Earlier this week, we received a phone call from a music production company who specialise in writing music for television advertisements and films. Having recorded the piece with synthesised strings, they were looking to hire string players and replace the majority of them with live musicians so we were booked to go in today to record at Air Edel studios in London.
Various drafts of the advert were recorded so that the client and advertisement director could liaise and choose the most suitable version. All in all there were 8 different versions, varying in length between 30 and 40 seconds.
Having received the call on the Monday, I had to book the other players, exchange contracts, do a little bit of notation of string parts (so that when we walked into the studio we could make best use of every minute), so that we were all ready to go this morning. In fixing session musicians, a lot of work can be exactly like this – of a ‘last minute’ nature, so the ability to deal swiftly with enquiries, work on the score and in booking players is vitally important. As we have a pool of strong players, we can always confidently book musicians that we know and trust, assured that they are not only reliable, but that their playing is of a high quality which will shine in a recording.
We look forward to hearing and seeing the final advert when it’s aired on television within the next few weeks.