Phil enjoys arranging classic pop songs for the English Pops Orchestra, composing live looped pieces for electric violin or instrumental groups, and specialises in writing string parts for pop/rock songs. Whether it’s a song by a singer with acoustic guitar or a full prog rock track with multiple time signatures and complex hidden meanings, each can benefit from adding a melodic solo line, delicate string quartet or a rich whole string section to enhance the original track.

It’s important to work with the songwriter/performer to get inside their music; by doing this, discovering what works best with the track. Phil then produces a demo of this using Sibelius software to synchronise the sampled string parts with the original track or rough demo and write alongside the music. This is a great way to show the songwriter the draft arrangement and using email, phone and Dropbox, tracks are honed to ensure that everyone is happy.

Phil uses a regular group of professional string players including Steve Bingham to record the parts and/or send you the notated parts as PDFs. He is happy to conduct a recording session if required. Sometimes musicians will perform on a track for the kudos of being on a recording, having a credit on the sleeve and a copy of the finished CD or recording – however they shouldn’t be taken for granted!