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Arturia CMI V – Virtual Synthesizer & Sampler

Name: Arturia CMI V - Virtual Synthesizer &amp; Sampler
SKU: 1200-50
Price: 149 USD
Availability: InStock

$149.00

Arturia CMI V - Virtual Synthesizer & Sampler

A spot-on reincarnation of the first commercially available digital sampling system in music history, the sonic powerhouse behind numerous early MTV-era megahits. We even added new creative features that weren’t possible back in the day.

Description

A Unique Musical Architecture

The first commercially available digital sampling system created the sound of countless MTV-era hits and evolved into a full music workstation.

We turbocharged it with state-of-the-art features to make it a centerpiece of your productions. The CMI’s signature 8-bit grunge on hits by Depeche Mode, Herbie Hancock, Peter Gabriel, Duran Duran, and Kate Bush - not to mention countless film scores - transports you straight to the ’80s. CMI V transports your creativity anywhere you want to take it.

Hear What They Heard

Once musicians experienced the dynamic power of the CMI, they were hooked - if they could afford one. CMI V puts it all in the palm of your hand.

Prime Specimen

CMI V begins by meticulously modeling a full-spec CMI Series IIx, which enthusiasts and seasoned producers consider the one to want.

Modern Superpowers

Much more than nostalgia, CMI V provides everything you need - and then some - to explore the intersection of sampling and digital synthesis for modern production.

The Sound of Digital

More precise than analog. More synth-sounding than software sample libraries. CMI V strikes the perfect balance for EDM, hip-hop, neo-disco, and anything in between.

The Sound That Shook the World

As teenagers, Peter Vogel and Kim Ryrie loved electronic music. Their dream of making “the world’s greatest synthesizer” birthed an industry standard.

Both notorious pioneers, Vogel and Ryrie had built computers as school projects and were fans of “Switched On Bach” by Wendy Carlos. They saw combining the computer and the synthesizer as the future, and no one could have predicted just how much they would nail it. The pair got going in earnest in 1975, naming their company Fairlight after a harbor ferry in their home town of Sydney, Australia.

Vogel and Ryrie soon met Tony Furse, who had prototyped a digital synth based on dual Motorola 6800 CPUs. This led to the CMI’s predecessor, the Qasar M8. When the two recorded piano from a radio broadcast, then played it back at different pitches, the result sounded more like a real piano than any electronic attempt thus far. The friends came up with the term “sampling” to describe the process.

Power of Ten

CMI V presets contain up to 10 different instrument slots, each of which can load a different sample or synthesized sound.

Power of Ten

Power of Ten
CMI V presets contain up to 10 different instrument slots, each of which can load a different sample or synthesized sound.

Onscreen Keys

The virtual keyboard doesn’t just look like the real thing, it’s velocity-sensitive. Click lower on the keys for increased velocities.

Assignable Controls

The CMI Series II had three sliders and two switches here. We’ve given you six of each, all assignable in CMI V’s expanded interface mode.

Dedicated Controls

We’ve devoted a bank of eight sliders to the most-often-grabbed settings on the original: Filter, Sample Start, Vibrato, Effects Send, and Envelopes.

Three Types of Digital Synthesis in One

synthesis in one
The CMI V workstation lets you work with multiple instruments and sound generation technologies at the same time.

Craft and combine sounds unheard with up to 10 instrument slots in parallel. Each slot can use one of three sound engines, be saved and recalled separately, and form parts of your own intricate presets - a true digital sound playground.

The Sampler

The instantly-recognizable Sampler section is the heart of what put the CMI on the musical map and where most of the action happened on all those ‘80s recordings. Drag start time, length, and loop points, visualize your waveform in 3D, and carve sound into whatever shape you desire with tuning, envelope, filter and vibrato settings. You can even load your own samples in, up to 30 seconds in length, with a variable sample rate of 2.1k to 44.1k for every degree of digital dirt and textural side-effects.

The Time Synth

Time Synth mode puts a powerful additive synthesis engine at your disposal. Determine how your sound animates by dragging multiple breakpoints on the independent envelopes for each of 32 harmonics. A real-time oscilloscope helps you visualize your work, while the augmented simple sine waves pave the way for experimentation with additional waveforms and harmonic complexity. Start from scratch, modify a preset, or work with a sample you’ve converted from the Sampler page - warp time itself.

The Spectral Synth

The newly-added Spectral Synth mode gives you a different take on additive synthesis. Rather than setting the individual harmonics, you affect an overall distribution curve of harmonics with controls including Center, Spread, Bias and Fundamental Boost. Modulating these parameters with functions and controllers instantly adds motion and energy to your sound design, and different waveshapes vastly expand your sonic potential beyond simple sine-based sounds. A fresh approach that produces fresh sounds.

Cross-synthesis

Now you can merge CMI V’s synthesis types like never before. Using the original Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) function, you can analyze a sample and convert it to a harmonic profile to further manipulate using all the unique harmonic controls only available to you in Time Synth mode. Our faithful modeling of this functionality means that, like the original, you get some unpredictable artifacts during the conversion process that can be musically useful themselves. You also have the option of converting your additive synth work into a sample in order to employ the Sampler’s display and controls in further defining your sound.