A downloadable tool for Windows, macOS, and Linux

Download NowName your own price

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.

Launched 1 year ago the 1.29g is the biggest update. which focusses on much better IIx import of voices, songs and instruments. Better III multisample .vc support. III style button bar and lots of UI improvements throughout. A new internal song system that matches the IIx, plus individual output mixing. New Midi keyboard allocation with PAGE 3, and soo much more...

QasarBeach has also gained features that were planned for the IIx but not implemented (at the time) - many thanks for help and input from the original engineers and friends!

Here are some live video captures of QasarBeach with no overdubs or added effects:

And another featuring live playing to a drone background

And... Made famous by Kate Bush. here is a QasarBeach take on her:

And for some  classic 80's dance culture why not try:


Here is a quick look at harmonic additive synthesis in realtime:

You get full file support for Fairlight Series I, II, IIx, III samples,  including all loop points, filter settings, etc, plus new III multisample support. You just need to have the ORIGINAL files in .VC format.

IIx files .rs and .in are also suported

Plus you get the following  formats as pure samples, so editing may be needed, but it gives you the power to access virtually all famous sample libraries from Emu, Yamaha, Korg and more:

  • .wav / .aif .ogg / .sam
  • .afs - casio cz1 sample
  • .ksf -korg-sample-file oasis
    .msmpl_bank -korg microsampler bank
    .p3k - korg
  • .usr - ppg
    .ufs - ppg
  • .xoe, .x0v .x0a .x0s .x0w .x3v .x3a .x3s .x3w - yamaha motif
    .t01 .t02 .t03 .t04 .t05 - yamaha
  • .krz .kr1 .kr2 .kr3 .kr4 .kr5 .kr6 -kerzweil
  • .sf2 -soundfont2
  • .akai .img - akai img
  • .256 -amiga 8bit single waveforms
    .xi -amiga fasttracker 2
    .8svx .16sv .iff - amiga 8 bit / 16bit
  • .em2 .eb2 .ez2 .e4b -emulator emax 2 library
    .ebl -emulator x
    .dms -emu2
    .eii -emu2
    .em1 .eb1 -emulator 1  
    .iso -emulator iso
  • .out .s50 .w30 -roland s50
  • .bin - 8 bit binary files used by LINN and EMU for drum machine ROM

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.

Facebook Usergroup

There are four files:

QasarBeach.App: is the latest MacOS version

QasarBeachWIn: is the latest Windows version

QasarBeach.Tar: is the latest Linux version

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

QasarBeach is the demo folder including  demo and library files

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


Because Ver 1.29 is such a large release with many fixes and additions I have removed the previous update lists

Ver1.42 Update (28 Nov 2022)

  •  Series II .RS. importing of different time signatures now correctly supported
  •  Series II .IN. importing of mixed case file names now supported <- this might happen when transferring files from CMI to PC
  •  PAGE R - when loading a .rs file. the playhead is set to the first position in the song. This is what the IIx did. so Play will now start correctly
  •  PAGE R - when selecting a note with mouse or keyboard. the note now plays - similar to IIx
  •  thickening of 1 and 7 font characters


Ver1.40 Update (16 Sep 2022)

  • Apple M1 native version now available - follow instructions for install below

1. open terminal window

2. draw qasarbeach.app into the terminal window - this will show you where it is - the full filename

3. type the following:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine <insert full filename here>

E.G.

xattr  -d com.apple.quarantine Desktop/Qasarbeach.app

This should allow it to run happily :)


Ver1.40 Update (20 Aug 2022)

  • This version expands on the 16 voice architecture giving 24 stereo voices. there have been lots of changes made to make this possible. So both V1.37 (16 voices) and 1.40 (24 voices) are made available.
  • In essence you have 3-4 Fairlight IIx cmi's in one box!
  • NOTE the internal file formats have been changed. so files saved with 1.40 will NOT open in 1.37!


Ver1.37 Update (12 Aug 2022)

  • This mainly deals with minor bug fixing and import of original Fairlight IIx files
  •  PAGE 7 - corrected imported IIx .in names not showing
  •  PAGE R - corrected imported IIx .rs repetition error
  •  PAGE 3 - corrected .in import with octave and semitone
  •  imported .in IIx now has added damping
  •  PAGE 2 - new loading of voices - bug fixing


Ver1.36 Update (23 Jun 2022)

  •  PAGE F - added loop ability to functions. so instead of stopping at the end you now have the abillity to loop. Great for making user drawn lfos
  •  internal synth code to support function looping
  •  internal load and save code to support function loops


Ver1.35a Update (19 Dec 2021)

  • Activated audio out selection
  • minor bug fixes
  • increased MIDI out selection

Ver1.35 Update (17 Dec 2021)

  •  PAGE 5 - harmonic value was shown wrong - this is now fixed
  •  PAGE M - midi displays all connected devices - eek
  •  PAGE 1 - page A added
  •  PAGE A - audio select added - a bit experimental...
  •  PAGE L - added full disk library page from IIx
  •  PAGE M - extended internal support for many midi devices
  •  PAGE M - paging added to devices so you can see connected devices in pages
  •  updated midi systems to support up to 100 devices
  •  PAGE 1 - PAGE L added


Ver1.34 Update (14 Nov 2021)

