SAW/PWL Brass and String Sounds ...

[Les]

I think Pete uses it as a table now.

[Alan William Henery]

The manufacturers must think so because they've just realeased a 30th Anniversary edition! http://www.fairlightinstruments.com.au/index.html

Apparently it's US$18,000. I really can't imagine who'd be daft enough! Wonder if they've sold any?

Wow! Unbelievable

Well that black Fairlight is probably owned by some synth super geek, while I appreciate their collectibility I'd be happy with some good samples

I my 909, 808, 303, 606 202 and 101 for good reasons, I could now emulate them with software and I couldn't afford to keep them serviced.

[Yisraelee]

Wasn't the Fairlight sold a few years ago on eBay with a host of other PWL hardware?

Cracking pics BTW Les! Always love to see them.

[ruddyeck]

Craig, why are you never in any of the photos? are you sure you didnt just pay Les a tenner to say you worked there lol

Mark

[johan]

You’re right Yisraelee, those synth where not created yet (sorry for not checking the history books). You can be right about the DX7, the SY-77 had a “DX7II sound like engine” that’s probably how I mixed things up.
In the beginning of 90’s I bought samples from a guy with a SY-77. And one of them sounded like the brass thing in
“I heard a rumour”.
Listen to the record ones more and Willp’s thread about the D-50 could be correct.

Sorry for the spelling mistake “sting” should be string

I don’t think the Fairlight is used anymore. But you now we are interested in anything connected to Stock Aitken Waterman.

Johan

[willp]

I got those Hollow Sun samples and one of the string ones is very PWL-like. I have quickly cobbled together Never Gonna Give You Up using that and a D-550 for the horn and a DX7 for the bass and it's 80% there. Missing the magic though of course!

Still not sure about the horns as I haven't got a Fairlight horn sample but the Horn Section on the D-(5)50 was definitely used for the main riff on Straight Up by Paula Abdul! Not that that helps much...

Will

[ch012000]

The string sound demonstrated by Ian Curnow on the BBC radio interview is the Violins II.vc voice from the Fairlight factory Series III library. It is plastered all over SAW tracks (inc. ‘Ferry across the Mersey’ and ‘The harder I try’ amongst others), and was also used extensively by the Pet Shop Boys, for example as the pad sound on Always on My Mind.

The brass sound he also demos, is the BrassII.vc library voice from the Fairlight factory Series III library. Again you can hear this sound on a number of tracks by the Pet Shop Boys, with this sound providing the lead chords on ‘Always on my mind’, the brass stabs in the chorus of ‘It’s a Sin’, and the brass in the mid-song breakdown in ‘Suburbia’.

If you want to find samples of either of these sounds, I would suggest tracking down a copy of the AMG Sample CD "The Art of Sampling" by JJ Jeczalik. The brass sound is on there (called Octave Brass I think) and the individual sub voices of the ViolinsII.vc preset are all present (they are named differently though). I believe the Hollow Sun sounds are all from a Series II (certainly the ones I have are), which is sonically a completely different machine, and sounds nowhere near as refined.

Equally, if any of you are looking for some of the fabled PWL DX-7 bass sounds, short of buying a DX-7 / TX802 and creating your own, I would suggest tracking down a copy of the AMG “Now That’s what I call Sampling!” CD. This was a showcase CD for their Producers’ Series CDs and includes excerpts from the never released Ian Curnow CD. There are 3 or 4 multi-sampled DX derived basses on this, including the great Euro-bass sound, which is very similar to that used on Bananarama’s ‘Venus’ and the (rare) Harding / Curnow remix of the PSB’s ‘Always on my mind’.

In response to the question as to whether the Fairlight III is still used on records, I believe that Coldplay used one on their last album. They certainly bought a machine, but how much it was used, I could not say as I haven’t listened to the album in detail. That said, the later revisions of the Series III are still very capable machines, with a beautiful sound, if a little on the heavy side!