The $99 Orchestra is a new business venture in Lisbon, Portugal, which sells orchestral recording session time slots in smaller segments and at lower prices than ever before. Not everybody needs or wants three hours with an orchestra, and even fewer people could afford it. Their intention is to make orchestral recording available to the masses with highly flexible shared sessions.

I just finished orchestrating some music for composer Robert Charlton which will be recorded using this new orchestra at the end of the month for a music library. I am very eager to hear the quality of their performances and production, because if it’s good enough this orchestra has the potential to democratize orchestral recording and make MIDI recordings less common. Wouldn’t that be nice??