  •  PAGE R - goto button not selecting - fixed
  •  command - pgto changed to pgoto
  •  PAGE R - goto button in bar and UI now working
  •  PAGE R - when in insert,  clicking an existing note will not reset it
  •  command - KEY num - this changes the current note by and amount + or minus the num value. this is exactly how the IIx did things
  •  command - KEY note. KEY c,  KEY d,  etc. will change the current note to the new note
  •  command - KEY cs, KEY cf. will change the note to sharp and flat values
  •  command - KEY c1,  KEY c4. will change the note and octave
  •  command - KEY ds4. would change the note to D sharp in octave 4
  •  command - KEY 1, all. the addtion of the , all will make the command apply to all notes!
  •  command - KEY c2, all. would change all notes to c2!
  •  when using KEY it will set the default note/octave as well \o/


Ver1.33 Update (23 Oct 2021)

  •  updated for windows and mac with better compatibility
  •  voice name not shown - fixed
  •  voice name cleared when copy - fixed
  •  new small code footprint
  •  internal compiler updates
  •  support for godot RSRC 16bit stereo .wav format added
  • Page 2 - fixed fatal crash when using left button
  • PAGE 2 - save 'AS:' corrected on screen position
  • PAGE 2 - 32bi wav import - corrected vlume to prevent clicking
  •  internal removal of debug info
  • PAGE R - file now shows opened rs or sy filename
  •  internal when rs and sy saved the internal filename is updated
  •  PAGE 2 - xxxxxx file name will be automatically filled in with .rs or .sy loaded filename
  •  MACOS internal compiler changes to allow 10.9 as minimum system (similar to V1.25)
  •  PAGE 7 - fixed fatal crash is KEYPAN linked to VOICE REF#
  •  PAGE 7 - voice ref bug fix
  •  PAGE 7 - voice ref bug fix
  •  lowered refresh rate
  •  PAGE 2 - further checks for null voices that report as voice numbers - fixed
  •  re-enabled garbage collection to prevent memory munching...


Ver1.31 Update (3 May 2021)

  • PAGE 8 removed timer when external sampling
  • internal synth fixing for external calling support
  • PAGE R - when record is armed the pattern is internally created
  • PAGE R - pattern. fixed patternplay (stop) crash
  • PAGE R - song. when adding patterns. if the pattern doesn't exist it is created
  • PAGE R - metronome button added
  • PAGE R - song. metronome now plays in song mode
  • PAGE 2 - when a voice is loaded. The current voice changes to the loaded one
  • core synth initial pitch creation added
  • PAGE S - setting. added series3 option - this will show advanced series 3 pages like disk when available. it uses higher res...
  • PAGE 2 - added PAGE D and PAGE E buttons
  • PAGE D - added PAGE E button
  • experimental upped the internal screen res to series 3 - no apparent visible changes yet
  • PAGE 2 - Mode 0 voice sets playback for other preview voices no longer remains. it is correctly erased \o/
  • PAGE 2 - fixed prev page crash
  • PAGE 2 - initial vIII page created
  • messagebox system being added so that QB can report important things back to you. This has a Series III style to it
  • PAGE 2 - now .sy and .in report loaded size
  • PAGE 2 - all files now report file size - great for seeing .sy sizes
  • PAGE T - added original reverb settings for more effects ;)
  • PAGE T - added original echo settings for more effects
  • PAGE T - corrected quick help text for all settings
  • PAGE 2 - direct PAGE R button added
  • PAGE 2 - corrected save help text
  • PAGE 2 - question box when saving duplicate name
  • internal save stucture modified
  • PAGE 2 - additional file bounds checks to prevent crash when moving through large amounts of files
  • PAGE 2 - CMI view mode now highlights directly cmi related files .rs/.sy/.in/.co
  • PAGE 2 - keyboard and midi icon in correct position with series III version page


Ver1.29g Update (23 December 2020)

