QasarBeach - recreation of the CMI Fairlight IIx. [Win, Mac and Linux]

[teevee]

"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.

QasarBeach is designed to replicate the Fairlight CMI IIx. In this it follows very closely to the UI, the operation and also the command line interface. It then takes these concepts and expands on them giving you 16 voices,
stereo or mono samples plus a range of sample imports from 8bit to 24bit uncompressed samples, plus the ability to load in any Fairlight I, II, IIx and III sample voices."

webpage:
https://adamstrange.itch.io/qasarbeach

Community:
Facebook Group -> QasarBeach

Video:



Index picture:

[teevee]

A new update is announced.
V 1.23 note velocity KEYVEL now received from MIDI
'PAGE R now respects incomming MIDI velocity and sets the vol/keyvol for the note
'minor mod to .wav wavetable loading
'added lfo and subvoice support to new numpad editing
'Extended numpad keys+enter now supported
'fixed loading of .in fies where loops sounded wrong on import
'PAGE 7 - added 'SAVE IN VC' to top table
'PAGE E - REFLECT moved from left ot right side
'PAGE E - Added SET LOOP to right side
'PAGE E - Added X FADE to right side
'PAGE E - visual of loop and xfade added to waveform view as in documentation
'PAGE E - SET LOOP operational
'PAGE E - XFADE operational
'PAGE E - added VIEW: START END to top UI
'PAGE E - when clicked and held down with mouse the start or end segment is displayed. This allows you to check the exact contents and is
' great for merge and cutting
'new midi with updated linux and pi core
I'm also going through the IIx .RS file structure to see about implementing direct IIx .rs file into QasarBeach"

webpage:
https://adamstrange.itch.io/qasarbeach

Community:
Facebook Group -> QasarBeach

[madtheory]

So cool! Would love to see RS support.

[teevee]

So cool! Would love to see RS support.

One of the admins from the Facebook groups just uploaded a demonstration video to YouTube: [It is German, but you can activate subtitles]


Note:
There has also been uploaded a few Fairlight disks in .VC format on the QasarBeach Facebook group to get started with

[teevee]

Ver 1.23 Update (23 May 2020)

note velocity KEYVEL now received from MIDI
PAGE R now respects incomming MIDI velocity and sets the vol/keyvol for the note
minor mod to .wav wavetable loading
added lfo and subvoice support to new numpad editing
Extended numpad keys+enter now supported
fixed loading of .in fies where loops sounded wrong on import
PAGE 7 - added 'SAVE IN VC' to top table
PAGE E - REFLECT moved from left ot right side
PAGE E - Added SET LOOP to right side
PAGE E - Added AUTO XF to left side
PAGE E - Added X FADE to right side
PAGE E - visual of loop and xfade added to waveform view as in documentation
PAGE E - SET LOOP operational
PAGE E - XFADE operational
PAGE E - added VIEW: START END to top UI
PAGE E - when clicked and held down with mouse the start or end segment is displayed. This allows you to check the exact contents and is great for merge and cutting
new midi with updated linux and pi core
peliminary IIx .RS loading added
preliminary ios .RS loading added
initial IIx .IN loading added
PAGE 2 Loaded IIx .IN will report missing voices - these need to be in the same folder as the .IN
PAGE 2 missing .IN files now remain visible when changing to other folders
PAGE 2 can detect missing .VC files in new folder when .IN has missing files
PAGE 2 missing .IN files can now be 'ignored' IGNORE FILES added to UI
PAGE 2 RELOAD added to UI for use with missing .IN files
PAGE 2 Reloading of missing files now operational
PAGE 7 Names of loaded 1234.co files are now displayed in header
PAGE 2 better display of loaded/available voices
PAGE 2 IIx .CO loading added
PAGE 7 RELEASE ECHO renamed to DAMPING ECHO
PAGE 7 original IIx DAMPING in .VC and .CO files now rerouted to DAMPING
CHO (formally RELEASE ECHO)
PAGE 7 voice RESET help text corrected


Link:
https://adamstrange.itch.io/qasarbeach

Community:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/277208163443745

[teevee]

Webpage:
https://adamstrange.itch.io/qasarbeach

Community:
Facebook -> qasarbeach


Ver 1.24 Update (30 May 2020)
minor 8bit wav loading internal audio fix
potential loop crash fix
inconsistent rootnote Page7 and Page R fixed
PAGE 2 RESET VOICES moved down so it can't be accidentally clicked!
PAGE E REFLECT moved to center part of UI
PAGE E XFADE & SET LOOP moved down
PAGE E LOOP START added
PAGE E LOOP END added
PAGE 2 increased double click timing
PAGE R Note off (hat) now shown in 8 voice view when not part of a note. EG no note before it
MIDI AfterTouch now operational
PAGE M keyboard icon fixed
PAGE M input devices 2, 3, 4 can now be selected correctly
PAGE M control inputs (auto learn) added - not yet saved/loaded
PAGE M control surface sysex intenally operational - no UI yet
PAGE E REFLECT caused glitch if encountered junk - fixed
PAGE E REFLECT large stereo (+1mb) files cause crash - fixed
PAGE E NOISE now operational
PAGE E SMOOTH now operational
Linux build removed until MIDI issues can be fixed

[D-Collector]

This came as a complete surprise, and I tested it last week. 10 years ago I wished for something like this, instead of the poor ipad app from Vogel.

