What we do

The Fauxharmonic turns your musical ideas into stunning performances. We have a rare combination of digital instrument mastery and decades of orchestral conducting and performance know-how. Using our expertise to perform and record your music frees you to compose and create.

Here’s how it works in a nutshell: You send us your score in most any format, and we produce a musically nuanced, technically accurate recording of it.  It’s that simple.

We use a combination of the world’s best digital instruments, including those from Vienna Symphonic Library (for whom we have created several recordings), East/West, and Modartt. If your score calls for sounds not already in a digital form, we create them. That’s what we did for the sound of bow hair whipping through the air for Chris Sainsbury, and that’s what we did when Christian Gentry’s score called for the sound of a triangle beater dropping into a piano.

At the core: Musical understanding and technical expertise

The heart of what sets the Fauxharmonic apart from anyone else who has merely purchased thousands of dollars’ worth of the best digital orchestral sounds and equipment is our musical and technical expertise. We know how to read and play orchestral scores and have been doing so since 1978. We also know how to use the technology, having produced our first digital orchestral recordings at the MIT Media Lab in 1990. And we also know how important the live performance of music is. That’s why we actually play most of the music we produce … in real time, and sometimes even in public concerts.

At the end of the day composers – our customers – get a skillfully produced, expressive recording made with a level of care and insight most real (acoustic) orchestras simply cannot afford to bring to performing and recording new music.

A Fauxharmonic Orchestra recording of your work is made from understanding your vision, knowing how to put sounds together to realize your vision, and knowing how to use technology to make it all happen quickly and at a very low cost.

Unfortunately, some composers choose to try to create their own digital orchestra renditions. Most results are a sad waste of time. We’re not composers – we’re musicians who solely focus on making composers’ music sound great. Yes, you could do this yourself, but it will take you years of time and effort to get to the expert level your music deserves.

If you don’t play the violin, and you were to write a violin concerto, would it make sense for you to spend many years mastering the violin just so you could play your piece yourself? No. That’s why we have violinists.

So, if you are not a master of the digital orchestra, does it make sense to spend tens of thousands of dollars and countless hours of your time so you might someday be able to play your own orchestral music? We think you should focus instead on composing and on working with creative partners like soloists and film directors, and let us make your music come to life in sound. That’s what performers are for!

Revisions Process

For every recording we produce, we give composers the opportunity to revise any aspect of the recording, including making minor changes to your own work as well as correcting errors or omissions. A second round is free of charge if it includes only errors on our part. At each stage in this process you get a high-quality version of the recording to work with. And we move fast. Most revisions are completed in a few days, and many the same day.

Once you are satisfied with the recording we send you the final version in whatever audio format you like. If your project is concert music, you get a great recording. If it’s film or game music, you get a full stereo or surround reference mix, all stems in wet and dry form, all precisely synchronized to picture, and notes showing all settings and parameters for mastering and effects.

Lifetime Rewrites

We keep your score on file forever.  If you decide later that you want to completely re-write that horn part, we can quickly and easily make the changes and “print out” a new recording for far less than starting from scratch.

No live orchestra offers to bring 90 musicians back into a recording studio to re-record two bars you’ve made minor changes to. Or if they do offer that, you can’t afford to pay them!

One of the great advantages to having your music recorded by the Fauxharmonic Orchestra is that we can very easily and quickly make changes of any kind, including notes, of course, but also balance, acoustic space (reverb, resonance, distance and placement), tempo, intonation, articulation and ensemble. Any time.

What if you don’t have a written score?

Suppose your original composition exists only in a MIDI file.  We simply use your original file(s) to create an amazing digital orchestra performance of your work. Or we can turn that file into a professional, accurate written score (in C or transposing), produced to your specifications, or conforming to standard notation practices for concert performance, film scoring, musical theater, etc., including printed parts.

What if your original music needs more work?

Not every great film or game composer is also a great orchestrator or arranger. Or even if they are, they simply may not have time to produce a full-fledged orchestral version of their music. So, we collaborate with arrangers who work for the Boston Pops, composers fluent in all styles of music, and orchestrators who’ve worked on some of the world’s most well-known film scores. The result of our collaboration is that your musical vision is superbly realized.

How much does this cost?

We provide free, guaranteed estimates. Simply send us your score in PDF, Sibelius or Finale format Request an Estimate. If you do not have a score in digital notation format, contact us to discuss the nature and scope of your project.

If you have any questions, send mail to info@fauxharmonic.com.