Classical Made to Order?

[Dreism]

Hey all, Not sure where to post this...

I'm looking to get a few out of copyright classical pieces recorded by a chamber orchestra or even smaller.

The point is, i want the stem files so i can manipulate in anyway i please.Can anyone point me to a cost effective solution on the net?

regards

[Thomas W. Bethe]

Originally Posted by Dreism

Hey all, Not sure where to post this...

I'm looking to get a few out of copyright classical pieces recorded by a chamber orchestra or even smaller.

The point is, i want the stem files so i can manipulate in anyway i please.Can anyone point me to a cost effective solution on the net?

regards

Are you doing the recording or the mastering???

Any multitrack software - Cubase, ProTools or Samplitude can record individual stems (or more precisely tracks) Then you can manipulate them to your hearts content.

[wado1942]

If you're looking to get multitrack recordings made by other people, you won't have much luck. 98% of the stuff out there that's out of copyright will have been recorded direct to mono or stereo tops. We're talking pre-1963 here of course because anything made post-1964 is still automatically protected. You might find some stuff recorded on 3-track but good luck getting ahold of the raw tapes. Then again, you can probably get some SACDs made directly off of the original sources but you better bet they've been reapplied for copyright. At any rate, most orchestral stuff is recorded live so you'll still have the whole orchestra on every track, just in varied amounts (more bass over here, more violin over there).
Your remaining option is to record the stuff yourself or get tracks from a friend who's recorded such material. Be careful though because orchestral arrangements themselves can be copyrighted

[Dreism]

tx all
I think my question was a bit unclear

Wado, you were on the right track - you know how you can write/arrange a pop composition and upload it to someone halfway around the world and they turn it into a fully fledged song? or you send a bassline to someone and they track it for you and send it back?

well i was after that kind of thing - where i send a score to a small classical band somewhere, and they track it for me, to my specs, and send back the stems.

i hope thats a little clearer?

[wado1942]

I see. Yeah, multitracking orchestras is something done mainly for high budget movie soundtracks. Even now, the best audiophile orchestral recordings are done with four or less mics. It's extraordinarily complex and does not sound natural to use many mics recorded to separate tracks. If you're looking at recording one part at a time by wire, it's even more complicated and you'll have no control over the quality. The best thing to do is make friends with somebody who does classical music and see if you can get their group to record your piece during a rehearsal (high school or local chamber orchestra?). Maybe you could offer some kind of trade... "I'll record you for free if you do a couple of these pieces for me". I did something similar for a low-budget movie a couple of years ago. I just couldn't have my name on a movie with that nasty fake MIDI orchestra.

Hopes that helps.