75% off “Darklight IIx” by UVI

€39
Real Value: €149
You Save: €110
Reward points: 75

“Darklight IIx” is inspired by the classic Fairlight CMI IIx. Costing upwards of $100,000, the dream machine of the ‘80s was unattainable by most.

Used by countless prominent artists including Peter Gabriel, David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Kate Bush, Herbie Hancock, Jean Michel Jarre, Thomas Dolby and many more, it remains a highly regarded and sought after instrument.

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Inspired By The Classic 80’s Dream Machine!

Suffering a fit of nostalgia as they often do, UVI decided to set about making a new instrument inspired by this legendary studio icon and ended up making three! Darklight contains:

  • A Digital Synth – Bass, Brass, Bells, Strings, Guitar, Orchestral Hits, Synth, Drums, Percussion, FX, Keys, Piano, Organs, Winds, Reeds and Voice.
  • A Digital Drum Machine – 80s-style beatbox with built-in retro step sequencer. Featuring hundreds of authentic vintage drum and percussion sounds in one place.
  • A Multi-Phraser – Build and layer sounds to create your own loops and progressions with a distinct old-school digital flavor.

Each instrument comes with its own unique quirks and personality, suited for different tasks, all with the raw, lo-fi character of the original machine.

The result is an extremely fun and flexible set of instruments that gives new life to classic sounds and pushes these old voices into new sonic territory.

75% off “Darklight IIx” by UVI

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A Brief History of the Iconic Fairlight CMI

The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) was introduced in 1979 by the founders of FairlightPeter Vogel and Kim Ryrie. It was one of the earliest music workstations with an embedded digital sampling synthesizer.

The second version of the Fairlight CMI, Series II, was released in 1982. The popularity of Series II was in large part due to a new feature, Page R, their first true music sequencer. As a replacement for the complicated Music Composition Language (MCL) used by Series I, Page R helped the Fairlight CMI Series II become a commercial juggernaut.

The CMI II was a high-level composition tool that not only shaped the sound of the 80s, but the way music was actually written. Fairlight kept making updates to the system, such as a 1983 upgrade called the CMI Series IIx (on which this library is based) which allowed for MIDI, until the release of Series III in 1985.

The last Fairlight IIx was given away through a contest in the magazine Keyboard in 1987. In 2015, the Fairlight CMI was inducted into the National Film and Sound Archive‘s Sounds of Australia collection.

Page P – Digital Synth

This page gives you mmediate access to 250+ ready-to-play preset instruments including: Bass, Brass, Bells, Strings, Guitar, Orchestral Hits, Synth, Drums, Percussion, FX, Keys, Piano, Organs, Winds, Reeds and Voices.

This page also offers three logical sections for shaping your sounds that contain the following tools:

Amplitude and Filters

  • Amplitude – Velocity to the attack, velocity sensitivity control and standard ADSR slider controls for the Amplitude Envelope.
  • Filter – Includes a multimode filter with high-pass, band-pass, and low-pass settings. You also get a bipolar envelope amount control, as well as standard cutoff and resonance controls.
  • Filter Envelope – This has its own velocity sensitivity control, and ADSR slider controls.

ModWheel, Pitch Envelope & Drive

  • ModWheel – Lets you enable vibrato, tremolo, and filter cutoff. The vibrato and tremolo have rate controls, while the cutoff has a depth control.
  • Pitch Env – This is really a portamento control, and using the Depth knob, you can have it glide up or down to the note you hit. The Time knob is for adjusting how long it takes to glide up or down to the note.
  • Drive – Sets an amount of an overdrive that is added to the tone of the original sound, which gives it a more distorted sound.

Stereo

This section is dedicated to controls to adjust the panoramic settings of the sounds and has three modes:

  • Off – is a mono mode
  • Alt – will alternate each note played from left to right
  • Uni – is a stereo setting.

The amount of left/right panning for “Alt” and “Uni” settings can be adjusted with the “Spread” control. The “Color” control uses additional samples to add a chorus type of effect.

