Frequently Asked Questions about Our School Record

So - what is this all about ?
'Our School Record' uses the latest in Digital Audio Technology to bring a professional recording studio to your school. We record on location at your school and create a master CD in our partner studio (Apple Venus Recording Planet) which is used to create your CD Album.

How much does it cost ? What is included ?
Typical prices are €8 to €10 per album depending on quantity ordered.
Everything is included: recording, mixing, design of the booklet, manufacture and printing of the albums and delivery.
The CD is a standard 74 minute CD and the booklet has 8 pages (including front & back cover).
Additional pages can be added for a small fee.

When do we pay you? Do we have to pay up front?
We use 3 payment steps to during the project.
One-third of the cost is paid on completion of the recording, one-third is paid on your approval of the master CD and booklet proofs, final-third is paid on delivery of the CDs.

Can we use our own musicians? What if we don't have any musicians?
We tailor each CD project to the needs and resources of each school.
If you have strong musician support to accompany the children we can work with your musicians or we can help you source musicians.

Do the children travel to your studio ?
No - we take the studio to you !
A professional mobile 24-track digital audio recording studio arrives at the school and sets up in a pre-arranged room.
We record each class/group in turn and at the end of the school day we record parents, teachers, friends.

We're holding a concert/event: can you record this and put it on CD ?
Yes. We have produced live CDs and have the necessary equipment to do this.

What is the minimum number of CDs you can produce?
The minimum number that can be manufactured is 500. For most schools this is adequate to cover the families of the students and leaves some copies for school promotion.

What about the cover of the CD ? What about the booklet ?
While the album is being mixed we work with your school representative to prepare the booklet that accompanies the album. We can use artwork, photos, text and print in full colour.

Don't we have to pay Royalties to use songs ?
The cost of royalties to use songs in included in the price. Our School Record respects the copyright of songwriters and music publishers.
We deal with all of the paperwork and fees associated with the recording of published songs. Before manufacture we obtain an MCPS license for any copyrighted material.

How many pages can we have in the booklet ?
The standard is 8 pages (the front & back cover count as pages 1 and 8). On request we can produce a 12, 16 or 20 page booklet.
The cover and inside pages are full-colour so you can include photographs and artwork by the students.

Are there any hidden costs ?
No - we agree the price with you and there are no surprises at the end. We facilitate staged-payments.

What do you mean by "professional mobile recording studio" ?
Don't underestimate the importance of quality recording equipment and the expertise to use it. We use professional-grade Neumann, Audio-Technica and Rode microphones; PreSonus, Focusrite and TLAudio microphone pre-amps; Mackie digital multitrack equipment. The studio in which your album is mixed (Apple Venus Recording Planet) uses Digidesign ProTools recording hardware and software - this is the same equipment that almost every 'professional' album is recorded on, along with an acoustically treated control room, Mackie monitors, and TC Electronic signal processing. This studio is used by artists as diverse as Brush Shiels, Pugwash and Pat O'Donnell (producer : 'Kieran Goss' 'The Four of Us' ' The Devlins').