  • reading IIx .RS, tempo now correctly set
  • Reading IIx .RS, song block repeat now correctly set
  • Reading IIx .RS, note data being correctly read in
  • Reading IIx .RS, velocity data being correctly read in
  • PAGE R used patterns display was off by 1 - fixed
  • internal audio data is now extended to support IIx imports better
  • Reading IIx .VC with embedded .CO data better reading compatibility
  • Reading IIx .IN will also load embedded .CO from linked .VC
  • PAGE R - song,  when over sections the mouse wheel will move up/down
  • PAGE 2 IIx mode1 dur and vol now being read correctly
  • PAGE 2 IIx mode1 being read from loaded .in correctly
  • PAGE 3 correctly draws nphony data (not hides it)
  • harmonic profiles are now per voice not global
  • PAGE 4 SMO and ROU additions removed as they were destructive
  • IIx mode1 harmonics now loaded - caveat loaded mode 1 harmonic faders may NOT match. Where they do, they produce the same sound - more or less
  • Harmonic faders correctly saved and loaded with QB .vc
  • increased internal harmonic compute to better match IIx MODE1
  • PAGE 2 IIx MODE1 faders being correctly read with .in load
  • PAGE R - Song section and block playback currently removed for recoding
  • PAGE 2 ios app .vcx basic support added - trim and loop data not being read - you will need to edit them
  • PAGE 2 ios app .in basic .vcx loading support added. It will not automatically load long filenames!
  • PAGE 7 Removed automatic ctrl and switch functions. new IIx import can be tagged to ctrls with volume
  • PAGE 7 Ctrls and Switches (Shown bottom right UI) can be controlled by hovering over them and using the mouse wheel
  • PAGE F Ctrls can be controlled by hovering and using the mouse wheel
  • PAGE R - song SBP added. song block position
  • PAGE R clicking song block '-' does NOT alster the song position
  • PAGE R Completely new internal song structure code being developed to bring in line with IIx and future plans
  • PAGE R - song. better keyboard arrow keys allowing movement from song block to section and better movement left/right :)
  • PAGE R - song. Pressing 'enter' will activate the commandline with the corresponding section input command (same as clicking with the mouse)
  • PAGE R - pattern. playhead moves to EXACT (quantized) position when clicked in pattern
  • PAGE R - pattern. pattern now has live quantized cursor
  • PAGE R - pattern. bottom info now gives note data under the cursor
  • PAGE R - pattern. when clicking a note, it will now play and stop when mouse is released \o/
  • PAGE F fatal crash fix if clicked to far on the right
  • IIx .RS import minor correction to prevent repeats over 127
  • PAGE R - song. bottom right song/position block now shows correct information
  • PAGE R - song/section playback starts at position 0 in the pattern
  • PAGE R - song. Both block and section now have a visual frame that shows the current cursor position
  • PAGE R - song. Reverse rect to show the starting position for song or section play
    'modified icon to bring into line with BigSur
  • 'PAGE R - pattern. adding stop note now works at current cursor playhead
  • PAGE R - pattern. using delete/backspace at cursor will now remove note off (hat)
  • Infoline (at bottom) now shows the current note being entered via keyboard or midi
  • internal Fairlight III .vc preliminary support for keymaps added
  • PAGE 2 now shows mode 5 subvoice count with Series III samples
  • PAGE 2 now imports III multisample keymaps
  • PAGE 2 now auto creates multisample subvoices (MODE 5)
  • internal octave range extended by 2 giving full 9 octaves to play with
  • PAGE 7 - MODE 5 subvoice view. piano output now has options to change shown start octave
  • PAGE 2 - 'FINE' start modifications for multisamples added
  • PAGE 7 - mutilsample info text tidied up
  • PAGE 2 - added mode 1 vol table reset
  • windows recompile to clear up some issues
  • fix to volume 'OVERLOAD'
  • PAGE W shows playhead in most playback MODES :)
  • debug PAGE Z added (shift+1) - this shows midi devices and midi settings fr debug purposes
  • potential MIDI forgets fix
  • PAGE 7 - Removed Delay, delay in, delay out
  • further midi tweaks
  • PAGE 7 - MODE 5 multiview now shows which multipart is active (similar to Series III)
  • III multisample loading shortenslength of each sample by 1 segment to prevent end/start overruns
  • Extended internal page size to accommodate III style buttons
  • Series III style buttons being added to UI
  • PAGE P becomes PAGE V
  • initial page buttons integrated
  • PAGE K - keyboard,  is now merged into PAGE S settings
  • PAGE 2 - now has button bar
  • PAGE S - there is now an option for hiding the button bar
  • button bar now has function keys as keyboard controls
  • "V-" command added - will goto the previous voice
  • "V+" or "V=" command added - will goto the next voice
  • bug fixes to loaded .sy files
  • additional commands added to allow new buttons
  • PAGE R -song REW goes to the start of a section
  • shift + function keys now operational
  • PAGE R - song,  buttons now added
  • PAGE R - Pattern,  buttons added
  • PAGE F - additional button controls added
  • QB no longer 'forgets' screen/size/position settings when updated
  • decreased thread pause - maybe it will help reording?
  • PAGE 7 adding LFO mid support <- vibrato can be set up by using this with LFO1 LEVEL
  • internal support for LFO mid complete
  • PAGE 7 added LFO LEVEL. this controls how strong the LFO is. it goes to the LFO MID when at 1. normal LFO at 128
  •  patch with a function to pitchbend for vibrato
  • Internal loading and saving updates to add the new LFO functions
  • Added more keyboard up note cutoff protection
  • PAGE 3 - repeated clicking will toggle between nphony and keyboard sub pages
  • PAGE 3 - keyboard allocation page created (MIDI mapping) - similar to how the III does it
  • button bar. when P pages is pressed,  you can select all buttons even if the keyboard is set for music :)
  • PAGE R - current voice now always shows the reverse quantize steps (previously it only showed when recording) - this is the same as the IIx
  • PAGE E - adding ZOOM to ui and buttons
  • PAGE E - ability to zoom into and view highlighted segments added
  • PAGE 4 - fixed fatal bug when drawing harmonics
  • PAGE E - zoomed in editing/selection operational
  • 'PAGE E - when zoomed and edited,  view returns to normal (unzoomed)
  • MODE 1 - fixed volume pulsing at end loop (segment 32)
  • PAGE 2 - repeated pressing of 2 will swap between load and save pages
  • PAGE R - pattern note deletion crash fix
  • PAGE R - pattern - Mute information is now saved and loaded
  • PAGE R - song being correctly reset on loading new song
  • PAGE S - auto normalization on load added
  • PAGE 2 - loaded sound are automatically normalized (if enabled in settings)
  • PAGE E - added XFade button
  • PAGE E - connected up all butons correctly
  • PAGE R - new internals for fader linking (page o) being added
  • PAGE R - song better copy paste insert functions
  • PAGE R - song tighter keyboard paste at logical positions

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

A HUGE thank you to all the testers and commenters. with your bug lists, wish lists and more :)


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!


