Calling all Jean Michel Jarre fans

[stevanholm]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristal_baschet

[nativeVS]

I wouldn't use Ethnicolour because the main choir sound is an Emulator 1 preset, as well as the bass in Zoolook (http://www.jarrography.free.fr/details_equipement_audio.php?id_equip=83)
I think the best would be to use Moon Machine or Wooloomooloo
(http://www.jarrography.free.fr/details_equipement_audio.php?id_equip=41)

[Vortex27]

Hi guys - Check out Music For Supermarkets ( Youtube or by download ) It followed on from Magnetic Fields and spawned much of Zoolook and Rendezvous. Although other instruments are credited, it sounds as if 80% of the tracks were created on the CMI. Part 2 is heavy on the ' glass flute / breathy flute ( swanee ? ) ' which must be the CMI's signature stock sound.  Regarding the query over JMJ's signature string sound, this is a processed Eminent 310U organ ( it has a really good string ensemble feature ).

[madtheory]

Baschet Cristal.

I believe this one was real, accoustic.

I've played with a real Cristal baschet, and on Revolutions it is cleary a sampled one- you can hear the loop. It's a very clean sample so it must've been done on the CMI 3.

I often wondered why CMI I is included- I'm guessing that he overdubbed on some earlier work for the Revolutions album? As we know he recycles ideas a lot.

[Daz66]

I can remember as a kid getting the new 'Magnetic Fields' album (yes - good old vinyl) ... my friend and I were hugely into JMJ while still at primary school and had played Oxygene and Equinoxe to death.  One day, the new album arrived and I rode my bike to the record shop, bought the album and then miraculously made it home on my wobbly bike without having a major accident and damaging the album (sod broken bones or scrapes)

Anyway, I phoned my friend to come over and when he finally arrived, and with sweaty palms and heart palpitations, finally put on the record.... we were both expecting more dreamy synths as per the first two records... I can remember as clear as day both of us looking in open mouthed surprise as soon as the first few bars of M.F. 01 came on.... never heard any thing like that before and we both let out a "PPPHHHWWWOOOOAARRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" as soon as the bass drum kicked in and the piece really let fly..... could've happened yesterday.

 To boot, I was a huge Fairlight fan and kept rabbiting on to anyone who'd listen about this thing called a Fairlight.... the M.F. album had a flyer inside with photos and one of them was a screenshot of a Page D screen captioned "Sound Of Mountains" ... I think it's the same screen shot used on the new Fairlight web page.

Anyway, there may be more representative tracks but for me, Magnetic Fields part 1 (in fact the whole album) is my best Fairlight memory.

A bit off topic - I'd go Fairlight hunting and check out other artists and songs that had used a Fairlight.... there's a great shot of Mike Oldfield leaning against all his instruments on the '5 Miles Out' album .... what did I see peeking round the corner?  Could it have been a computer screen?  A Fairlight??? You betcha!!!  In  fact I've STILL got the original brochure and demo cassette tape from Fairlight which I wrote away for sometime in 1979 or 1980... Peter - you've got a lot to answer for!

[KRISS]

I love the kind of sequenced part of Magnetic Fields, that was deffinately a Series 1 Fairlight as that album was produced in 1981 and probably made before 1981, the Fairlight C.M.I is one of the instruments that i've lusted and longed for since seeing one on the BBC TV (UK) Programme called 'Tomorrow's World' at the time big computers were popular and the Fairlight was one machine i swore that day (1979 / 1980) that i'd own. even though i was only 6 years old at the time - i'm not (Gulp!) 40 and still want one of these machines, even a series 1 would be great, especially if it had them Jarre-type sequencey sounds a la Magnetic Fields 1.

[sEIGu]

I'm surprised, so many people know the flexi-disk "Moon-Machine" (my one got's an EMU-Demo on the backside and was a giveaway on a keyboardmag), which one i played so often that it finally gave up. *phew* the track was released on Jarre's Images-compilation later on cd.

