Recording with the Budapest Scoring Orchestra, Rottenbiller Hall
- James Smith
- May 10
- 2 min read
In late September last year I had the great fortune to record with the Budapest Scoring Orchestra, one of Europe’s most sought-after ensembles for film, television, and video-game music… and it was nothing short of revelatory.
For the project's budget, the price of a small car, I was able to record a great soundtrack for The Home County Video game and truly bring it to life. The BSO have recently also recorded for shows such as Wednesday, Wallace & Gromit; Vengeance Most Fowl, and video games like Warhammer, and Elder Scrolls.
For months this project existed only as digital instruments and sampled mockups. We knew the music needed life breathing into it and we decided to push the budget available in order to get the best possible result. After many late-night drafts, melodies re-written over and again, and notebooks filled with coffee-stained sketches of possible re-orchestrations, the decisions were made and the session files prepared.
Before I even realised I was on a plane flying out to Hungary with a bag full of scores and an impending sense of pressure… But, as every single composer who has been able to record with a professional orchestra will tell you, all the hard work is done and the feeling is incomparable, infectious and a thrill beyond any other experience. All that hard work and pain-staking checking pays off with musicians who bring the music to life in an instant.
Standing in the Rottenbiller Hall, surrounded by around 35 musicians, every idea springs to life with the humanism and electricity that no sample library can imitate. It is an experience that we always love and reaffirms why we work so hard.