Please feel free to add comments, thoughts, suggestions, etc. Nothing is out of bounds, so don't feel you might have a question that is odd, or strange bugs.

StatusReleased
CategoryTool
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux
Rating
Rated 4.8 out of 5 stars
(24 total ratings)
AuthorAdamStrange
Tagseditor, fairlight, Music, Music Production, samples, sequencer
Average sessionA few seconds
InputsKeyboard, Mouse, MIDI controller

Download

Download NowName your own price

Click download now to get access to the following files:

Guide.pdf.zip 6 MB
QasarBeach.zip 25 MB
qasarbeach118.app.zip 3 MB
cookbook.zip 5 MB
119update.zip 2 MB
qasarbeach129g.tar.gz 3 MB
Qasarbeach142.app.zip 5 MB
qasarbeach142.zip

Development log

View all posts

Comments

Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.

Viewing most recent comments 1 to 40 of 125 · Next page · Last page

This is an amazing piece of software. I am having some trouble with getting polyphony to work, however - when I try to play two notes, or one immediately after the other, the sound gets cut off.

OK. Here goes ;)

1. load a voice.

2. goto page 7.  Press alt/ctrl+x to copy. select next voice. Press alt/ctrl+v to paste this voice as a reference - do this 4 times so voices 1,2,3,4 are the same

3. goto page 3 voice. you should see the four voices. click to select the first voice. At the bottom SET NPHONY to 4 - voila you should have 4 voice polypony

Can I has 32bit windows build?

(1 edit)

for some reason ever when i open the program appears this error, i tried to search something about it but nothing at the moment

 

(1 edit)

Same here, win 10, Ryzen 7 3700X, Radeon 5700XT. 16GB of memory. Crashes just on startup with that error message.

Same issue here on mutiple windows machines.  Previous versions worked fine.  

(+1)

That is very interesting. The previous versions had a slighty different dev chain. I'm looking into going back to this one... I'll keep you all posted :)

(+1)

any progress? I can't open the program either. I get this popup:

I'm getting this same error!

Win 10, Intel 10700K, 64GB Memory

Any chance you could relist the previous ~2 versions? I really want to try this program out, it looks so cool!

Hello. This software, although complex, is wonderful. The program, however, keeps switching off when using Page R. It will work for a while but eventually will shut off. I'm running v1.42 on a Mac using Ventura 13.4

(-1)

hi could you give me a bit more info. does it crash, freeze, etc. What sort of samles are you using, etc ..

Hey there - been working with the CMI for a bit and noticed that when you save sequences, with samples mapped to various voice slots etc, when the sequences are reloaded, all the sequencer parts come back intact but the voices do not. I am saving a .RS file which I assume to be a "realtime sequencer" file and then loading that file back into the CMI - is there something further one needs to do to get the voice mappings saved with the rest of the project??
 

.vc is just the current voice, .in is all the voices, .rs is just the sequence data and voice references. if the voices are in the same location as the .rs file is will load them, if they are in different locations then you will get a list of missing voices.

What you are looking for is .sy. This is the current system including voices, rs data, system setting - the entire lot :)

Ah! Very good! I will try that. Thanks very much

I love this software youve made, but i have massive timing issues when triggering via midi or using page R, i literally cant get 4 kick drum quarter note samples to play in time in a loop, this is a such a great thing but i cant actually use it, im using  a mac and ive tried this on a couple of different macs, im running on mojave mostly, ive run both versions you've made and still have the timing errors. I used to own a fairlight IIX and the sequencer was absolutely perfect, ive read on here youve had a few issues with timing some years ago, is there a platform that this software works best on ?

Thanks in advance
Chris

Hmmn. I've looked into this for you and I've found some latency with midi. another thing is to make sure the sample you are using has no lead space. even use PAGE E to cut the biginning out - let me know your thoughts :)

i used the internal sequencer without the midi but have serious timing issues, cant get a loop to work with0ut it glitching, the timing internally is an issue for me without the midi. i can take a video of it if thats any help

yep a video would help :) The internal seq shouldn't have any timing issues, so show me what you got ;)

I tried to boot it up and I got an error that said: Wonkey Runtime Error. Something about failing to compile a shader.

what os are you using? you must have opengl :)

Windows 11

Hello,

I discovered the program this evening, and I have to say that I am enjoying it quite a bit. I'm not writing to report any bugs, everything's been working very well; however, I can't seem to find any 'Attack' control on Page 7. Is there any chance that can be incorporated in future updates?

Cheers.

