Here's another contribution toward figuring what's involved, from looking back at some recent work.
It took me from April 19 to May 5 working nearly full time to prepare and record a 6 minute piece; also from Jun 23 to Jul 5 for an 11 minute piece. Both were already fully notated, both had an inflexible, basic midi rendition (fixed velocity level, full nominal duration, no instrument identification).
So facing an unknown piece I'd plan for a minimum of 2 weeks calendar time, 80 hours of billable time. Hard to know what to propose for an hourly rate -- in the past I've paid a teenager $10/hour to help with midi stuff, but wouldn't devote my own time for ten times that. For somebody like Jay Bacal who does very fine vsl realizations but probably doesn't make his living this way, you could try offering $30 or £20 an hour and expect to pay around $2400. (Have no idea whether he'd consider that even close to enough payment). The £500 price sounds like a definite bargain, if done by someone with experience.
The youth orchestra, with everyone playing for free, might also re-do their recording in return for a donation in the £150 range.
It took me from April 19 to May 5 working nearly full time to prepare and record a 6 minute piece; also from Jun 23 to Jul 5 for an 11 minute piece. Both were already fully notated, both had an inflexible, basic midi rendition (fixed velocity level, full nominal duration, no instrument identification).
So facing an unknown piece I'd plan for a minimum of 2 weeks calendar time, 80 hours of billable time. Hard to know what to propose for an hourly rate -- in the past I've paid a teenager $10/hour to help with midi stuff, but wouldn't devote my own time for ten times that. For somebody like Jay Bacal who does very fine vsl realizations but probably doesn't make his living this way, you could try offering $30 or £20 an hour and expect to pay around $2400. (Have no idea whether he'd consider that even close to enough payment). The £500 price sounds like a definite bargain, if done by someone with experience.
The youth orchestra, with everyone playing for free, might also re-do their recording in return for a donation in the £150 range.