I recently hired esessionstrings.com to record strings—V1,V2,VLA and Celli—as a supplement to a mock-up, and I want to report back.
The result was amazing. Pablo, the producer/violinist, and the musicians he works with are all world-class, big-symphony level pros, Pablo is a first-rate producer, and the recording quality is impeccable.
It’s not that expensive, either. It’s honestly a mind-blowing value to add a good bit of really top-notch playing to a cinematic mock-up.
I’ve used remote recording services before with so-so results, but this experience has been amazing and I’ll be using esessionstrings on every piece of the current album I’m working on. (They can do brass and winds too.)
I probably sound like a paid shill, but I promise you I’m just really excited about the level of playing and how much value I’m getting from them.
I feel like I don’t have to record live players myself anymore. This is the one-stop shop!
I’ll need to check this out. I’d been writing a string trio about a year ago, it’s not finished and needs a bit of reworking done to it, but I really want to hear what it sounds like with live players. I literally live down the corner from the conservatory of music, but I doubt their in-house string trio, the Prometheus Trio would be so willing
Problem is, they’re not student musicians, they’re world-touring pros and I’m an amateur composer. Guess it doesn’t hurt to try, but I’d better make darn sure my composition to top notch first. My tutor told me it was Mozart-esque, but with no theme and some modal harmony that doesn’t fit the style. I haven’t touched it in over a year😔
Even world touring musicians are attainable. Typically I’ve found that you pay around £50 per half hour, plus fuel and expenses… that’s the cheap end. That’s per player.
It goes up drastically after that, but there’s a loop hole with a LOT of session orchestras and players. They often batch record in a day. So you don’t pay expenses… I was quoted an estimate of £250 for a 3 minute piece which is very good for what you get. That’s basically a cheap library.
Hmm…£250 is…$400 about? I suppose that’s not too bad all things considered. I also suppose, the University is just up the road as well. Could check to see if the students there would be willing to perform it–though that none of this would include recording.
I was just offering 