QuasarBeach is a very convincing piece of work, and hats off to the developer. However, it was quite buggy in my testing. And sadly, the timing in Page R is completely off. That makes it unusable for me, I hade really hoped for this feature to be solid in an otherwise excellent reproduction. Fingers crossed that timing issues can be worked out.

[teevee]

This came as a complete surprise, and I tested it last week. 10 years ago I wished for something like this, instead of the poor ipad app from Vogel.

QuasarBeach is a very convincing piece of work, and hats off to the developer. However, it was quite buggy in my testing. And sadly, the timing in Page R is completely off. That makes it unusable for me, I hade really hoped for this feature to be solid in an otherwise excellent reproduction. Fingers crossed that timing issues can be worked out.

He is working on the timing issue.

[teevee]

Homepage:
https://adamstrange.itch.io/qasarbeach

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/277208163443745

Ver 1.25 Update (28 June 2020)
PAGE S changing window sizes now shows title bar
PAGE 2 fatal crash with missing .in files fixed
PAGE E MIX command removed MI version
PAGE E MIX command now operational
PAGE E view current (playhead) segment added
PAGE F improved the function display
PAGE F fixed end of function bug that could return 0 instead of correct position
PAGE 7 MODE moved into the top bar
PAGE T new 'Pure fx' added
PAGE T FX now have banks
PAGE 3 added CMI CONVERT. this will take a sample and make it 16k. Which can be used with the ANALYSE command
PAGE 4 ANALYSE help text minor change to add CMI 16k
PAGE D now animates (draws waveforms) to screen 'internal loading routines now return success or not
PAGE 2 now tells you if the file was loaded OK
Minor audio activation tweaking to prevent audio stopping
PAGE 3 REVERSE added - this will reverse the entire sample
REV added to commands. with no parameters it reverses the entire sample as in the manual
internal language port and recreation in preparation for threading
initial move from event to threading to tackle timing
PAGE 2 Info line now shows if a file has been properly loaded or not
PAGE S logo images updated to match new animated logos
PAGE I animated QasarBeach logo added and operational
PAGE R initial metronome code
PAGE R metron added to UI (metronome)
PAGE R when in record mode, a new (empty) pattern will be automatically created for you
PAGE R SONG section play incorrect position fix
PAGE R PATTERN SHIFT+< SHIFT+> incorrectly triggered note off
PAGE R 'S PLAY' added to UI so you can replicate the IIx play operation of playing the song instead of the pattern
PAGE A initial external sampling routines being worked on
PAGE A 'EXTERNAL" added to input source UI
PAGE A 'External input now shown as live input into left/right input faders
PAGE R dur now goes up to 99 (it was 96). 96 is the 4:4 time base, giving ability to stretch over a 4:4 bar
internal microphone overload timing crash prevention being added
PAGE R song play (when referencing sections) pattern correction when first started
PAGE A SYNC only appears when using internal sound source
PAGE R song. clicking the section will now enter the command
PAGE R song. click an empty section and the command line will automatically fill with the pattern entry command
PAGE R - tip - add empty patterns to a section. goto pattern, metron = on, record = on, S PLAY. you can now record as the section plays!
PAGE R song. clicking the song block will now enter the command
PAGE R song. click an empty song block and the command line will automatically fill with the block entry command
when song is playing garbage collection is now turned off
Added internal sound sampling protection
PAGE 2 some loading bars added - they might not appear though
PAGE 2 added some trapping for PPG t000.wav library files to prevent them from loading as wavetables
PAGE 3 REDUCE memory protection added
PAGE D end segment now displays correctly
PAGE E start/end/curr segment buttons only appear if sample is 16k
PAGE A gcSuspend() added
revert back to previous language as Windows HATES the new one
Faders are now 'Live' and will repond to keeping the mouse button pressed. E.G. you can draw on PAGE 5 'PAGE D added faux rotation to 3d view
PAGE A external record time halved
Potential memory error being looked at
PAGE A Corrected Hertz
PAGE 2 ctrl+return, shift+return, ctrl+up, shift+up will goto the previous folder (..)
PAGE 3 potential REDUCE crash fix
PAGE R voice ZERO now stops any playing voice
PAGE S fullscreen removed in macos ctrl+cmd+f or just use maximize icon in window
PAGE R voice ZERO leaves ghost data fixed
PAGE R hidden voices not recording properly - fixed
PAGE R quantize of recoring notes fixed
PAGE 7 additional FINE added to MODE 5 subvoice display, allowing for fine srting of a sample
Internal subvoiceFine data being added to core
PAGE R metronome fixed for other timing than 4:4
PAGE R note velocity 110 not shown fixed
PAGE D start segment will now move with the playhead if 32 or 64 end segments are picked
PAGE E repeated cut causes crash - fixed
PAGE E repeated trim causes crash - fixed
paste waveform crash - fixed
internal sample buffer protection added
added f argument. When run with f added to the filename it will start fullscreen
PAGE E normalize has new code
MODE 4 single shot loop (from segments 1 to 128) caused glitch/pop - fixed
PAGE 3 compressed center text options
PAGE 3 added QUAD COMBINE to options
PAGE 7 MODE 6 added to UI
Further internal crash protection found and added
internal preparation for mode 6
Ctrl+U / Ctrl+Z = waveform UNDO
First version of Mode 6 mono and stereo base tested
PAGE S added qasarbeach f help text
PAGE S added German Keyboard z is y option
internal systems now respond to german keyboard including settings
PAGE 7 added live segment display to mode 6
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 you bug lists, wish lists and more