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Is this you? . . . . . . I can appreciate how much difference the sounds of real strings on my track would make, but I know that an orchestra is way beyond my budget. . . . . I would like to use a real violin, but I don't know any string players who as well as having the very best classical training also know how to really "groove" and can immediately play exactly the right thing, by ear, to any style. If so, here's the solution . . . Now you can have the sounds of real strings on your track, for a budget you can afford. A recent example . . . full 15 piece string ensemble for a client in America, professionally arranged, and all played on live instruments, on 5 songs for $300 (total). (compare this with the usual hire cost for a similar sized string ensemble at $5000 upwards, and that's without the cost of a studio to record in or getting parts written etc.) For full details on exactly how you can get real strings for a realistic budget, to have a listen to a demo, for details on pricing etc. see below . . .
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My standard rate for string arranging and playing is $120 per hour, plus any additional costs if I go into an outside studio to record the strings. I can record strings in my own home . . . I have a pair of Rode NT5's, and use a Behringer "Euro-rack" UB802 ultra-low-noise mixer for the pre-amp, then into a laptop computer (using intelligent noise reduction from Adobe Audition which keeps noise levels very low), for no additional cost to my standard $120 per hour. This low-cost approach still produces very good results for most purposes. please email me for other options- chris@chris-melchior.com |
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| Download two mp3 demo's
of my string arranging and playing, the first contains a variety of excerpts
from finished tracks, including string sections and solo's, the second is
a string-section only . . .
excerpt 1) from "Rocksteady" by 'the Scratch Professor' and Mike Pelanconi, (Atlantic Records, recorded at "Existantial Directions", London) excerpt 2) from "Cold Water Flat" by Revolver, (Virgin Records, Producer Nigel Gilroy, recorded at Greenhouse Studio, London) excerpt 3) from a track by Justin Marcus (produced and recorded by Justin at Cedar Productions studio) excerpt 4) from "Wide Sky & Wood" by Chris Melchior (recorded by Chris at Stainless Software studio, '97) excerpt 5) from "Wide Sky & Wood" by Chris Melchior (recorded by Chris at Stainless Software studio, '97)
string-section mp3 Demo - 1.17Mb - 1.15 minutes playing time -(128k bitrate) this demo is of a string section (6 passes of each violin part, 4 of the viola) with reverb (2 second "Hall" reverb) and effects (some "ensemble" effect, plus pitch-changer and sub-bass on the viola giving "cello and bass" parts). Recorded using a pair of NT5's, at Chris' home.
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| Nigel Gilroy (producer)
asked me to do the string arranging for Revolver's "Cold Water Flat"
album (Virgin Records). There was a particular string arranger who's work
Nigel wanted me to try to get close to, as he was the most sought after
string arranger in the world at the time. When I had done my job, Nigel
admitted that my results were unquestionably better than that biggest name
in the industry at that time, and at a small fraction of the price.
