# Budget for Huge orchestra and Choir?



## IvanP (Sep 15, 2008)

Hi, 
Can you guys tell me the average budget for a full choir (40? 60? 80? singers?) with a full orchestra (with wws at 4), including conducting and recording, ? I was thinking in Prague or Bratislava, but depending on budget, I might consider other options with better musicians and instruments even if I should lower the # of players (Wws at 3, for instance)

The total amount of music recorded should be around 15-20 minutes. 

Thks!

Iván


----------



## Ed (Sep 15, 2008)

80 singers?? wow!


----------



## Justus (Sep 15, 2008)

http://www.czechfilmorchestra.com/


----------



## IvanP (Sep 15, 2008)

haha Ed...

honestly, I don't know if that's way too much...I'm a complete idiot in terms of how many singers should play with a full orchestra...it doesn't need to be divisi stuff (or maybe yes, depending on budget), just powerful enough for a Hymn or similar... so any idea in terms of number of players, be welcome 

EDIT: the average price for a musician in Spain is 150 € per session, any clue on the price in other, cheaper countries?


----------



## IvanP (Sep 15, 2008)

Thks Justus


----------



## Justus (Sep 15, 2008)

http://www.moscow-orchestra.com/rates.html

Notice the musician pay in prague :shock:


----------



## IvanP (Sep 15, 2008)

Wow!

That's a steal!

Does anyone has experience working with players from prague?


----------



## bryla (Sep 15, 2008)

A friend of mine recorded a cd with them. Hasn't talked details about them, but he seemed very happy with it


----------



## mathis (Sep 15, 2008)

One way to achieve a big choir sound is to record a 40-piece choir twice. Not the same like an 80-piece choir, but it's something.
Next time I do this I will put different notes to the two passes, I will treat is SSAATTBB. That's becoming really fat.


----------



## JonFairhurst (Sep 15, 2008)

"Are you sure you need 80 singers, Mr. Orff?"


----------



## jeffc (Sep 15, 2008)

I've done Prague many times, sometimes through ISDN and Source Connect. I've been happy with the results. Sometimes the conductor is tough to communicate with, and sometimes the wwinds will forget to put the headphones on, but at the end of the day I don't think you can beat the product that you get for the price. Never done the choir there, however.


----------



## Brian Ralston (Sep 15, 2008)

In general with human voices...the more they are in tune with each other and the more they are use to singing with each other...the bigger they will sound. A group of 15-20 professional voices (if recorded and isolated properly) can sound huge. 

Depending on who is being used/contracted...there may be different fees associated with double tracking the voices. Every group and contract is different. But don't assume you can do it aò†È   …Dœ†È   …D†È   …Dž†É   …DŸ†É   …D †Ê   …D¡†Ê   …D¢†Ê   …D£†Ê   …D¤†Ê   …D¥†Ê   …D¦†Ê   …D§†Ê   …D¨†Ê   …D©†Ê   …Dª†Ê   …D«†Ê   …D¬†Ê   …D­†Ê   …D®†Ê   …D¯†Ê   …D°†Ê   …D±†Ê   …D²†Ê   …D³†Ê   …D´†Ê   …Dµ†Ê   …D¶†Ê   …D·†Ê   …D¸†Ê   …D¹†Ê   …Dº†Ê   …D»†Ê   …D¼†Ê   …D½†Ê   …D¾†Ë   …D¿†Ë   …DÀ†Ë   …DÁ†Ë   …DÂ†Ë   …DÃ†Ë   …DÄ†Ë   …DÅ†Ë   …DÆ†Ë   …DÇ†Ë   …DÈ†Ë   …DÉ†Ë   …DÊ†Ë   …DË†Ë   …DÌ†Ë   …DÍ†Ë   …DÎ†Ë   …DÏ†Ë   …DÐ†Ë   …DÑ†Ë   …DÒ†Ë   …DÓ†Ë   …DÔ†Ë   …DÕ†Ë   …DÖ†Ë   …D×†Ë   …DØ†Ë   …DÙ†Ë   …DÚ†Ë   …DÛ†Ë   …DÜ†Ë   …DÝ†Ë   …DÞ†Ë   …Dß†Ë   …Dà†Ë   …Dá†Ë   …Dâ†Ë   …Dã†Ë   …Dä†Ë   …Då†Ë   …Dæ†Ë   …Dç†Ë   …Dè†Ë   …Dé†Ë   …Dê†Ë   …Dë†Ë   …Dì†Ë   …Dí†Ë   …Dî†Ë   …Dï†


----------



## RiffWraith (Sep 15, 2008)

Ed @ Mon Sep 15 said:


> 80 singers?? wow!



Ever hear LOTR? Over 100 voices, including a 30-peice children's choir. The more the better - but it depends what you are looking for.


----------



## IvanP (Sep 16, 2008)

jeffc @ Mon Sep 15 said:


> I've done Prague many times, sometimes through ISDN and Source Connect. I've been happy with the results. Sometimes the conductor is tough to communicate with, and sometimes the wwinds will forget to put the headphones on, but at the end of the day I don't think you can beat the product that you get for the price. Never done the choir there, however.



Thank you, Jeffc, 

Could you share how big was the orchestra you booked, how many sessions you needed and how much it cost? 

Thks!

Iván


----------



## IvanP (Sep 16, 2008)

Brian Ralston @ Mon Sep 15 said:


> In general with human voices...the more they are in tune with each other and the more they are use to singing with each other...the bigger they will sound. A group of 15-20 professional voices (if recorded and isolated properly) can sound huge.
> 
> Depending on who is being used/contracted...there may be different fees associated with double tracking the voices. Every group and contract is different. But don't assume you can do it automatically for free after the fact. Work that out ahead of time. Sometimes the fee can be double...which then goes back to you could have just hired twice as many singers.
> 
> And...this is not the case for many indie films/projects and the like....but also make sure that if the film or project in question is one that is using SAG contracts for actors...that the use of singers in the score does not fall under that. On SAG projects, singers and choirs are covered under SAG, not the musicians union (in the US). So...their fees and future royalty structure is very different. Therefor, if the film is already a SAG production...the production company might have to use SAG singers only...so...just make sure that is not an issue on any project at hand.



Thks, Brian, hopefully I won't have to deal with so many Union clauses!


----------



## Hannes_F (Sep 16, 2008)

Justus @ Mon Sep 15 said:


> http://www.moscow-orchestra.com/rates.html
> 
> Notice the musician pay in prague :shock:



That's the reason why I dropped the idea of a recording service completely and use my instruments for own projects exclusively.


----------



## david robinson (Sep 16, 2008)

hi,
come to australia.
we've plenty of orchestras and choirs without much work at all.
it our mingy gov'ts, you see.
in fact, you'll prolly get the whole SSO, for the price of a Big Mac.
arts support here is appalling.
DR9.


----------



## Reegs (Sep 16, 2008)

david robinson @ Tue Sep 16 said:


> hi,
> come to australia.
> we've plenty of orchestras and choirs without much work at all.
> it our mingy gov'ts, you see.
> ...



What can I get for a quarter-pounder with cheese?


----------



## autopilot (Sep 16, 2008)

MSO


----------



## david robinson (Sep 16, 2008)

hi,
well, seeing as how you've got THAT much to spend.......
the SSO, MSO, ASO, HSO, BSO, and of course the Canberra Symphony Orch.
the CSO are made up of the federal members of parliament, hence they talk a lot, play nothing, boss less talented souls around and, in general, are an embarassment to the rest of the population.
DR9.


----------