You need to use a function with an input of KEYTIM. Adjust the tracking to give different timings :)

When I run the software, I get a "Wonkey Runtime Error"  "SIGNAL: Memory access violation GC state=IDLE"

what os and specs please :

OS: Windows 10 Home Edition
CPU: i5-3570k
RAM: 32GB
Video: 2x Radeon RTX 480
Storage - 
OS SSD: 256GB
Program M.2: 1024GB

Awesome piece of software! but I get something similar with the latest version. I'm on Windows 11.

Wonkey Runtime Error

Failed to compile shader:O(24) : error C0105: Syntax error in

0(24) : error C0105: Syntax error in *if

Deleted post

there are manuals and other help files - look for the cookbooks ;)

(1 edit)

If one is using the original extracted 46 IMG .VC format Fairlight sample library with Qasarbeach should not the original loop points and control data be present 
in those files and is QB capable of using that data when asked to playback those samples?? Please correct my misconceptions of what that original sample data contains as I 'm getting this from forums and snippets about the original sample library of the IIx...

Also I am wondering how to get a clean sustained sound out the fairlight with the samples provided...


Thanks in advance

yes and no. the .vc format come in 2 varieties. 16k which is just the sample and 21k which is the sample plus the .co data with the loop pointsQB should read those. I'll check and get back to you  :)

(5 edits)

Ahh. Ok... So it seems I have been using .VC format samples that are 21K in length - these were gleaned from .IMG files of the original Fairlight disks... I also located a limited library of samples that have .CO control files along with the .VC formatted sample files. I have been attempting to get either of these formats to yield a clean "unloopified" output but have been unsuccessful as of yet. What I mean by "loopified" is to load up a sample of a continuous tone instrument like a piano or E.piano and be able to get the outputted audio to appear without loop glitches. The sound output even with the .CO control files are loop glitchy (albeit not as bad as without purposely loading the control data) . One thing significant about the samples that have their corresponding .CO files present, is the QB sampler will not load that data automatically. So in the effort to use the control data I have been loading the samples into voice slots twice - one time for the .VC file and another load to the same voice slot for the .CO data file. Not sure if that is how one is supposed load that data, but when using this method the .CO file does shows up on PAGE 7 with the name displayed in the ".CO field" of the interface.... Another item of note, when using the 21K .VC format files from the original Fairlight disks is there is no indication in the PAGE7 ".CO field" that control data is loaded, if that is even supposed to be an indicator..

I've checked out the files and heres the correct answer:

files come in 2 type 16k sample & 21k sample+harmonic data

the loop points are found in the corresponding .CO file - which you will need to load manually.

To do this. locate the .co file with the same filename. click the voice to load this info into (usually the same as the voice file) then click LOAD. that will load the loop points and any other data into page 7 ;)

Deleted 259 days ago
Deleted 259 days ago
(+1)

Hi,

any chance of getting an ARM-based version for Windows? Intel achitecture has an uncertain future and everything seems to be ARM-oriented now.  It would be great to have also an ARM-based Linux version (many people, including me, want to build a stand-alone CMI clone with a ARM-based computer such as the RPI... check the MiniDexed project).

I think it's time to bury the old Windows PC and move towards other modern paradigms.

This is great. I was surprised that it works on my Mac, which is a 2012 Mac Mini running a patched copy of Big Sur - it crashes with Big Sur 11.6.2 (something about a graphics problem) but works fine with 11.6.8.

My question - I know you can do envelopes with the function page, but is there an equivalent of the Release step in an ADSR envelope? The Fairlight seems to stop sounds the moment you release a key, which makes a click noise. Is there a way to have a smooth key release?

As an edit to the above the "damping" control on Page 7 adds a release tail - it works well with a value of 20 and the damping loop turned off. The help files don't seem to mention it so perhaps it was a late addition.

yep - damping is the Fairlight version of Release. Another way is to use a function with the input as KEYTIM (key time). you can then use tracking to speed up/down how fast it tracks...

I realise now it's mentioned in part four of "The Fairlight Explained" by Jim Grant, from back in 1984:

https://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/the-fairlight-explained/7947

The article points out that the London College of Furniture owned a Fairlight CMI - Jim Grant was a senior lecturer there - which is something I would never have guessed. They apparently had a well-equipped music technology school on account of the historical links between piano-making and musicians. Sound on Sound has a photo of the very same Fairlight in 1989. I wonder what happened to it?

Alas the London College of Furniture doesn't exist any more. It seems to have been absorbed by the London Metropolitan Museum.

I might have met him when I tried to get on one of their courses at that time - Electronic musical instruments..

Hi, I am wondering if it is currently possible to control QasarBeach CMI via MIDI by Logic Pro. Currently, QB sees my MIDI controller but cannot see any Logic MIDI inputs or outputs, and viceversa. I thought there must be a way to setup a virtual MIDI device that QasarBeach CMI can see and respond to. I have another similar app which is actually an IOS app and not a VST or AU (Vogel CMI) which is visible to Logic without any intervention on my part, so I was not sure if I am missing something obvious. I'm not super experienced with Mac virtual routings, etc

Thanks for your consideration

Midi with QB is a bit primitive. it only receives midi. There are 3 modes:

1. accepts midi from any channel. into the current voice (or voices if polyphony if being used)

2. accept sys ex

3. accepts 16 mono channels and routes them to each of the first 16 voices

Hi, I guess I don't understand why QB isn't accepting MIDI from Logic. I tried enabling the IAC MIDI driver which is supposed to allow Mac apps to transfer MIDI between each other, but I couldn't get it to work even though QB can see the driver and it can be assigned. I'm not sure what I'm missing. I am able to get QB audio to appear in Logic.