* * * To whom it may concern, I have worked with Chris Melchior over many years and have always found him highly professional, easy going and most importantly full of melodies and with a great sense of groove (very rare amongst the many classical musos I have met over the years). Flexible, and with a very wide range of musical experience from hip hop to brit pop (etc), Chris is an indispensable part of any session requiring strings. sincerely yours, Mike Pelanconi - [ engineering and production on Pharcyde, Born Jamericans, Dub Syndicate, Adrian Sherwood & Onu Sound, Lofidelity Allstars, N'dea Davenport, Mica Paris, Brand New Heavies, Mother Earth, Kulashaker, JTQ, Drizabone, Gregory Isaacs, The Orb, + many more - company credits - V2, Polydor, Polygram, Epic, Roadrunner, London Records, Warner Bros., Atlantic, EastWest, EMI-Publishing, BlueMountain/Palm, ONU Sound Acid Jazz, Delicious Vinyl + many more ] * * * Terry Manning (producer), Bahamas, Feb 2006 . . . "Of course, your playing is excellent, as always. This will be great!" "I have now done the mix for MGBF, and it came out great. The strings were perfect. Couldn't have worked any better." * * * To Whom It May Concern: I am writing this to vouch strongly for the string arranging and playing skills of Chris Melchior. I have known him now for over ten years, and worked with him on a variety of projects, all quite diverse. He has a very rich background of skills to draw upon, and is generally a very sensitive creative musician. He is equally at home playing jazz violin (or viola), Celtic fiddle music, classical string music either as a soloist, in small ensembles or as part of a full orchestra. He is very at home in the recording studio environment, and because of his improvisational skills, is able to quickly adapt arrangements during that process if the need arises. Perhaps most important of all, he is good at listening to what another musician is trying to achieve, and working in harmony with that, and bringing something unique and appropriate to each new project. I count myself very blessed to have been able to benefit from his gifts, and can only say that it's worth having someone special doing your string arrangements, because in my experience it's far more important to how a recording or performance sounds than people often recognise. I cant think of a recording I've done where Chris wasn't my first choice.. What more can I say!? Yours truly, Justin Marcus Vortex Studios, 3a Kings Yard, Carpenters road, London E15 2HD. UK * * * Chris Melchior - the most creative string arranger I've ever worked with! I've known Chris for more than 20 years now, and worked with him on many successful projects. His string arranging and playing skills are second to none, and the level of talent, focus and creativity he puts into his work is quite unique. I reccommend him most highly. Nyk Fry (producer, sound engineer, rock video producer) * * * |
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| About Chris' string playing experience . . . | ||
Chris
Melchior picked up the violin before he was one year old . . . a little
quarter-size instrument that his father (who played every evening) had.
By the age of twelve Chris was at the Royal college of Music (junior department)
and at the age of eighteen leading Britain's top youth orchestra (the
Stoneleigh Youth Orchestra . . . who won the National Festival of Music
for Youth every time they entered, and were chosen to represent the UK
in the International Festival of Music for Youth).
A few years later Chris was gaining valuable experience in improvisation, jazz, composition, and arranging skills during his University Degree at one of England most highly regarded performance courses (Middlesex University), from which he obtained a First Class Honors Degree, and more importantly, huge amounts of real practical experience in different facets of creating a very wide range of music. During his many years as a professional musician he has worked with many groups, including playing with members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Emerald Ensemble, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and London Sinfonietta, and conducting members of the Salt Lake Symphony Orchestra playing some of his own arrangements. Chris has played with the foremost guitar player of traditional and contemporary Indian music in the UK, created highly praised string arrangements for a guitarist who toured with Stevie Wonder for many years, and been flown eight thousand miles to add a few hours of his talents to a particular recording project. He has created the music (and all sound FX) for a number one in the world computer game (1997), and has extensive experience in dance music from drum&bass to trance, hip-hop to ambient, as well as classical, jazz, rock, funk, folk (he played celtic music with a top London band for several years), world music and avant-garde. Chris' talents, skills and unusual variety of musical experience come together to great effect in his string arranging, as his many clients, including Virgin records, and Atlantic records, have greatly appreciated. Chris is unique in his extraordinary ability to play immediately in exactly the right style and form for any music he can hear, which is invaluable in his string arranging work. There are many arrangers who can write out standard classical harmonies to an average piece of music and many violinists who can play it technically correctly, but Chris is one of the very few who can produce genuinely creative music which fits the required style perfectly and has that special 'spark' of brilliance that put it above the rest. In the last few years his strings by Chris Melchior have appeared on albums for clients from both Hollywood and Nashville, and he has been approached to create strings for the Japanese commercial and movie market. Chris also plays violin and viola solos, in any style (for examples please listen to the demo), and now has access to the facilities to FTP all files (or send via www.yousendit.com), decreasing turn-around time even further.
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| Contact Chris | ||
to contact Chris please email chris@chris-melchior.com |
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| Remixes
:- Chris specialises in drum&bass, ambient, trancs, abstract hip-hop
remixes (and other styles on reqest).
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