Composers, producers, fixers and promoters
Hire the orchestra
A full symphony orchestra, a chamber band or a film-session line-up — for recording dates at Abbey Road and AIR Lyndhurst, and for concerts, galas and festivals.
“There is no finer recording of West Side Story than that which was laid down by the NSO.”
From 1 player to 90
7 line-ups the orchestra fields regularly. Any of them can be built on — tell us what the score asks for.
1
Solo playerConductor optional
One of the orchestra’s players on their own — for a ceremony, a reception, or the solo line on a score.
9
Small ensembleConductor optional
Nine players for receptions, private events and at-sea work — strings with a wind and brass lead, directed from the front desk.
16
String sectionConductor optional
Strings alone, the size a television cue usually asks for. Conductor optional.
25
Studio session
The size that goes into a London studio for a drama score — two sessions in a day, and back again a fortnight later.
34
Chamber orchestra
Classical-sized band for Mozart, Haydn and Viennese programmes, and for smaller rooms.
49
Film session
Studio layout for scoring dates at Abbey Road and Air Lyndhurst — sightlines to the podium and the screen.
90
Symphonic
Full symphony orchestra for Cadogan Hall, the Barbican and the Royal Albert Hall.
What a client receives
Example stage plan: Beethoven’s Ninth at Cadogan Hall on 7 May 2024 - 67 players and a choir of 120, every desk placed.
Live to picture
A whole score played live and in sync with the screen, in front of a paying audience. Three hours of rehearsal for two and a quarter hours of music — the same score a film orchestra would take five to seven days over in a studio — read once, to click, with no second take.
Photosensitivity warning: this film contains flashing lights.
Filmed from the audience at the Barbican, 16 September 2023, by ChaosHillZone Sonic Symphony
Barbican Hall, London · 2023
© Toby Hart Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in Concert
Ithra, Dammam · 2019
Where we record
- Abbey Road Studios
- Where the orchestra recorded its series of complete musicals for Jay Records.
- AIR Studios
- Where España was recorded.
- Henry Wood Hall
- Where Scheherazade was recorded for Chasing the Dragon, and both of the orchestra’s discs for Guild.
Booking
- Lead time
- Ten working days for a standard session, and less by arrangement when the diary allows.
- Quotes
- One working day.
- A session
- Three hours, with a twenty-minute break. A session typically yields eight to twelve minutes of finished music, depending on the difficulty of the writing.
- Scores and parts
- Scores at A3 and parts at A4, single-sided PDF, bar numbers on every system and cue markings where the picture needs them. We need them no later than five working days before the session so the librarian can check and bind them.
- Deposit
- Fifty per cent on booking, the balance on the session date.
- Cancellation
- Free up to twenty-one days before the session. Inside that the deposit is retained, and a session postponed more than twenty-one days ahead can be moved once at no charge.
What a session includes
- The players, contracted and fixedMusicians Union rates or better.
- A conductorOr your own, if you would rather.
- The orchestra’s librarianParts checked, bound and on the stands before you arrive.
- Session management on the day
What we need to quote you
Six things. None of them has to be settled — say so where it is not, and the orchestra will work with what you have.
- What the music is for
- A film or television score, an album, a concert, an advert, a game.
- When
- A date, or the window you are working within. “Not yet fixed” is a useful answer.
- How many players
- Or the sound you are after, and the orchestra will tell you what it takes.
- How many sessions
- And roughly how many minutes of finished music.
- Where
- A studio you have in mind, or leave it to the orchestra’s fixer.
- Your deadline
- When the recording has to be delivered, which is not always the session date.
Ask for a quote
Questions composers ask
- How far ahead do I need to book?
- Ten working days for a standard session. We can often do better than that when the diary allows — ask, rather than assuming the date is gone.
- How much music can we record in a session?
- Eight to twelve minutes of finished music in a three-hour session is the usual range. Simple, slow writing goes faster; a dense action cue goes slower. Send us the cue list and we will tell you what we think it will take.
- How quickly will I get a quote?
- One working day, from the form on this page or from an email.
- What do you need from me before the session?
- Scores at A3 and parts at A4, single-sided PDF, with bar numbers on every system, five working days ahead. If you have picture, send it with timecode and streamers where you want them.
- Do I need to be in the room?
- No. Plenty of composers attend, and plenty listen in remotely and send notes between takes. Both work.
- Who owns the recording?
- You do. The orchestra is engaged for the session and the recording is yours to use, subject to the usage agreed in the quote.
- Can I record a smaller group than a full orchestra?
- Yes. The line-ups on this page run from a single player to a full symphony orchestra, and we can put together something else if none of them fits.