# "$99 Orchestra" - My results



## Jdiggity1 (Aug 25, 2015)

Many here would be familiar with the "$99 Orchestra" Kickstarter Campaign that ran a number of months ago.
I signed up as soon as I heard about it, and thought I'd share my results.
In my usual fashion, I left it very late to write something, but found inspiration in the fact it was the 100th anniversary of ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) at the time of writing.
I only had 7 minutes of session time though, so I knew the piece couldn't go for very long. As such, the work is an experimentation as much as it is a piece of music.

Mixed with samples: 

WITHOUT samples: https://www.dropbox.com/s/rv39puf4h7xdl5c/Letter%20From%20A%20Soldier%20%28Weso%20recording%29.mp3?dl=0

To be perfectly honest, I was a little bit disappointed with the performance as I watched the live stream, though in hindsight I acknowledge my expectations were not realistic. I found there to be some intonation issues with the recording and thus made it quite difficult to layer in with samples. But it does help add a little 'rawness' to a final mix.

Feel free to share your thoughts about your own $99 Orchestra experience, and if you're feeling generous, some audio examples too. 

(Edited to replace broken links 02/17)


----------



## RiffWraith (Aug 25, 2015)

First off - lovely piece of music!

In terms of the orchestra, it's not bad, but there are some issues, which include intonation. As they say, you get what you pay for.

I really didn't hear any intonation issues in the samples vers; whatever was there, you have covered up nicely. :31 as a good ex.

You might have been disappointed, but to that end I ask you this: did you learn anything? If so, your $99 was well spent.

Cheers.


----------



## ModalRealist (Aug 25, 2015)

I'm probably just an odd pineapple, but I really dig the raw recording. I like the sampled-up version too. On the basis of the latter, I wonder if part of the disappointment is the orchestra not making the sound you had in mind, rather than the recording itself being intrinsically poor. Again, I might just be an odd pineapple.

IMHO, not bad for $99.


----------



## dcoscina (Aug 25, 2015)

Nice piece! Sounds a little like Howard's Wyatt Earp in places (which is a score I love BTW). I think it's a pretty good reading. There's that one part where the strings enter with some intonation issues but I actually prefer the raw recording.


----------



## sleepy hollow (Aug 25, 2015)

I can't listen to the music right now, will do that later.
Just thought I'd leave this link here: http://vi-control.net/community/threads/live-orchestra-my-first-time.46387/

Might be of interest to some of you.


----------



## Jdiggity1 (Aug 25, 2015)

RiffWraith said:


> First off - lovely piece of music!
> 
> ...I really didn't hear any intonation issues in the samples vers; whatever was there, you have covered up nicely. :31 as a good ex.
> 
> ...



That 0:31 mark was a doozy! In truth, that first track is much more samples than it is recording. I layered in some violin spot-mic, and that's about it.

There are certainly no regrets. In fact, I would do it again, just with different expectations.



ModalRealist said:


> I'm probably just an odd pineapple, but I really dig the raw recording. I like the sampled-up version too. On the basis of the latter, I wonder if part of the disappointment is the orchestra not making the sound you had in mind, rather than the recording itself being intrinsically poor. Again, I might just be an odd pineapple.
> 
> IMHO, not bad for $99.



That raw sound is still quite 'mixed' mind you. 
It's not so much the recording or the sound I was disappointed with, but more so the performance itself. Just wasn't as 'tight' as I had hoped. Sounded like 1 or two players were a beat or two behind at times.

But as you say, $99 well spent.


----------



## Hannes (Aug 25, 2015)

The layered version sounds really good - I had a 7 min slot too and I think it was really worth it; can't complain for 99$  

BTW I created a soundcloud group for 99$ Orchestra Recordings:
https://soundcloud.com/groups/99-orchestra-recordings (soundcloud.com/groups/99-orchestra-recordings)

cheers


----------



## Jdiggity1 (Aug 25, 2015)

Tastenklopfer said:


> The layered version sounds really good - I had a 7 min slot too and it was really worth it...
> 
> BTW I created a soundcloud group for 99$ Orchestra Recordings:
> https://soundcloud.com/groups/99-orchestra-recordings (soundcloud.com/groups/99-orchestra-recordings)
> ...



Thanks! And great idea. I just added my track to the group.


----------



## Rodney Money (Aug 25, 2015)

I am wondering if you thought the live orchestra would sound bigger, especially the strings, and less intimate?


----------



## Jdiggity1 (Aug 25, 2015)

Rodney Money said:


> I am wondering if you thought the live orchestra would sound bigger, especially the strings, and less intimate?


Not at all. I knew what to expect in terms of sound, and I wrote this piece specifically for that ensemble. As mentioned above, it was more the performance that i felt could have been tighter. But that seemed to be quite common with the shorter sessions. A lot of 'changing gears' for the players to hop from one piece to the next like they did.


----------



## Rodney Money (Aug 25, 2015)

Jdiggity1 said:


> Not at all. I knew what to expect in terms of sound, and I wrote this piece specifically for that ensemble. As mentioned above, it was more the performance that i felt could have been tighter. But that seemed to be quite common with the shorter sessions. A lot of 'changing gears' for the players to hop from one piece to the next like they did.


Were they sight-reading in the recording? Did you have a chance to talk with them concerning interpretation?


----------



## Jdiggity1 (Aug 25, 2015)

Rodney Money said:


> Were they sight-reading in the recording? Did you have a chance to talk with them concerning interpretation?


