The JWFAN composers CD, 2005. Bulgarian Philharmonic.

[Jeshopk 8]

This thread relates to the "Calling all composers" thread. But I thought I'd start a new one to tally the interested composers. The idea has now grown into a 20 to 30 minute CD of live orchestra music by the composers at JWFAN.net.

I asked SymphonicWorkshops.com for a quote on 30 minutes of music with the full Bulgarian Philharmonic (65 players). The quote was for 10,000.

Each composer would pay for their own part of the album. The more players, the longer the piece, the more the cost.

I am planning on recording about 3 minutes with the full orchestra, so that covers 1000 dollars. Below are the details I received from Patricia Hitchcock.

 

Dear Jesse - I emailed you last night but sent it to the wrong address (see below) I have since heard from Sofia - they say:  

"65 pieces orchestra, recording team, music producer, studio rent, multichannel recording, editing, mixing, mastering, end results on Master DAT and CD Minimum for such project is 20 min music. PC demo from the score /on CD/ can show ~ time of the recording. If we need more time, I will cover extra expenses.  

Conductor for contemporary works cost 15 Euro per minute.  

We can record this in March, April or May, but I need to make clear what happen with other projects to be able to say exactly. If the composers need more time, than end of September or October can be our date."  

the price as below is about right...  

So let me know what you think.  

Patricia  

>> Dear Jesse:  

Sorry for the delay. I need to know when you want to do this...if you are somewhat flexible we can do it for a good price but I really can't say without asking the orchestra. Generally - about $10000 including sound engineer and conductor.>  

30 minutes of recording would require about 10 hours minimum with the orchestra - 12 would be better but it depends on the difficulty of the music.  

I'll write to them and let you know ASAP  

Patricia<<  

[krosstj 0]

I'm interested in composing with the Strings, Woodwinds, F Horns still. But I also like the full orchestra idea as well. Would we all have to go FULL? I would compose a 3min piece.

[Jeshopk 8]

I'm interested in composing with the Strings, Woodwinds, F Horns still. But I also like the full orchestra idea as well. Would we all have to go FULL? I would compose a 3min piece.

No, as far as I know, as long as we got enough people to record 20 minutes of pieces with the full instrumentation, it would be fine. But keep in mind, you would only be cutting about 6 players in doing this, so it might not lower the cost all that much.

As long as the bulk of the music is for larger ensemble, then other composers can use any combination from the following instrumentation.

8 Woodwinds (2, 2, 2, 2)

4 French Horns

2 Trumpets

2 Trombones

1 Tuba

1 Timpanist

1 Percussionist

1 Harp

45 Strings (in the usual 5 sections)

You could reduce to whatever you wanted, but I'm banking on 20 minutes worth of full, or near full instrumentation.

The Strings,WWs,Horns piece you mention might qualify within the 20 minutes minimum, and if so, you would still pay less for the smaller size.

[krosstj 0]

HAHA, NAH...IF I have a chance to record my work with a FULL or near FULL ORCHESTRA, then BABY, I'm gonna take advantage LOL:)

[StrongBad992648 0]

Eh...I dunno...I can schedule a recording of my music with the Hartt School of Music Orchestra for 50 bucks per hour here...I don't think I really want to spend that kind of money on an orchestra that is probably near to the Hartt school level of playing. Or at least near enough to suit my needs. I recommend that you go to a college or university near you that has a good orchestra. It may not be EXACTLY the level of the London Symphony Orchestra...but...I mean...you also won't be spending 1000 dollars for 3 minutes of music...

[Jeshopk 8]

I can schedule a recording of my music with the Hartt School of Music Orchestra for 50 bucks per hour here...I don't think I really want to spend that kind of money on an orchestra that is probably near to the Hartt school level of playing. Or at least near enough to suit my needs. I recommend that you go to a college or university near you that has a good orchestra. It may not be EXACTLY the level of the London Symphony Orchestra...but...I mean...you also won't be spending 1000 dollars for 3 minutes of music...

Well, some of us who hope to go on to professional composing need professional orchestra demos. Here's an example of the orchestra I am negotiating with:

http://hopkins.composerarts.com/audiodownl...railermusic.mp3

I want to keep this thread going, but I have to ask you, can anyone with 50 dollars and a score hire the Hartt School of Music Orchestra for an hour, or must you be a student or alumni?

