Composition / Song Writing
DESCRIPTION
Salt Cellar Creations can custom craft music for you, whether it's a simple love song for a proposal or wedding, memorial song for a funeral, celebration song for a bar/bat mitzvah or a killer instrumental for a band concert. Your inspiration and SCC's skills can do it for you.
I have been writing a variety of music for a long time and have a wealth of material from which to draw. Let me turn those feelings and ideas into music for you.
PRICING
The average cost per line, per minute of composition is $30. That applies generally to a vocal piece with no or very little arrangement attached. Once the song is written, if a more detailed arrangement is needed, then I would have to figure that in as well.
For an original instrumental piece, not only would I be writing the music, but it would need to be arranged as I wrote. The cost would be more like $50 per line per minute of music, depending on the complexity that you want.
Music / Song Writing is a specialized skill. I'm going to split these notes into two sections. One will be for a song with lyrics such as would be performed at a wedding, church service or other celebration. The other will be for instrumental arrangements (horn section for recording, string trio for a wedding, etc.) There are no example to show you because your song could take a number of forms.
> Song with Lyrics - If you want a song with melody, lyrics and chords that's taken just from a topic or sparse notes, that will take a lot more effort than if you have lots of ideas or even a set of lyrics. It will also take some effort to find a melody and style to fit your taste. The melody, lyrics and chords are the bare minimum that I would need to provide for any lyrical song.
Let's say that you have a full set of lyrics and an idea of the style you'd like. And, let's say that it's an average song that's three minutes long. The regular cost for song-writing is $30 per line per minute. The melody is one line, the chords are another, and the lyrics are the third line. 3 lines times $30 = $90. Three line total ($90) times three minutes = $270. But since you've given me the lyrics, I would charge less per minute for that line. Your total for writing would be $225. If you'd like a chart with just words and chords (like many guitar players use), for this song, it would be an additional $20.
Now, let's say that you only have an inspiration (maybe a title and theme) and a general idea of the style you want. Using the calculation above, it would be at least $275. If any of the elements were to be complicated, the charge would go up.
> Instrumental composition - Let's say that you want something totally original for your wedding - something that declares "I'm finally getting married!" You want it to sound somewhat classical, but with a jazzy edge. It will be for two trumpets, alto and tenor sax and concert tuba. That's five lines (five instruments), 5 x $30 = $150. The song is about 2 minutes long, so 2 minutes x $150 = $300.
Of course, if you want the song to be able to be played by real people at your wedding, I would need to print it for you. For that price you would get a conductor's score and individual parts for each player, either as paper copy or digital file, emailed or on a flash drive (nominal charge for drive).
And if you wanted to have the computer play all the parts for a recording that you could simply play, that price also includes the computer-based recording.
The last option is to have real people record the song for you. I would need to record that in my studio here. That would cost at least $17 per finished minute of recorded music; outside musicians often have their own rates. I charge $17 per finished minute of music that I record live (not from the computer). If we used the base $17 per finished minute, the cost of recording would be calculated this way: 5 instruments times $17 = $85. 2 minutes times $85 = $170 for me to play the music.
The only additional cost would an hour's mixing / mastering. That would be $40.
If I used outside musicians, and it only took an hour to record your song (at that length, it should), the cost of the studio would be $40 for 1 hour of recording and $40 for 1 hour of mixing / mastering.
We would add the composing, arranging and any recording fees. Any way you look at it, if you compare it with other services, you'll find that it’s quite a deal!
Remember, for an accurate quote, please Contact Me.
Just a reminder for when you consider the cost. When someone writes music from scratch, whether it’s for a singer, a concert band or string quartet, it takes more than great inspiration. And, if the music is being written for someone else, it’s twice as hard. It takes the ability to interpret the wishes of the one who wants the music written as well as the ability to “hear” the music before it’s written.
A good composer will know what key and tempo would make a great love song. A celebration song might be written for electric guitar, horns and drums. A funeral song for a lost loved one might be written in a minor key. A good composer knows when to use acoustic or electric guitar, strings, brass or woodwinds and which combination of instruments is best. You get the idea.
Remember, for an accurate quote, please Contact Me.