- Price$9.99
- CategoryMusic
- First releasedMarch 18, 2011
- Versions1 archived
- Installable1 of 1
- AvailabilityStill on the App Store
- SellerFairlight Instruments Pty Ltd
- Bundle IDcom.fairlightinstruments.Fairlight
RequirementsCompatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.
Something off?
Report an issueTravel back in time to the dawn of electronic music with this strange retro app – a MIDI player preloaded with 500+ legendary CMI (Computer Musical Instrument) sounds.
The first byte-perfect re-issue of the classic CMI sounds of the 80s, immortalised by artists including Alan Parsons, Jean Michel Jarre, Trevor Horn, Thomas Dolby, Brian Eno, Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, Stevie Wonder and so many more.
This app includes a play-only demo of the famous ‘Page R’, which was the world's first screen-based rhythm sequencer. Today every sampler, digital synthesiser, sequencer and audio workstation can trace its lineage back to this legendary machine.
Now you can have, in your pocket or on your iPad, a piece of history developed by Peter Vogel and other music nerds who worked on the Fairlight* CMI in the '80s.
BUILT-IN FEATURES
- browse and play the entire original CMI IIX Sounds floppy disk library
- 564 voices imported digitally.
- play the CMI voices from an external MIDI input (supports Core MIDI devices. Line6 MidiMobilizer II or Akai SynthStation require MidiBridge or similar), or use the on-screen keyboard
- display voices graphically using the iconic Page D, and change your viewpoint by tilting your iPhone/iPad.
- play built-in CMI Page R compositions or import and play compositions sent to you by others.
- authentic CMI user interface experience, including floppy disk quirks.
UPGRADE to PRO VERSION
Use the in-App upgrade process to add “pro” features for an additional $39.99. Vogel CMI Pro App includes CMI III voices, the ability to compose 8 track songs using the Page R pattern sequencer, sampling your own voices from the microphone or line in and much more. See the “Vogel CMI Pro” app description for details.
REVIEWS
I would have never dreamt in a million years to own a Fairlight. It is the stuff of legends! Beyond any ordinary man's budget! And for this day to come a reality for a mere $10!! I am in awe and shock! I cannot emphasize how thankful I am to you for releasing this Iconic and Legendary instrument as an iPhone application!! (Imad Hamadieh, Dubai, UAE)
When I saw it yesterday and found out about it, I just about fainted!! Very nice app! A complete revival / reissue of the best computer musical instrument ever in a tiny but very useful format. It is a joy to see an epic piece of synthesizer/sampling history as an app for the millions. Finally you can take your Fairlight wherever you are! A Fairlight to go-go-go! (Freek Roffel, Netherlands)
Again I would like to take a moment and extend a huge THANK YOU to the entire Fairlight team. ... You have taken the time and patience to create an affordable solution for the masses. ... You have given us a gift. I am truly excited to see what users will do with this App to change the future of music once again. Sincerely, thank you. (Zacharia Malakai, USA)
All I can say is WOW!! I have put this thru my BIG speakers in my studio and put a little reverb on and the sound is stunning – SO what am I going to do with my Fairlight CMI-IIx now?? (Howard J Smith, USA)
DEVICE REQUIREMENTS
This App will work on any device running iOS 7 or later. However, if you want to use Audiobus or do heavy performance and composing work with the Pro upgrade, we recommend a minimum of iPod Touch 4G, iPhone 4 or iPad 2.
*Fairlight is a trademark of Fairlight.au Pty Ltd Australia
Chart History
Ratings Over Time
sampled from 6 archived captures| Date | Version | Rating | Ratings | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 22, 2011 | — | — | 25 | $9.99 |
| February 21, 2012 | — | — | 51 | $9.99 |
| December 4, 2013 | — | — | 72 | $9.99 |
| December 17, 2017 | 2.3.2 | — | 93 | $9.99 |
From archived App Store listing data, captured by the Wayback Machine.
Archived Reviews
8 of 25Didn’t work on iOS 14, and then did work on iOS 14, and now on iOS 15 it doesn’t work again. Just crashes immediately. To think I spent $50 on this. Shame as I liked Page R. We can all get Arturia and UVI VSTs of the CMI, but losing access to Page R is the most frustrating part of this seemingly being abandoned. I say abandoned because there’s zero support for this.
People who upgraded to Pro instead of purchasing the Pro version didn't get the recent update. Web site and support page is dead. This is cool app, but I'm not going to repurchase to get updates. Update - they fixed it so five stars. Thanks!
You load up the sim, and it feels like sitting down at the keyboard. The buttons click, the background hums, its great. But when I pay $10.00, I expect the full thing. If you think I'm unlocking the full thing for $50.00, you're crazy.
Good, but as of Pro 2.4.3, on an iPad Pro running ipados 18, intel chip, it does not allow me to change the names of individual songs, and the play buttons in the sample pane shrink unexpectedly, rendering them near impossible to tap or press. I love the idea of this, and want to use it to spur some creativity, but there are just a couple of roadblocks along the way.
This is very hard and can’t change a voice of its like I would never use this horrible app again.
I mean I’ve gotta admit, this thing right here is the sound of the 80’s. Best synthesizer available on the App Store! I do plan on buying the pro version until I get enough money. Though I do think that $49.99 (Basically $50) is a lot just for one app, but y’know, the CMI III was literally used to create a whole entire soundtrack for a movie, (Terminator II: Judgment Day), so I guess it gets a pass. Overall, this app is very amazing and I enjoy it. Thank you.
iPhone XS iOS 14.6
I really want to like this app more, but it's just way too buggy, especially for what the developer charges. I would eventually like to get the Pro version for the authentic Fairlight experience; however, this version doesn't inspire any sort of confidence that I would get my money's worth were I to upgrade... Before I updated to 2.4, I had issues with connectivity and midi not working properly. Now with 2.4, it won't respond to polyphonic note input, be it from the internal onscreen keyboard, or from an external source. I've found out it's a bug, because only 2 times since the recent update have I been able to get it to play polyphonically, and each time when I closed the app, polyphony was lost. If you really want Fairlight sounds, you're best off getting this Lite version, and sampling it inside of a DAW. To add salt to the wound, the developer has never responded to any of my emails inquiring about and addressing bugs (dating to 2 years back when I purchased this), and the app rarely gets updated (making it borderline abandonware), so you're left with a barely functional app. It's truly overpriced for what you get, even at half the price. Unfortunately, I'm not very optimistic that this will ever get on par with other sampler apps. Hopefully the developer proves me wrong.
Period reviews recovered from Apple's customer-review feeds via the Wayback Machine.