Qasar Beach Fairlight CMI Clone

via Qasar Beach

"A downloadable tool for Windows, macOS, and Linux

This is a complete recreation of the Fairlight CMI IIx.

This has all the features of the original Fairlight CMI including 16 stereo voices, full voice editing and realtime control, harmonic additive synthesis, full Page R sequencer and much more.

Full file support for Fairlight Series I, II, IIx, III samples, plus a host of other manufactures.

You will need to download all three files, especially the Guide which will tell you all about the very basic operations of QasarBeach.

The Fairlight CMI was a professional and complex machine, QasarBeach in no way tries to obscure this operation. So the UI is the same, the operation is the same, but there have been additions to make it a bit more user friendly.

There are four files:

QasarBeach.App: is the latest MacOS version

QasarBeachWIn: is the latest Windows version

QasarBeach.Tar: is the latest Linus version

Guide is the comprehensive PDF guide (shown on the right)

QasarBeach is the demo folder including demo files

Cookbook is a new PDF guide giving hints and recipes for getting more out of QasarBeach

V1.18 Update (Jan 17 2020 NAMM edition)

- fixed command "nc" that wasn't being reccognised
-fixed minor Series III voice load that prevented voices with functions being loaded - only one found!
-Series IIx .VC voice loading now respects filter, and loops
-internal std/audiodata framework extended with loop control
-IIx loop points are now played in PAGE 2
-IIx MODE1 is played in PAGE 2 (durations not yet loaded)
-IIx Filter settings now loaded in PAGE 2
-IIx Filter, Loop, and Mode now imported with correct IIx .vc
-added fullscreen option to settings
-initial IIx .co file reading in place
-.co files will load to the current voice or to a number of voices picked by the load page voice boxes
-original fairlight II/IIx .co files can now be loaded
-PAGE 8 Nphony added clamp to stop saturated volume from showing in the horizontal volume fader
-added null voice playback crash protection
-ECHO LOOP control added to PAGE 7
-ECHO LOOP control looping back when ECHO DELAY has been set
-ECHO LOOP added to control file loading and saving
-fixed fatal Series III voice load (where voices with functions crashed)
-ECHO LOOP inital operation activated
-Initial PAGE 7 expansion (making room for another line of data) started
-PAGE 7 MOVE ACTIVE added. this activates LOOP MOVE
-PAGE 7 LOOP MOVE added. This will make the loop start and loop end move together
-When activating MOVE ACTIVE, LOOP MOVE will become the value of LOOP START
-Inital internal changes for multisamples from segment to position
-internal loading/saving of controls changed the V4 to support new multisamples
-internal subvoice start end segments converted from ubyte to floats and checked
-III multisample loading now corrected - doesn't have glitch at start of voices
-internal III subvoice loading data simplified
-new .in loading routines
-V0 .in loading complete
-V1 .in loading complete
-V2/V3 .in loading complete
-.in loads and saves correctly - keeping track of different versions of .co structures
-PAGE 7 ECHO LOOP now operates with MODE 5 multisample voices
-fixed very tiny but major fault in the .vc loading routine, that caused a segment slippage giving wrong segemnt lengths - and thus clicks
-correction to triangle wave draw PAGE 6
-improvments to MODE 2 playback to prevent click - now has smooth wavetable scanning
-PAGE P fatal crash when playing MODE 2 voice fixed
-PAGE D MODE 2 voice now shows correct playing segment
-PAGE 2 additional loading protection, to prevent crash if voice is null

V1.17 Update
- fixed harmonics profile edit crash in Compute!
- C (create voice) command removed use CV instead
- C command now compute - as with IIx
- CV, VC, CREATE with no parameter will now create a voice at the current one
- COMPUTE button added to PAGE 4 Harmonics
- HARMONICS button added to PAGE 4 when smooth, rough, volume profile is being used

QasarBeach is feature complete, but not completely documented. It is also being actively developed.

If you've ever wanted to have a go at your own music and want to know how The Art Of Noise, Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, OMD, Yes, Hans Zimmer (and many many more) accomplished this in the 80's - QasarBeach is (almost) the way they did it!"