the Ragged Tiger and So Red the Rose. Those are the quintessential Fairlight albums for me (next to Peter Gabriel III)

I love your energy, woody. And really want to dive into the fairlight now! (I have it!j

21:55…. I recognize that sound! Go play the beginning of Duran Duran’s “Tiger Tiger.” How cool!!!

The Trevhorn sample made me instantly think of the theme tune to the Krypton Factor.

Awesome demo! :)

Incredible video! Thanks Woody.

Instant Re-Works of the Art Of Noise! Didn't they make all of their music with just the fairlight? They where quite avant-garde. Another classic CMI album would Jarre's Zoolook album, another yourney into exploring the creative possiblities of the sampler. I quite enjoyed Peter Gabriels 3rd and 4th album, especially the 4th one where he creates these dark but very atmospheric textures. Also I quite like Iva Davies from Icehouse use of the fairlight instrument, his album sidewalk was his first use of the fairlight and it has a lot of atmosphere. On the other hand, the fairlight was quickly eclipsed by far cheaper samplers such as the Emulator and Ensoniq Mirage. Even Peter Gabriel switch to the Emulator when he recorded Sledgehammer. Technology was moving so fast in the 80's, at the end of the decade an Amiga 500 with a tracker program would give you a poormans fairlight for the avarage chap in the street. I think that the fairlight was also a bit the granddaddy of the modern DAW's.

24:00 So this is where the Amiga games got their samples from or the ST-XX sample library..! That guitar was heavily used on New York Warriors, Menace and Rockford.

You could make an 80's medley including Art of Noise - Moments in Love... Cutting Crew - I Just Died In Your Arms (though it was made with Emu-Emulator II i think)...something from Tears for Fears. Just thinking. Thank you for this video.

Sweet sampler! I feel a little overloaded by all the choices. It reminds me of using the Intetra 7, Fantom G8, and even the JV1080. There's just so many sounds. :) Thanks for the demo though. I really appreciate it. Keep up the great videos. Take care, Sam.

I know the video is one year old and I haven't read all the comments, but wasn't the Mellotron really more a sample synth than the Fairlight? Ok, it used tapes but the tapes played a recording of the real instruments and they did it in the sixties!

19:08 horn section in Sat In Your Lap by Kate Bush

31:50 I remembered Hello Again by the Cars immediately

at 23.50 was it the intro to Connection by Elastica you had in your head? (i know i did) great track :) and at 29.30 it was all getting very money by pink floyd or theme to are you being seved lol great vid as per woody :)

0:19:30 classic Art Of Noise / Yes brass hits

If you want to know what this can do, just listen to the first ever fully digital album that used this (fairlight) to the extreme, Provision by Scritti Politti - and although Green Gartside hates it, it is without doubt his finest work to this day.

I stayed to the end I get lost in the sounds just like you LOL !!!

Kate Bush also made extensive use of the Fairlight...

If you want to hear an album using animal sounds, I don't know if it was done on a fairlight, but try Transmission lines by Gentlemen without weapons. Virtually, if not the entire album was done using them & I recommend it.

OMG, the Casio dog is a recycled Fairlight dog? insane!

Just finished watching. Great review!

1:49 "These aren't recordings, these are electronically created sounds" -- wrong. The CMI is a sampler, the sounds ARE recordings.

I like the You Hoo sample. That should be a ring tone.

I bought the whole Arturia V pack and it’s all your fault! Well, not entirely but you helped push me over the edge with your DX7 video

the orchestral hit from the movie "the magnificent seven"

1988. Old girl died along with the Sydney hydrofoil it was named for. 1988. Korg M1 is crowned. The queen is dead. Long live the queen.

Really fun. Thank you. Looks like a winner to me. Oldskool and exhibiting feelings of nostalgia. That is what we like Woody. Can you do a review on the newly released JV1080 VA Synth from the Roland Cloud? This seems to be a winner too! Cheerio!!

Was just listening to Klaus Schulze score for the film Angst and he scored it entirely with a Fairlight CMI and Linn Drum. Kind of makes me want to get this for my birthday. It'll be my first VST instrument as I'm mostly a hardware guy but I don't have $25,000 to blow on the new Fairlight from Peter Vogel and essentially, the CMI is a computer software based synth anyway...so what the hell. I do wish they included the sampling, sequencing and resynthesis function in the Synclavier V. :( I would have got that right away if they did.

All this sounds where later converted to the Comodore AMIGA and where used over and over for Game music and in the Demo scene.