Fairlight

Fairlight was founded in December 1975 by Australian engineers Kim Ryrie and Peter Vogel, who grew frustrated with analogue synthesizers and began developing digital alternatives in the basement of Ryrie's grandmother's house overlooking Sydney Harbour, naming the company after a passing hydrofoil ferry. Their breakthrough came with the Fairlight CMI, the world's first commercially available digital sampling synthesizer workstation released in 1979, featuring a computer mainframe, dual keyboards, monitor, and light pen for drawing and editing sounds on screen. Pioneering sampling and sequencing, it revolutionized music production and was embraced by artists including Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, and Thomas Dolby before more affordable options emerged.