"the" Fairlight-track from Jarre? Moonmachine hits of course the top #3, it's rough, 8bity with that grumpy bass the nearly whole track. A simple masterpiece. Zoolook as an album, Jarre's last creative work (and yes, i am a big fan of JMJ), offers lots of CMI-jewels. Zoolook as title might be Jarre's best Single-Popsong.

Ethnicolor, even though featuring many other machines... it's for me THE JMJ-Fairlight-Thingie. It's pure magic of (that time) unbelievable sounds and soundscapes still hit's me after 30 years.

[nativeVS]

I love the kind of sequenced part of Magnetic Fields, that was deffinately a Series 1 Fairlight

That was actually an ARP 2600 bass line, sequenced by the MDB polysequencer

[KRISS]

The Fairlight (actually 3) were used to play live 'Beat Box' i think it was on a UK Programme called 'The Tube' in the mid 80s and on that show JJ Sampled presenter Jools Holland's voice and used the sound within the performance. Pretty cool to see all them fairlights on stage. I also saw Art of Noise on the same programme playing with Dwayne Eddy on the track 'Peter Gunn' and it looked like JJ had 4 Fairlight monitors on the rack although i am not sure if he had 4 keyboards in the main console or 4 screens controlling 1 keyboard. (answers on a post card folks...). I love Fairlights and love chatting to people who love them or who are lucky enough to own one or more. 

I also know recently Darren Hayes used a Series IIX on his album "These delicate things we've made" and its cool that todays artistes still sometimes use the fairlight or samples of the fairlight on their music. seems funny saying 'samples the fairlight' as the fairlight is a workstation that has sampling facilities built in. I have been a fan of the Fairlight since seeing what we now refer to as a Series 1 in 1980 on the BBC TV Show Tomorrows World and i wanted one there and then, sadly, i was only 8 years old at the time and my pocket money was 40p although i am now nearer to 40 years old now, i still would love to have a go on one...

The Fairlight App and Series 30-A look fantastic and a lot of artistes like Thomas dolby seem to be embracing the retro-modern gear these days, although personally i am a fan of more older digital gear than analogue stuff, i guess the solution would be either to buy the Fairlight Application Pro for i-Pad or save like mad for a vintage hardware full fairlight system 2X or Series 3 as these seem to be more popular than the early Series 1 and 2 machines - although even an early Series 2 or Series 1 would be ok in my book if it was fully functioning. i hear the CPUs are quite noisy though so they would have to be in a soundproofed and air-conditioned case. I look foreward to hearing all about different stories about the fairlight and i wish all the Fairlight team and fairlight fans on here the hand of friendship.

[Vortex27]

I know we are deviating away from good old Jonny- Michael but here in the UK we were treated to some great tv performances where the CMI was displayed like a badge of honour : Art of Noise as already mentioned, Heaven 17 on Top of the Pops and of course Pet Shop Boys on the Old Grey Whistle Test - with Page R being relayed on all those background monitors. It's great that we live in the age of You Tube so we can see all of this again and again - and again.

[KRISS]

Agreed. I always love the P.S.B's Fairlight Performances. And Art of Noise 'Fairlight Masters'. An early performance by UK Musician Vince Clarke and Allison Moyett on a 1982 Editon of the BBC TV Programme 'Top of the Pops' where vince was playing a Series IIX Fairlight on the song "Other Side of Love" did notice the video display unit was facing the wrong way so vince must have had a second monitor so he could see what he was programming in. Another early Fairlight user was Duran Duran's Keyboardist Nick Rhodes. its monitor is clear to see on "The Reflex" Video behind Nick and the keyboard is on a stand with a Roland Jupiter 8 on top. There are lots of records that used the Fairlight. One of my favourite artistes, Howard Jones, used one on a performance on the BBC TV Chat Show "Wogan" sometimes in the mid 80s (Mr Jones himself looking VERY Cool and trendy). Howard Jones & J.M Jarre are two of my biggest musical heroes (along with Mr Brian Eno and Klaus Schulze).