What composers are saying
It couldn’t be easier to get a top-notch performance of your work. We create a meticulous and expressive performance, recorded with stunning clarity and quality, using your Sibelius or Finale files, or even your hand-written scores.
To get a price estimate for your work, make a request.
“I was blown away when I first heard the piece performed by the instruments of the fauxharmonic orchestra. The recording captured every subtle nuance I could expect a “live” recording to have, and I am more than satisfied with the careful work put into making the music just right.
My experience with conductor Paul H. Smith has been top-notch. He ensures the composer’s wishes are followed exactly, and does not finish the project until every detail is perfect. The end result is a professional recording that is much more economical than hiring musicians and renting a studio. Whatever your project may be- whether it is a string quartet or a full orchestra- I highly recommend using the fauxharmonic orchestra!”
- Matthew Primm
| Obsession (string quartet) |
“When I listened to the samples, I was truly impressed with the realism and amount of musical expression in the recordings.
I commissioned a recording of a quartet for piano, clarinet, violin and double bass. A first version was ready in a matter of days, after which I was able to give feedback. We communicated back and forth, gradually shaping the piece into the desired result in no time at all.
The performance has all the musical expression and nuances I could ask for, resulting in a very accurate rendition of my composition. I’m taken by how well all the tone-colors are played (harmonics, phrasings and vibrato, spiccato, glissandi, et cetera), as well as the natural feel of accelerandos and ritenutos.
In conclusion: I now have a killer performance of my quartet, that I can’t wait to show to everyone!” – Emiel Stöpler
| Voorbij Twee Windstreken (piano, clarinet, violin, bass) |
“I was astonished the first time I heard a chamber work of mine performed by The Fauxharmonic. The professionalism was expected (considering the source) but the executional and stylistic nuances came as a wonderful surprise. My very first thought was that the director had to be an individual from an extensive performance background, which proved to be correct. This product/art will go far to support the exploration of modern serious music. My congratulations to Paul Smith.” – Michael Staley
| Joshua (symphonic wind ensemble) |
“Man, this is absolutely dynamite!
You have done a fantastic job of capturing all of the nuance of the piece – the variety of the percussion, the string divisi, the mutes – all of it is here. I can’t imagine how many hours of work went into this. I just want to congratulate you on your frighteningly accurate representation of the piece.”
| A Screaming Comes Across the Sky (full orchestra) |
David Heuser
Associate Professor of Composition at University of Texas San Antonio,
Winner of the 2006 Fauxharmonic Orchestra Composition Contest.
| Fireheart (chamber orchestra) |
“… so shockingly lifelike and thrilling that I am proud to send it to radio shows for airplay.”
Matthew H. Fields, composer
| Awakening (chamber orchestra) |
“The instruments are well positioned, in a hall with just the right kind of acoustics. The performance is evocative and wonderfully realistic. Both in solo passages and accompaniments, each instrument has the nuance and expression that makes it sound like its role is being interpreted and performed by a professional musician – which in fact it is.
I truly appreciate the rare combination of musicianship, sound judgment, conducting skills, performance ability, audio engineering and technical expertise you have brought to bear in this project. For me, the Fauxharmonic Orchestra has proven to be a one-stop center where an orchestral work can be interpreted (with input from the composer), virtually conducted, performed, and recorded — all in a single process. Thank you for a job very well done!”
Ludwig Tuman
Composer
What makes the Fauxharmonic Orchestra so good?
It’s not just the high-end technology. Technology is just a tool. It can’t play music by itself. It needs great musicians behind it to make great performances.
You can easily spend a lot of time and money on software and hardware to try to make your music sound great. But it will take you months of fiddling before you even get close to a good orchestra sound. Even then, without knowing the tricks of the trade … like how to balance the instruments of the orchestra, how to connect phrases so the end of one fits the beginning of the next, how to determine just how much space there should be between notes – and how to do all of this with digital instruments … you will spend hours trudging through seemingly endless tweaks and dead-ends.
And there are more headaches in store than just the musical challenges. Add to your list of woes the user-un-friendly interfaces, complex software dependencies and computers pushed to their limits, and you can count on experiencing regular tech-support headaches without end.
Why put yourself through this? You would not go buy an expensive violin and practice every day for ten years just to play your new violin sonata. You’d hire a violinist.
But, you can’t do that with orchestral music (unless you have a goldmine of your own). And that’s why The Fauxharmonic Orchestra is here.
You focus on composing. You imagine and create. We work hard on playing your music with passion and precision. So, send us your scores and … leave the playing to us.
Powerful Performances
The Fauxharmonic Orchestra performs with a musicality and subtlety alien to most digital orchestras … and, dare we say it, beyond many live orchestras as well.
Let us give your work the performance it deserves.
Led by Paul H. Smith, a conductor trained by Leonard Bernstein and Sergiu Celibidache, the Fauxharmonic stretches the capabilities of the latest instruments, bringing digital orchestral performance to a new level.
Fostering New Expression
The Fauxharmonic Orchestra is committed to supporting and strengthening new orchestral composition. Our composition contest, podcasts and digital orchestration workshops encourage and promote new music worldwide.
Contact us to find out how we can get your work played and recorded. composers@fauxharmonic.com