This page has the obligatory list of ‘Frequently Asked  Questions’…. Always a difficult thing to produce when the site is new and no one has even seen it, let alone asked any questions.

If you cannot find an answer…. do drop us a note and we will not only do our best to give you a prompt answer, if it is relevant to others, we will probably add it to the list here too….

Is it safe to pay online?

We certainly hope so! Other than your chosen user name and email, we do not keep any other data on our site, so all the monetary transactions take place elsewhere. When you register and choose a subscription, you choose a payment provider (we use Stripe for credit/debit cards or Paypal for a transaction from your Paypal account) and from that point onwards, you will talk directly to their secure servers over their encrypted links. They provide financial services globally to many of the biggest corporations as well as small players like Consorts. They process millions of payments an hour… and are secure enough to meet the standards of all the major banks around the world. Once your payment is complete, they will send us details confirming transaction over a direct encrypted link into your Consorts Dashboard. They also provide special codes, which when presented via over the dedicated link, along with our credentials and secure codes, will enable any further monthly subscriptions to your plan to be processed.

How can I change my subscription?

Once you are registered with us, you will be taken to your dashboard page. It will also be accessible from the top menu, every time you log in (My Account), should you wish to check it! On the dashboard you will be able to see your subscriptions (including any old ones that have ceased or expired) along with details of the payments made and a neat little graph showing the countdown to the next payment. If you want to change your plan, you can just cancel the old subscription and start a new one. Sadly the system is not clever enough to do this automatically, or to give credit for an overlap, etc. so it is probably best to do this at the end of a subscription period so you don’t end up  paying twice. If you do get things in a muddle, don’t worry…. let us know and we will try and sort it out to everyone’s satisfaction. We can see all the same info at our end and as the other party in the contract and have most of the same rights to make changes…. provided it does not involve taking money…. only you can sanction that bit!

Why is premium content more expensive?

All our standard content is from composers who have long since passed on and therefore no longer need paying, so you are paying for the running of the website, business, recording effort and equipment. However, for more recent content or where special effort has been made to provide a new piece or arrangement, the people who did that work also need to be paid…. so tpremiun element of a subscription is wholly used for that purpose. If you are a composer or arranger and have content you would like to share in this way, do get touch, as we are always looking for new and exciting content which we think people would like to play… and would be happy to discuss possibilities and plans.

Could Consorts offer other instrument combinations?

At the moment, we are only offering music for recorders… that is our area of expertise! However, if you want arrangements for other consort instruments… perhaps some of the more exotic early instruments (Viols, Rauschpfeife, Crumhorns, etc.) and have instruments and expertise, then let us know and maybe we can work together!

Could you do two or three missing parts instead of only one?

The answer is probably yes, so if you are part of a duo, but want to tackle larger pieces… let us know and we will try and help. However, it does need to be by request, because the mathematical permutations start get very large with higher numbers and therefore it is probably not sensible to do this on a regular basis…. For instance an 8-part piece has 28 two instrument combinations… so 28 extra recordings to create and post!

Can I request a piece?

If you have favourites pieces you would like to play… do let us know. The chances are that if it is a favourite of yours, it will also be popular with others. We are constantly making decisions about which pieces we record and post, because there are so many it will never be possible to offer everything! We do our best to make good editorial and strategic decisions, but we certainly don’t claim to have a knowledge of the entire repertoire, so feedback is always welcome!

Do you offer group membership?

At present, we do not, as we feel Consorts is an individual activity! …however if this is something you think might be useful (e.g. for a school or college?), then let us know and we can discuss options.