SCORE MIXER — Seeing Sound

TOP SECRET WEBPAGE - JUST FOR FILM COMPOSERS - DO NOT SHARE

Abbey Road

Sony

Budapest

20th Century Fox

Christian Amonson, professor of mixing at the USC Screen Scoring program in Los Angeles, specializes in producing, recording, and mixing orchestral music. I’m interested in YOU, and I’m obsessed with blend, balance, and bloom. I can see sound (not synesthesia), and it influences the way I record and mix.

"You changed the way I hear orchestral music."
Emma Dayhuff, Recording Engineer, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra

“Just wanted to say a huge thank you for taking our feedback and for getting Christian to teach us. The first class was incredible and I learned so much already.”
Composer, USC Screen Scoring

Warner Bros

Prague

Squeak E Clean

John Williams Scoring Stage

Disney Hall

The Village

Evergreen

East West Studios

Christian has produced and/or recorded and mixed approximately 3000 orchestral, choral, and chamber projects. Is that more than any other score mixer in Los Angeles? Who knows! - I only counted so I could make this page and since we probably haven’t met before. I’m all about your mix.

Christian is the only orchestral mixer in LA sought by orchestras.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Kansas City Symphony

Virginia Symphony Orchestra

Colorado Symphony

Milwaukee Symphony

Pacific Symphony

Grand Rapids Symphony

Baltimore Symphony

“I didn’t like our recordings before this. But you are a wizard. I feel like a kid in a candy shop.” Carl St. Clair, Music Director, Pacific Symphony

Christian has recorded greats like John Williams, Yo-Yo Ma, the Chicago Symphony, LA Master Chorale, and more. If we haven’t met yet, don’t be surprised. I participated in a nation-wide audition and was selected to serve with “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band. I was in DC for ten years before moving to LA.

The Virginia Chorale was the first to notice the difference and awarded Christian a full-season recording contact at age 20, selected after they spent a season auditioning engineers, including those from Sony, NPR, WHRO, and the Virginia Symphony. At the same time, he was hired by Alexander Street Press to catalog 10,000 albums of orchestra, jazz, choir, band, world music for their database, which cemented his ability to see sound and identify specific techniques, mixes, and engineers [by ear]. He received his first major label credit at 21 for Bruce Hornsby’s album, Elevate. (Christian snuck into his concert and took photos, which were later included in the album….) At 26, Christian recorded for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with John Williams, revamping the recording system at Symphony Center to improve blend and balance while accommodating a 30x40 screen above the stage. Their engineer said, “You changed the way I hear orchestral music.”

”A level of recording we’ve never had before.” At 27, Christian participated in a nation-wide audition and was selected to serve as Recording Engineer for "The President's Own" United States Marine Band in Washington DC, where he produced recording sessions, video projects, the Emmy winning “All Star Band”, and audio for the 2017 Presidential Inauguration. “Working with you was enlightening and helped refine my approach as well - just by your feedback and observations. Coupled with your enormously outstanding engineering and producing skills, it was just all around a pleasure in every respect.” (USAF Bands)

”Our other engineer says this isn’t even possible, but I know you’ve done it before.” (LA Opera) In response to COVID-19, Christian trained and led a team of 55 composers, conductors, singers, and instrumentalists in the production of over 1,700 virtual cues and choirs for clients around the world. Critics reviewed: “I would kill for a live recording that sounds that good; the fact that it's edited videos is mind-blowing.” (ATU)

Christian continues to lead Arts Laureate, a production house specializing in audio and video for classical artists and ensembles, in conjunction with the record label Tōnsehen. He produces about 300 recordings per year, which have featured on TIME, BBC, NPR, and PipeDreams, and labels like Deutsche Grammophone, Bridge, Albany, MSR, and others. “We love working with you and the Arts Laureate team more than you will ever know.” (Talamantes-Wilkerson)

Deutsche Grammophone (Copy)

Emmy: "All Star Band" (Copy)

TIME Magazine (Copy)

BBC (Copy)

“I’ve been telling my team to be more like you. Loved your presentation.” (Changing the Narrative) Notable “public appearances” in the industry include “The Fundamentals of Orchestral Recording” for the League of American Orchestra national conference (2019), “The Secret Menu of Stereo Recording” at the Audio Engineering Society convention (2022), and “The Fundamentals of Wind Band Recording” at the Midwest Clinic (2022). Christian has also presented private workshops for the National Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Opera, UCLA, CSU Fullerton, CSU Long Beach, San Jose State University, Santa Clarita University, and others.

Christian volunteers as the mastering engineer for And We Were Heard, an initiative cultivating relationships between conductors and composers from historically under-represented communities.

When not recording, he can be found planting native wildflowers along the 105/405 or on the Marlow Moss Motorcycle in the Santa Monica Mountains.