The Bulgarian Philharmonic will give your work a fair reading, rehearsing each piece until they get it right. They won't give back a recording with any mis-played notes or "flubs"

[Jeshopk 8]

HAHA, NAH...IF I have a chance to record my work with a FULL or near FULL ORCHESTRA, then BABY, I'm gonna take advantage

Does that mean you're in, or are you out? The "nah" part got me confused.

[Bowie 45]

Yeah, sorry, I'm going to have to pull out. It's WAY too much for me, personally, at this stage, when a) there is an orchestra at my uni who will eventually play and record some of my stuff as part of my course; B) I don't want to use up this opportunity when I still have a year or more left in me of refining the basics of my craft.

But if you want to do it, Jeshopk, hopefully enough people will be interested to fund the CD.

[Greg1138 3]

I'll conduct it for nothing....

:-)

[StrongBad992648 0]

Haha...I am going into professional composing. Not to mention, I'm actually a pretty good composer...working on a big work for Wind Ensemble right now... and A: you don't need a professional orchestra for demos and B: Hartt sounds quite good. And anyone can walk into the building and talk to our recording studio...and talk to the conductor and you can set something up.

If you are going into film composing, or any composing in which you need demos, you can make your own using giga samples, or even a really good sound card if you want. But seriously...I encourage every one of you to go the university route instead of an expensive orchestra that chances are most people haven't heard much about.

[hoby12 0]

hey for that much you can get three hours with a 50 piece in Los Angeles.

[StrongBad992648 0]

Haha exactly. I think you guys should research things a bit better. If you don't live near there...seriously...there's Hartt School of Music...Juliard...Ithaca...Berkley...pick one. But if you are a composer...you should always have friends that can perform...why don't you get some of those together? Be crafty...but don't spend so much damn money on an orchestra that you don't know enough about. Especially for 1000 dollars for THREE MINUTES. Most professional pieces that need to be demoed are past three minutes anyways!

But Jeshopk, you definately have the right idea. We composers should be banding together and trying to get our stuff heard all the time. Let's just try not getting screwed out of money that we ALL need in the process...we are composers afterall

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

I'd absolutely love to do this. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (at least if my composing career goes down the toilet...). But the reality is I can't do it. I can't possibly come up with the payment, I know horribly little about orchestration and indeed, coposing in general.

But I love the idea! I can't wait to see how it turns out!

[ChrisAfonso 186]

Well, at this price I'd have to back out, too.

Just curious, about what kind of amount would it cost to realize your original idea, the chamber concert?

As StrongBad said, there has to be a cheaper way of getting orchestral music recorded... perhaps somebody here could negotiate something similar (recording about 30 mins of music by various composers) for a more affordable price?

Chris

[Jeshopk 8]

Yes, it is unfortunate how the price has gone up in Eastern Europe. But it is good for them, since it is mostly affected by economic development and the European Union.

Still, it could be the cheapest way to record commercially releasable orchestral music, since if you recorded with a college orchestra, you couldn't then profit off of it by selling the album without negotiating an extra fee.

Well, at this price I'd have to back out, too.  

Just curious, about what kind of amount would it cost to realize your original idea, the chamber concert?

We could have a professional quartet concert for 2000 dollars total, and that would be more than an hour of music. If we had 5 or six people doing that, would that be affordable?

You have to remember that professional groups get thousands of submissions, and usually the criteria is "new music" which isn't the type of sound we're going for. So either amateur musicians or paying some money are the only ways. I am at the point where I have been utterly dissapointed by amateur readings of my work, and will gladly pay a few hundred for a professional performance.

Listen to the string quartet on my website for an example if the quartet I would use, as well as the hall.

[Jeshopk 8]

hey for that much you can get three hours with a 50 piece in Los Angeles.

But they'd be recording 3x more music with a full orchestra.

[Forge 0]

I can vouch for this orchestra being very good. I had a score I wrote recorded by the Bulgarian Philharmonic. I even went to Bulgaria to hear them perform it live. It was one of the greatest moments of my life and I'll never forget it. It was the culmination of three years of self study. I can tell you nothing can compare to hearing your piece performed live by a professional orchestra and I'd gladly do it again if I had the money.

I guess the bottom line is, if you've got the money they are definitely worth a shot, you won't be disappointed.