Effects

Enjoy accurate reproduction of the original hardware’s aliasing characteristics across a multitude of effects, including Sparkverb™, that allow you to recreate sounds from your favorite cult records from the ’80s or something totally new!

75% off “Darklight IIx” by UVI

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Page B – Digital Drum Machine

Let “Darklight IIx” power your rhythm section as an ’80s-style beatbox with built-in retro step sequencer. Utilize the per-instrument filters to sculpt your kit or draw from the included UVI effects to completely transform it!

When you load Page B, you’ll be presented with another vintage looking screen containing the eight-part digital drum machine of Darklight IIx. At the top left, there is a menu to load some presets/patterns. Each of the presets has its own rhythmic pattern, and various sounds that load into each of the parts.

There are sixteen steps to add notes and build up a pattern. Clicking once in a slot adds a note, and when you click on that same note again, it will look faded and have a lower velocity. Clicking a third time deletes the note.

On the right side of the display are filters for each of the eight parts. These let you use a low-pass or a high-pass filter using a slider. Like nearly all the other controls in Darklight IIx, these can easily be assigned to MIDI controls with a simple right-click.

Any of the eight parts can be turned on or off, and each of the parts has Gain, Pan, and Tune controls as well.

Overall this section includes 250+ sounds and 25 ready-to-play configurations that will evoke pure ’80s nostalgia!

Page U – The Multi-Phraser

The Multi-Phraser is a fun and creative twist on the digital sampling workstation, you can build and layer sounds to create your own loops and progressions with a distinct old-school digital flavor!

This is an easy-to-use sequencer section featuring over 100 sounds that can be used across three layers, and each can have up to sixteen steps.

Each of the layers can have a different preset loaded into it and the velocity and note value for every step can easily be changed. There are also a number of controls that allow you to asjust the overall sequence:

  • Volume – A basic volume control
  • Pan – Pan the layer left or right
  • Resolution – Set the resolution of the sequence up to 16 steps
  • Gate Control
  • Step Control

To record notes into a layer, you just click the “R” on the right side of whichever layer you want to use. You then either click on keys of the onscreen keyboard, or play them with your MIDI keyboard. It’s fun and easy to use.

On the right side of the Multi-Phraser screen are its effects. Each layer has its own dedicated low-pass/high-pass filter, and there are also controls for Delay and Reverb.

Clicking the FX button on this screen will bring you to the UVI Destructor and Exciter effects. Even more effects can be added if you like.

In summary, this section gives you everything you need to create original melodies, loops, phrases, drones and more, all with that authentic vintage digital bite!

75% off “Darklight IIx” by UVI

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Make Your Sounds Your Own With Effects & Arpeggiator

Running down the right-hand side of Page P are the effects, which include the following:

  • Phaser
  • Delay
  • Reverb
  • Bit Crusher

The first three effects have an on/off switch and an amount knob. The type of delay and its timing can’t be changed from the main display. However, you can change other parameters for the delay, as well as the other effects by clicking on “FX” near the top right of the workstation.

This brings you to the main FX screen, where you’re also able to load in additional effects. The number of effects available for each part is unlimited, so you can include as many of them as you want. To switch back to the main display, you just have to click on the gear icon in the upper-right of the screen.

There are a huge number of effects to choose from, including IR Reverbs, Flanger, Chorus, Delay, a Talk-Box filter, and Tremolo.

To get to the Arpeggiator, click on the notation symbol in the upper-right, and click the “Enable” button at the top left to switch it on. Some of its features include 26 different play modes, a Hold function, controls for Step length and Velocity amount, a six octave (+/-) control, Groove amount (swing), and it can use up to 128 steps.

The Arpeggiator has many presets that are built-in, and are grouped by type: Arp, Chord, and Mono.

You can also save any alterations to these as a User Preset. After it has been saved, and you click on the Arpeggiator preset menu, you will then see a new section called “User.” Any presets you’ve designed and saved for the Arpeggiator will be found there.

