Herbie Hancock playing on a Fairlight CMI

It's a pleasure to watch musical legends Herbie Hancock and Quincy Jones, as they play starry-eyed on a Fairlight CMI synthesizer. The CMI (Computer Musical Instrument) was introduced in 1979, being the first polyphonic digital sampling synthesizer.

I don't know about the original source of this video, but according to Wikipedia Herbie Hancock and Stevie Wonder were among the first customers buying the system - so it was likely recorded in the early eighties.

via World of Distinct Instinct

Published on March 15, 2009