Thanks

This is so amazing! I remember being fascinated about the Fairlight CMI back then ... and now I have several of these machines on my Macbook. I highly recommend to take some time, read the PDFs, watch some YT videos to dive into it. It's absolutely worth it!

Hi Adam,

I’ve been using quasarbeach on my pc a while ago, I noticed the newest version so I downloaded it. But somehow it doesn’t start up. I see the program icon in the dock but the program doesn’t show at all. Can I somehow reset all preferences or something to get it back and start from scratch?

Thank you!

just download v1.36 and use that version

Thanks for your quick response!

I couldn't find version 1.36, but 1.37 has the same behaviour unfortunately

is the pc 32 or 64bit? which os?

the PC is 64 bit and running OS 10

mmm. interesting. I'll get back to you on this - QB is compiled on a windows 10 machine..

known error ;)

Hey–sorry but I'm afraid I have another problem with this.
Whenever I use the Page R Sequencer, and try adding musical notes to the sequencer, nothing happens. Am I doing something wrong?

No problem. Make sure that 'RECORD' is highlighted :)

Ah! I now think I understand! I need to have 'MIDI keyboard' switched on, and type in a note on my keyboard.That does the trick! By the way, do you know where can I find more .vc samples (more of the original ones used by the fairlight?)

Hi Adam Strange,

I have just downloaded QasarBeach. I am using a 16" M1 Max Macbook, and am using MacOS Monterey Version 12.4.

I really admire the work that went into the emulation here–everything I am looking at looks EXACTLY like the real thing, as far as I can tell.
I really would like to compose music on this...but there's one little problem. No sound whatsoever is coming out of it.

I think the Page R sequencer seems straightforward enough. But, I do not know how to get any sound to come out of it...Do I have to manually supply my own sound files for it to play back?

Also–I am someone who regularly uses Logic Pro X. Is there any way I can integrate this plugin with my DAW? It would be a great help for composing music!

you need to use PAGE 2 to load sounds first.

it's not a plugin so wont directly integrate into a daw. but you can use MIDI to control the 16 voices. 1 channel per voice

Hi Adam! 

Okay, so once I've opened Page 2, which sounds do I load? Does this software automatically come with the classic Fairlight 8-Bit samples, or do I have to manually download each one and upload each one to the Page R sequencer instead?

have you downloaded the cookbook and the guides - there is a whole lod of information and demo files including all the sounds :)

Hi AdamStrange! Thank you so much for the advice! I think I must have missed the cookbook and all the other files the first time I downloaded the app! Thank you!

hi, would this be hard for a teen to install?
aswell as can this run on windows 8.1 on an intel celeron cpu?
and does this program have the ARR1(SARARR) patch?
thanks from helen

Hello Adam simon Australia.. I Have a real question? how much money would I have to donate to encourage you to go back to the quasar beach app and open the audio outputs to be selectable individually for the likes of the sunflower 64 channel drive? or alternatively any multi channel sound card? also inclusive of this request midi clock sync so I can lock it to to a daw like Logic? this is a serious question and if I can fund this project I will.. now currently as is I do love it but for the stereo out.. midi clock is not such a big deal.. however I have the UVI dark light which is nice but nothing compared to your emulation..its not really a series 2x at all.. but still a nice piece of software.. I also have the Arturia cmi..this is nice but again no watch and most disappointing is the pattern sequencer only offer 8 patterns!! I hear of running the cmi software in MAME but haven't tried ..still though I do love all that yours offers..so yea How much? maybe everyone here can chip in to realise this request? take care simon 

i'm looking into this. ;)

(1 edit)

ETA??? like  know nothing of your skills or what this takes is it a mammoth monumentous task?

Oh another request for the sake of authenticity in page R the velocity value in quasar is 1-127 as well as duration.. now in the original vel was 1-8 and duration 1 - 48? I think.. now look you might not understand or recognise there was a very real reason for this by design and application of pattern creation.. might this also be addressed and afforded?I understand midi protocols being 1 - 127/8? however this would be a great reversal of design or possibly make it a default option? .. my personal experience programming the real cmi 11x I utilised with great effect and control using these limited parameters.. short of calculation the divisions of said values into 128? but in truth it actually does serve a very real purpose.. just asking cheers simon

(+1)

this looks insane!!!!.

 how do you make the ui of this tool.

(+2)

everything is custom written from scratch

Are there any forums where users can compare notes or share tips?  I have been trying to get the Linux version running, and I can get some sounds with the virtual keyboard, but it does not find my MIDI interface, so I can't use with my MIDI keyboard, and when I have JACK running it starts two JACK ports and automatically connects to system out, but I never get any audio through the JACK connection.  I also see terminal messages indicating that it was attempting to start at 44.1k even when JACK was already running at 48K (tried with jack running at 44.1k and 48k, did not get any sound out even when running at 44.1k).

