QasarBeach CMI IIz

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.