Chris Leon on SoundBetter

Chris Leon is a Grammy Award Winning, Multi Platinum NYC based Producer, Mix and Mastering engineer.

Chris has been immersed in music his entire life. A musical prodigy, Chris has been writing, playing, composing and producing music since the age of 4. Chris received formal musical training at the Richard Strauss Conservatory and the prestigious Berklee College of Music.
Chris currently acts as CEO of Chris Leon Productions (CLP) where he plays an active role as a Mix Engineer, Manager, Producer, Musician, Songwriter, Composer. Chris and CLP work and collaborate with some of the industry’s most successful individuals and organizations. The CLP client roster transcends genres and encompasses Grammy and Emmy award winners to Billboard’s top current talents:
Recent production and mixing work includes various songs for "The Greatest Showman", Namie Amuro, Dreamwork's movie Trolls, Nile Rodgers, Betty Who, Hoddie Allen, Project 46, Latin Grammy award winner Jota Quest and many more.

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Credits

5 Reviews

Endorse Chris Leon

by Ryan a.
Verified
Chris was a pleasure to work with. He has a great ear for producing and mixing. I was surprised at how accurately he balanced all the levels. The low end of his mixes are particularly great. He was very responsive and professional. I highly recommend him.
by Sydney E.
Verified
Call on Chris for a important Remix for Sydney Eggleston's upcoming Album. From the beginning we felt we were at the right address. Chris managed to please the entire Team. Solid Job and great Remix. We can't wait to get started on the next Job.
by Atrel
I've worked with Chris on my own music for three years now, and I can honestly say that I've never met a producer or engineer as professional and talented as he is. I know going into every project that he will deliver an artistic, pristine product every time. From recording to mastering, he will exceed your expectations. I highly recommend him!
by Cesar A.
Chris is a well-rounded professional. Not only is he a very skilled musician and sound engineer, he also has all important fundamentals mastered as well: he is organised, punctual, polite and always keeps his end of the deal, whether formally written or verbally agreed upon. His word is as solid as his musicianship. Highly recommended artist!
by Christian R.
Chris is very responsive and knows exactly what a song needs.
He works super fast on a very high level... Handled all my last minute productions and nailed it.
I doesn´t matter if I produce Pop, EDM, Filmmusic or Jazz - I know Chris will do an amazing job.
It´s always a pleasure!

Interview with Chris Leon

Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: Do you like my song? I'll always give an honest answer.
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: It is important to have a vision for your own project. Even if you don't know how to achieve that vision (that's what I'm here for).
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: Sting and Skrillex. They are very different artists - but the one thing they have in common is: they don't focus on one specific style, rather on constantly creating incredible new music without boundaries.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: I help bring the creative vision to life.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: I'm working on a lot of different projects at the moment. I'm currently developing quite a few up&coming pop artists in NYC and LA. I also just finished co producing an album for the Brazilian band "Jota Quest" - together with Jerry Barnes and Nile Rodgers!
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: I will always treat each song as if it was my own and make it sound as great as possible!
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I started working at a few different recording studios in Munich (Germany
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: I'm a fan of my hybrid setup between analogue outboard gear and "in the box". Technology has advanced so much those last few years and especially with all the latest UAD plug ins someone can create an incredible mix almost entirely digitally. However for the recording process you still need to use great analogue equipment.
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: The biggest misconception is that it's all about the greatest gear. By the end of the day it all depends on a great vision / good ears and skill set.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: What's the vision of the song? What was the inspiration? Sonic References? What's the timeline?
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: Mac Pro, UAD Apollo, Barefoot MM27s, Moog Little Phatty, Fender Strat (Nile Rodgers Signature Strat)
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: Big and Powerful
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: I grew up listening to a,lot of different kinds of music and I'm still love working on a variety of styles - from Pop / Rock to EDM, HipHop all the way to film / trailer music
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: Listening
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: I have a great assistant who starts by importing the files into Pro Tools, organizes the session, cleans up the edits, tunes the vocals, quantizes and adds drum samples (if necessary). Then I come into the picture. When the song is all in time and in tune. In a typical band production. I usually decide on the spot what the key elements to the song are and use that as the foundation to the song. Sometimes that can be the vocal - sometimes it makes more sense to build the rhythm section first and add the vocals later. My primary focus is always the feel and message of the song and that's what I'm focusing on. Once I'm happy with the foundation and feel of the song I'll go back and do some more of the specific automation and effects.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: Software: Pro Tools HD, UAD Octo, Native Instruments, Waves Complete, Sonnox Complete, Ableton Live, Soundttoys Speakers: Barefoot MM 27, Avantone Cubes, Sony XPlode Boombox Hardware: Digidesign HDIO, Dangerous Monitor ST, Tubetech CL 1B, Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor, 2x Distressors, AxeFX II XL, UAD Apollo, Virus TI Snow, Moog Little Phatty, Fender Twin 57, Diezel Einstein
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Pharrell, Nile Rodgers, Zedd, Cirkut, Michael Brauer, Serban Ghenea, Madeon, Flume, Noah Shebib
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: I love helping other people to achieve their musical dreams and goals.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: I think it is very important to always trust your first instinct when you make a decision about a song. I think it is very important to take the time to really learn your craft and but when it comes time to work on music someone must be able to forget about the technical aspects of the work - let it be second nature - and only focus on creating the best "feel" for the song.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: The most common work I do for my clients is mixing and producing.