I would love to try this out, it looks like a lot of fun, but playing a few notes from my computer keyboard isn't going to work, I need to find  out how to get MIDI working (and preferably JACK output so I can send the output to my DAW).

the linux development was not moved further because of the midi issues

Disappointing.  I guess that means Scottux's plan to make a stand alone system running on RPi4 is a no-go then.  I rarely use Windows, so hope you change your mind about giving up.

Hey ! Amazing work. I have very choppy and laggy audio on windows 10, with a RME soundcard. Any clues ?
Thanks !

(+1)

I can see what can be done for you ;)

ok thanks ! I've tested it on another device (microsoft surface) and it works well.

Hey, I'm having an issue with MIDI. I assigned my midi as a keyboard and when i press the keys it reflects down at the bottom, but when i leave that menu I cant play samples with the midi anymore, only with the computer keyboard. I tried turning off virtual keyboard but nothing is different. Im using Windows 10, an alesis VI 61 midi and 1.36 QasarBeach

can you post a video of this?

FYI - I've discovered that there is a fair amount more in your help files than can actually be displayed in the QB Help. For example, looking at the help for Page R, I can on "scroll" down about 1/3 of way... it stops at "DISPLAY USED PATTERNS:". I only discovered this while trying to grant permissions to the mic (which is not working on page 8 when selecting external). I wound up clicking "show in finder" on the qasarbeach item which took me to the package contents for the app. It was there that I discovered the text files for all the help. So, although you have a fair amount documented, it's inaccessible in the app.

Hope this helps  :)

I am having trouble with NPHONY. I've gotten it to work only a couple of times. Most of the time, when start with a single sound on channel 1, then go to page 3 and set nphony (to 4 for example), it shows the refs on the subsequent channels, and the source sample shows that it is mapped to channels 1234. But, it still only plays as a monophonic instrument. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

I'm running 1.35b

I'll check it out for you - what os are you using?

(2 edits)

Catalina 10.15.7. I'm also havng a few other issues with FX... weird audio on both delays and reverbs sounding like the high range of a flanger ... maybe a clocking issue?  Also  midi only works consistently if there is only one midi device. There are a few other things, but I think maybe they're quirks of the original system...

I'd be happy to document everything I've run into with screenshots and send you a PDF. 

On a side note, there are some functions in the various screens that I don't understand and can't seem to find much documentation online. The help for QB seems to be for the 1.2x releases and don't quite match the current release. Page 7 is a good example. There are also some screens where I can't find any docs for QB or Fairlight CMI online, so I'm totally lost...  For example, the Record and Zero functions on the Output page with the 6 slots. Are there any additional resources you can share on screens not documented in the help?

Thanks so much for your amazing work on this. I'm finding applications for it in it's current state, so I'll definitely be contributing some $.  :)

catalina does seem to have some issue.

Re the info on newer pages, etc. I'll see what I can do about documenting them :)

(3 edits)

On which OS and machine specs does it perform best?

I also downloaded Alias... the audio output is very glitchy/distorted. Maybe related to the issue with FX on QB?

FYI These are my machine specs:

  Model Name: MacBook Pro

  Model Identifier: MacBookPro11,5

  Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Core i7

  Processor Speed: 2.5 GHz

  Number of Processors: 1

  Total Number of Cores: 4

  L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB

  L3 Cache: 6 MB

  Hyper-Threading Technology: Enabled

  Memory: 16 GB

do a quick test with alias for me. run it. press space to select default audio. and then press z to m. you will get the default sound - is this distorted, dropouts, etc?

Great Software, I have enjoyed it quite a bit. I must be missing something I can load all the sounding in the normal Fairlight way through Disk Control. But the SDMX SOUNDS Along with a plethora of others in the Disk Library show but I cant load them. I looked all over my HD and they just don't appear. Am I missing something completely simple. BTW I prefer this as a standalone box BTW. ALL Other "VERSIONS" OF this sound horrific once you try and make a plug in out of them. MIDI CLOCK/MTC TO LOCK IT would be cool. The reason these sound cool is that they are not sample accurate sequencers but clock based. Once you eliminate that. The magic is gone. Its been a while my original Fairlight was destroyed. LASTLY when I enter user and the settings etc. Does it actually SAVE IT? Doesn't seem like it. Thanks DMARXX

what are SDMX SOUNDS? give me a list of the file extensions and I can see what is going on for you? :)

Hi there :) Ahhhh... I am now gathering that Mac 10.6.8 is totally off limits :p. Works on Catalina as expected but umm yep like anyone with a Roland PCRxxx it is not either :/ Is there a work around for 10.6.8?

(+1)

I wouldn't have thought so - it was developed on the latest macos :(

Real out there q: any chance of an ARM linux build? Or maybe more generally: I want to build a standalone, dedicated machine that runs this software and has cmi inspired hardware around it (3D printed enclosure, midi controls, etc), and depending on the maximum spec requirements I was looking at a few x86 single board computers, but if I could run it on ARM that would greatly open up my options. I suppose more generally a RaspberryPi version would be welcome? Anyway thanks for this software, it kicks ass.

Exactly my thought/my idea!

See latest response to my question about linux, seems the developer has given up on the linux version because of problems getting MIDI working.

