Fairlight CMI Series 3 music keyboard

Music keyboard from Fairlight CMI Series 3, Fairlight Instruments Pty Ltd, Sydney, 1985-1989.

The Fairlight Computer Musical Instrument is an early digital audio workstation, often referred to as an “orchestra in a box”. It combines a synthesizer, sampler and sequencer in one unit, and was used extensively in the 1980s in popular music and for film scores.

This particular Fairlight CMI was acquired for use in a pre-production suite at Abbey Road Recording Studios, approximately 1986-89, in a joint venture between Robin Scott and Abbey Road. It was used by various artists and producers in the early stages of record production, including the Pet Shop Boys working on Liza Minelli’s Results in 1988 (see https://www.brownsound.net/abbey-road-fairlight-room/).

The Fairlight was largely superceded in the 1990s by smaller, less expensive, and more user-friendly devices, but it is still coveted by enthusiasts, and its sounds are still commonly heard through samples and sound libraries.