Our Executive Producers are here to walk you through the process
1. WHAT'S THE PROCESS FOR BOOKING AN ORCHESTRAS?
1. First, browse and choose an orchestra that matches your preferences and budget; we have orchestras ranging from 12 to 51 players and prices starting from €199.
2. Next, you'll need to fill out a quick form by clicking the "Book Now" button. Here, we'll ask for you to tell us a bit about your piece of music, how far along in your composition you are, whether you're able to write the scores yourself or need our help and which month you'd ideally like to record. We recommend that you aim to choose a recording date at least 1 month into the future, since the scoring and preparation process does require some time. Once you've submitted the form, one of our executive producers will be in touch with you within 3 business days.
3. Our executive producer will provide you with specific recording date options and recommend a length to book based on the length and complexity of your piece. They will also provide you with additional options like score arrangement, mixing/mastering and 4K video recordings of the session.
4. Now that we have your track information and booking confirmation, you can simply sit back and wait for your recording date to come around! If you've requested scoring, we'll get to work and ensure everything is ready well ahead of your session. We request that you leave enough time
5. A few days before your session we will send you two links: one for audio, and another for video. The audio link opens in your browser, and it's a direct feed from the recording desk, in high-quality. The video link is a Zoom conference call, where you can see the orchestra and communicate directly with the producer, conductor and musicians. We request you click the links a few minutes before the session so that you're ready to begin on time.
Each orchestra and their prices are different. You can find the starting prices for each orchestra on the website, and if you click on the orchestra profiles you'll be able to find more information - including rough guidelines for how much recording sessions cost depending on the length of your music.
More specifically, our most affordable option is the Budapest Strings, which start at €199 for recording 1 minute of music, in a 12-minute session length. Our most expensive offering is the London Strings, starting at €599, which includes some of the best players in the industry.
Once you've filled out the initial booking form, we'll get back to you with a more specific quote, based on the orchestra you've chosen and the length and complexity of your piece.
2. HOW MUCH DO THE RECORDING SESSIONS COST?
The orchestral recording session cost includes:
Score revision by our in-house conductor. A detailed review of your score will be completed before the recording. Changes to the score may be requested;
Organizing and printing;
Full dedication of the studio time and its staff. This includes engineers, producers and general staff;
Musicians;
Conductor;
Recording: Pro Tools multi-track recording with multiple microphones - Decca Tree, wide ambiances, and close mics.
Live-streaming: you will be able to join the recording in real-time HQ audio and video conferencing;
Delivery: the entire Pro Tools session, with all the recorded takes in WAV format;
Files handling and overall management by our production team;
The orchestral recording session cost does not include:
Scoring, i.e. putting your music into music sheets/ scores from scratch, for the musicians and conductor to play your music. This service is available at cost.
Editing, mixing or mastering. These services are also available at cost.
3. WHAT DOES THE COST OF THE SESSION INCLUDE?
Our shared recording sessions are sight-reading sessions, and we only work with musicians and orchestras that are skilled in this type of service. If your music is written and scored well, as well as being idiomatic, our orchestras will be able to play them and still allow for time to repeat certain passages.
4. DO THE MUSICIANS PREPARETHE SESSION BEFOREHAND? IS REHEARSAL TIME INCLUDED?
Yes. You can provide live feedback on the session and let us know of any adjustments you wish to make. For this to happen, we host a Zoom conference call, where you can see the orchestra and communicate directly with the producer, conductor and musicians.
5. HOW IS TIME USED IN AN ORCHESTRAL SESSION?
6. IS IT POSSIBLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH SOMEONE DURING THE SESSION?
If you decide to remotely attend the session, you'll be able to direct it as you please. Depending on the complexity of your piece, the conductor or producer may suggest recording full takes or breaking it into smaller parts, in order to obtain better and faster results. Our producers will make sure that your entire piece is recorded. Our proposed session lengths are estimates, so if your session length does not match the time required to adequately record your piece, we have a number of provisions in place, as outlined in Point 21 our Terms of Use.
FAQ: TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS
7. WHAT IS THE TUNING OF THE ORCHESTRAS
AND WHAT SAMPLE RATE DO YOU RECORD AT?
A=440Hz.
We record at 48kHz/24bit. Please make sure that your DAW's session is set at the correct sample rate for playback. Let us know if you need any help with this.
8. CAN THE ORCHESTRA RECORD WITH A CLICK TRACK OR OTHER PRE-RECORDED AUDIO TRACKS?
Yes, each musician has a pair of headphones to play over click tracks or pre-recorded audio tracks (tuned to A=440Hz). You can send these with your scores. We can also record with no click if that works best for your music.
9. WHAT FILES DO I RECEIVE? WILL YOU SEND SEPARATE AUDIO FILES FROM THE RECORDING SESSION?
We send all the audio files, as well as the Pro Tools session folder, reviewed by our in-house engineer to make sure everything looks perfect with all the takes we did of your piece. We send the files in WAV format recorded at 48KHz/24bit.
If you prefer, you can order our post-production service, and we will edit, mix and master your track to be ready for all sorts of distribution (CD, digital, etc). We send you three final versions: WAV at 48k/24bit; WAV at 44k/16bit; and MP3 at 320kbps. We'll share these booking links with you once you've completed the initial booking form.
10. WHAT THE DELIVERY TIME FOR FILES AFTER
THE SESSION IN RECORDED?
After the recording session we run a quality control on every session file. Only after then will we send the audio files and Pro Tools session to your email. This will be no later than 3 business days after the recording session (considering local bank holidays).
11. DO I KEEP AUDIO RIGHTS OWNERSHIP OF MY PIECE? ARE THE RECORDINGS FREE FOR COMMERCIAL AUDIO USAGE? WHAT ABOUT SYNCHRONIZATION TO FILM?
Yes, you keep ownership of all your rights. Both copyright and recording rights are yours perpetually and worldwide. All musiversal recordings are 100% buyouts.
You have permission to use the recordings delivered by musiversal for commercial purposes without paying additional fees or royalties.
The recordings delivered by musiversal are also cleared for syncing with images except for the recording sessions which are held in the UK territory, which are cleared for audio commercial release only. If you wish to use the music you recorded in London for image-syncing please get in touch with us at hello@musiversal.com.