Hello tis is a message mostly for Adam. Look currently I have a MacBook Pro running dual screens on the left I have qasarbeach the right Logic audio.now today I came across a great audio driver app called sunflower.. this offers a stereo driver and a 64 channel driver.. in QB it picks up the drivers (both) then in logic I can choose the sunflower inputs and directly record the stereo mix of Page R to logic..however since QB sums its 16 audio into a stereo pair logic only picks up two channels?in the endeavour to make QB like a vst?? (not?) a faster solution might be to rewrite page (O)..and take out the stereo mix..thus making  exporting the 16 Chanels via sunflower to logic so it can pickup the 16 Channels separately? the final request might be to write a MMTC midi time code slave so the logic audio DAW can start stop QB page R?..

so yea

 1. remove the stereo mix on page (O)

2. create a midi control external clock.

if these two things were done this way we can all enjoy and run QB alongside and within our favourite daws opening a whole new world..this approach I think would be far less laborious than trying to create a QB VST instrument? in the end though if you Adam tried this you would essentially have to offer two versions of QB in the end..I hope you can try this a bit of a dream come true?

cheers simon Australia.

thumbs up for soundflower ;) Yep. I'm looking into having multiple channel outputs in the future

yea there’s another one as good just 16 Chanel out black? Something? So if you can open the 16 audio outs as Individuals AND be able to export /import midi data like apart from recording the audio out it would be nice to get the page r midi data into logic aswell but not soo important?and receive start stop then my single Mac and midi controller will run and control bot QB and logic at the same time.. no need for external sound cards or seperate computer? it would be brilliant ❤️👍👍😀

(+1)

Any plans on making this open source?

Hello, I am wanting to have this Quasar Beach on a stand alone computer...I then want to find the most elegant practical inexpensive piece of hardware that will allow me to assign the QB audio out channels ..then take them physically to my other DAW computers input channels..on my master daw I have 32 assignable recordable inputs...however using the QB as a stand alone im finding either I have to buy (superfluous Input or mixing devices) when actually all im wanting is Outputs maybe the 16 that QB has?? later Adam might be able to add MIDI clock slave to the QB in which case I can control it from my master DAW..this is not the case just yet.. anyway back to the original question does anyone have any ideas.. my current input protocols are USB3 and Thunderbolt thanks simon.

(1 edit)

Hello I love this fairlight app brilliant.. im happy to buy a cheap apple laptop and attach a 16/io audio card.. can I route the outputs of all Chanels to that card, then run into another 16'io card on another computer(master).. so essentially the quasar is stand alone ..the final question is it too difficult to implement a slave midi clock to the platform? so from my master daw I can run the quasar LOCKED as a slave in sync to the master AND import the 16 audio Chanels into my DAW this would truly be a dream come true? might it be that this has already been achieved? its just that looking at the 16 audio Chanels on the quasar beach it appears that they are stereo summed.. still if it all were possible id do this in a flash  thanks simon..... might it be that this approach into integrating with DAWS is an easier method than turning the app into a VST?

QBIII Alias will have individual channel routings. QBII doesn't support that. Currently QB doesn't run via midi clock. but this is something I can look into :)

QB voices are true stereo and support both mono and stereo imports. mono sounds are not summed and are pannable (as are stereo sounds)

Lastly QB will only be standalone.

Thanks for your quick reply BTW hope your easter break is enjoyable? so QB111 has this been released as yet? I able to pickup a suitable MacBook for $150 enough to run just QB and im also able to pick up a audio interface that has 16 outs.$150..so for little money in this approach I do get a stand alone CMI for little money ... my master machine has an audio card with 16 in so I suppose the trick is to be able to run QB as a slave via midi clock? sounds like for you its a job to do but not out of the question..cheers simon

QBIII (Alias) is in development. 

How do I show my found MIDI devices on page M? When I turn the MIDI system on, I see "Found Devices - Click to select", but I can't see the device. My device previously showed up as an audio output device (it is a Yamaha PSR-e463 which can send audio to its speakers over USB) so I am not sure why I can't see it in page M.

What QB version are you using?

Whichever version that's included in qasarbeach135a.zip.

there is a 135b release that deals with midi. Issues 

Ahh, I see.

will there be a updated linux version to update it past 1.29g to 135 like the windows and mac os versions?

As I may have mentioned I am now on an MSI GE75 Raider with Intel Core i7 10750H CPU at 2.60 GHz, Nvidia GEForce RTX 2060 and integrated Intel graphics, with 16 GB of DDR 4 ram, and a solid state boot drive. I use Korg MIDI driver with my Korg Kronos music workstation.

I was still having the issue with MIDI not sounding notes when switching off any page but Page M. in v1.34.

Now version 1.35a does not pick up my MIDI device AT ALL.

Any solution for this??

(1 edit)

currently no. but I am looking into new midi code

I find the Help pages (Page 9) very helpful, but there are some issues in those pages.  Page F doesn't display correctly (only 2 lines, which appear to be header/footer info, but in a slightly confused manner); Page 3 won't display at all; and Page R displays only as many pages as the previous displayed page (so I try to go to Page 7 immediately prior).  These are not major issues since there is good documentation elsewhere, but just in case you weren't aware of this issues, I thought I'd speak up and let you know.  Great system, I'm really enjoying it!

(+1)

thanks for this - I'll get it sorted ;)

Viewing most recent comments 1 to 40 of 125 · Next page · Last page