Sight reading, yes. There was no chance to communicate with the players. Only a live stream from inside the control room with delayed text chat to Andre, who was the organiser.
They ran through the piece twice, then moved on. Not exactly the 7 minutes i was entitled to, but they were already running over time. Perhaps that contributed to their performance.
Now i'm sounding ungrateful, but that certainly is not the case!


----------



## Rodney Money (Aug 25, 2015)

Jdiggity1 said:


> Sight reading, yes. There was no chance to communicate with the players. Only a live stream from inside the control room with delayed text chat to Andre, who was the organiser.
> They ran through the piece twice, then moved on. Not exactly the 7 minutes i was entitled to, but they were already running over time. Perhaps that contributed to their performance.
> Now i'm sounding ungrateful, but that certainly is not the case!


You're not sounding ungrateful, you're fine my friend. Thank you for the more information. It's always a treat to hear a live performance, but I totally understand why you received the results now.


----------



## MR F (Aug 27, 2015)

Loved your piece! I had same issues with intonation on my seesion but it's a lovely track nevertheless- congratz


----------



## maxime77 (Aug 31, 2015)

Great composition! I like both versions, but I tend to like more raw recordings versions.

I've listened to some extracts of the $99 orchestra, and I find it has a kind of John Williams sound, which is pretty awesome for that price!


----------



## andremiranda2 (Sep 23, 2015)

It's great to see discussion about the $99 Orchestra! We launched a new campaign and we'll be recording more music. Please feel free to share your experience with the orchestra! Here's the new campaign link http://kck.st/1OsTpsL


----------



## dcoscina (Sep 26, 2015)

I think I'm going to get in on this one this year. Just need to write something for that group over the next few weeks!


----------



## Hannes_F (Sep 27, 2015)

Intonation imho is what divides the men from the boys when it comes to orchestral recording. It is a topic by far more complicated than most think (especially when samples are part of the game but not only then) and requires a lot of skill (AND SOME TIME depending on the case) on the side of the players to make it a non-issue for the clients/composers. Or else it will always sound like a layman orchestra.


----------



## Anders Wall (Sep 27, 2015)

andremiranda2 said:


> It's great to see discussion about the $99 Orchestra! We launched a new campaign and we'll be recording more music. Please feel free to share your experience with the orchestra! Here's the new campaign link http://kck.st/1OsTpsL


Hello Andre.
Still no video, any news?
You split my session into two, remember.
I haven't received anything.

Best,
Anders


----------



## Claude_Ruelle (Feb 25, 2017)

Hey folks,

I recently got a session with the $99orchestra, so I thought I could share my result here :



To me, the overall experience was quite good. Of course the intonation and some of the phrasing could have been better, but I mean you only get a 7min session for 99$. This lets the players do a reading and then only do two or three takes.

I think a lot of people had too big expectations regarding this service. That's funny because listening to their demos online, it was quite clear to me what kind of result I was going to get.


----------



## mac (Feb 25, 2017)

Claude_Ruelle said:


> Hey folks,
> 
> I recently got a session with the $99orchestra, so I thought I could share my result here :
> 
> ...




That sounds pretty good! Any chance of posting the midi version you sent them for comparison?


----------



## Claude_Ruelle (Feb 25, 2017)

mac said:


> That sounds pretty good! Any chance of posting the midi version you sent them for comparison?



Thank you,

Unfortunately, no midi file for this one. I went directly from piano sketch to full score.
I can still share the conductor score if you are interested though.


----------



## mac (Feb 25, 2017)

@Claude_Ruelle Ah, no worries, I was just curious as to how close the results might have been compared to a midi mock-up.


----------



## NoamL (Feb 25, 2017)

That sounds really good Claude.

The space they're recording in still doesn't sound cinematic to me.. but everything else is good, decent intonation, good phrasing, no obvious mistakes, good balance of the orchestra and dynamics.

The sound and musicality is superior to what you'd get with samples which is the whole point.

It helps that you wrote a pretty simple, short piece and that you actually orchestrated for the size and proportions of the orchestra instead of imagining a symphony orchestra (that was my big mistake when I did this back in 2015).

If other people are having experiences like yours maybe they've worked out the bugs of the service.


----------



## dimtsak (Feb 26, 2017)

I also made my first recording with the orchestra.
I am pretty happy with the result and the service in general.
If only it wasn't that "jumpy" oboe line at the beginning.
(Probably it was my fault for not notating it as legato.)

Any opinions about the mixing or the orchestration would be appreciated!


----------



## Claude_Ruelle (Feb 26, 2017)

NoamL said:


> That sounds really good Claude.
> 
> The space they're recording in still doesn't sound cinematic to me.. but everything else is good, decent intonation, good phrasing, no obvious mistakes, good balance of the orchestra and dynamics.
> 
> ...



Totally agree.

I think it's very important to write and orchestrate your piece according to the orchestra.


----------



## andremiranda2 (Apr 17, 2017)

Hi all, the $99 Orchestra is having a promotion on recording sessions in London until April 18th, this message is a bit late here, but you can check out the upcoming London Sessions here: http://www.99dollarorchestra.com/sessions (www.99dollarorchestra.com/sessions) and get your discount coupons here: http://www.99dollarorchestra.com/discount-cupons (www.99dollarorchestra.com/discount-cupons)


----------