So What Exactly Can I Do With “Darklight IIx”?

With 1.58GB of classic sounds under the hood, “Darklight IIx” is the ultimate tool for recreating that vintage 80’s sound beloved by so many.

If you’re looking to invoke the instantly recognisable sounds of Peter Gabriel, David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Kate Bush, Herbie Hancock, Jean Michel Jarre or Thomas Dolby, then look no further!

From the Pop culture resurgence to the most modern Electro-Pop, make music without any frontier!

This library works with the free UVI Workstation and does not require any additional software.

Note: Requires an iLok account (free, dongle not required). License – 3 activations per license on any combination of computer hard drive or iLok dongle.

"Darklight IIx" by UVI

75% off "Darklight IIx" by UVI

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Normally €149 – get it at 75% off before it’s gone!

  • 75% off the normal price (normally €149)!
  • Content – 3 Instruments, 284 Presets, 10,722 Samples
  • Wide variety of sounds with the true vintage grit of the original machine
  • Modern UI and controls allow exploration of new sonic territory
  • Powerful analog modeled filters, LFO’s, envelopes and effects in a beautiful old-school interface
  • Size – 1.58GB (FLAC lossless encoding, was 2.3 in WAV)
  • Sample Resolution- 44.1 kHz. Recording at 88.2 kHz
  • This library works with the free UVI Workstation and does not require any additional software.
  • Mac OS X 10.7 to macOS 10.13 High Sierra (32 and 64-bit)
  • Windows 7 to Windows 10 (32 and 64-bit)
  • 3 GB of disk space
  • Hard Drive: 7,200 rpm recommended or Solid State Drive (SSD)
  • 4GB RAM (8 GB+ highly recommended for large UVI Soundbanks)
  • Note: Requires an iLok account (free, dongle not required).
  • License – 3 activations per license on any combination of computer hard drive or iLok dongle
  • Certified DAWs (VST/AU/AAX): Digital Performer 8+, Pro Tools 11+, Logic 9+, Cubase 7+, Nuendo 6+, Ableton Live 8+, Studio One 2+, Garage Band 6, Maschine 1 & 2, Tracktion 4+, Vienna Ensemble 5, Reaper 4+, Sonar X3, Main Stage 3, MuLab 5.5+, FL Studio, Bitwig 1+, Reason 9.5+
  • Relive the classic sounds used by Peter Gabriel, Pet Shop Boys, Jean-Michel Jarre, Herbie Hancock, Thomas Dolby and many others!
  • Perfect for all types of mid 80s inspired music including Pop, New Wave, New Romantic, Synth pop, Techno, Film Soundtracks and much more!

What People Think About 75% off “Darklight IIx” by UVI

  • "UVI Darklight IIx library gives you a wealth of useable sounds from a Fairlight, enough power to shape yet more sounds for your own use and a lovely retro style interface that evokes a pleasant sense of Aussie sampler-based nostalgia. It is not an accurate Fairlight clone, doesn’t claim to be yet satisfies the most ardent fan of the sound of the Fairlight."

    Full Review

    Failed Muso

    Failed Muso

    Music Industry Blog

  • "I still love using Darklight IIx, and UVI has a done fantastic job bringing a legendary musical instrument back to life. For me, many of the sounds are easily recognizable because I basically grew up on 70s and 80s music. Now I am able to access a large number of the sounds I remember from back then with great clarity, and I can now use them in my own productions. Speaking of clarity, the Fairlight had a dose of lo-fi aliasing that really was just part of its sound. Darklight IIx doesn’t try to cover that up. The displays are also very close to the original look it had, and they made me feel as if I had been transported back in time."

    Full Review

    Soundbytes

    Soundbytes

    Music Industry Blog

  • "A lot of the Fairlight's sound have proven to be timeless, and browsing through Darklight IIx proves to be more fruitful than you probably expect, particularly for drums and percussion. And there's still just something magical about that scratchy, über-digital sonic character."

    Full Review

    Music Radar

    Music Radar

    Music Industry Blog

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