Music Composers Unite!

The Music of Leon Portelance . . .

Leon Portelance 54, Male Sonora, CA, United States: KaatzaMusic; Share

Photos (13)
Discussions (4)

Leon Portelance's Friends

View All

Leon Portelance's Groups

Composers Guild (21 members)
TV and Film Composers (95 members)

Music Tech Masters (16 members)
Nor-Cal Composers (6 members)

Classical Music Composers (43 members)
Orchestrators and Arrangers (44 members)

Songwriters (18 members)

View All

Leon Portelance's discussions

Daily Kos

Republicians Attempting Blatant Obstruction of Justice

I just read an article on newsweek.com that really disturbed me.

Letter to the Editor

This is a copy of a letter I send today to the editors of many local and national newspapers. If expands on my previous Dairy entry, "Pitt-bull in Lipstick."

Pitt-bull in lipstick?

Okay. I forced myself to watch the Republican speeches last night. It was very painful to watch and listen to. My blood pressure probably reached a dangerous level.

More…

Latest Activity

Leon Portelance and Matt Gates are now friends

Aug 3

Leon Portelance and Joel Douek are now friends

Jul 24

Leon Portelance added a song:

Leon Portelance — The Autumn Mist

Jul 17

Leon Portelance left a comment for Mike Jul 10

Alain Mayrand and Leon Portelance are now friends

Jul 10

Mike left a comment for Leon Portelance Jul 4

RayKemp left a comment for Leon Portelance Jun 22

Leon Portelance's profile changed Jun 22

Profile

Where do you live?: Sonora, California, USA

Is music your main income source?: No - Not Yet

What have you composed for? Or what medium do you work around?: film, web, Choir, Orchestra, Small Ensemble, Big Ensemble, Songs, Contemporary Ensembles

Website:: http://www.kaatzamusic.com

What is your favorite genre or style of music?: Classical & Pop/Rock

About Me:: 53 year old classically trained songwriter, composer, arranger and orchestrator. Originally from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Graduated with Bachelor of Music in composition & Theory from the University of Victoria (1976). Worked as a recording engineer & producer. Currently scoring for film.

Equipment: DAW Logic Pro 7.2 on a Mac G4 dual 800 with Motu 2408 Mk 3 & MIDI Express XT; SLAVE Pentium 4 - 3 Ghz with Tascam PCI-822, VSTack; CONTROLLERS Yamaha P-140 & Evolution MK-425C; SAMPLES EWQLSO Platinum & Gold XP, Symphonic Choirs, RA, Colossus, StormDrum; Real Guitar 2; Project Sam Horns; GPO; Lyrical Distortion 1 & 2, Gunslinger; DIVA; Kontakt 2; Giga 3 Orchestra, GVI; MASTERING Izotope Ozone 3; CONSOLE Mackie 24x8; MONITORS Tannoy, JBL, Bose, Auratone.

BIO

Leon Portelance (53) is a songwriter, composer, arranger and producer. He has a well equipped home studio in Sonora, California. Leon plays keyboards, guitar and bass. Lately he has be working on tv and film cues using sampled orchestral libraies like East West Quantum Leap Symphony Orchestra and Vienna Symphony Library.

Leon grew up in Lake Cowichan on Vancouver Island, Canada. He parents started him on accordian when he was about 6, but he thought it was dorky. Then he played sax in elementary school band. When he was 9 he saw the first Beatles appearance on the Ed Sullivan show. He wanted a guitar!

At 13, Leon's best friend Sean Vance asked him if he could learn bass because they were putting together a band and needed a bass player. Leon asked what a bass was. "It has only 4 strings," Sean told him. This started a musical partnership that spanned many bands and personnel changes.

Leon's songwriting over the past 35 years has explored a variety of genres from pop & rock to jazz and classical. Leon has a BA in music composition and theory from the University of Victoria and has worked as an engineer and producer at several recording studios. His first recording gig was as an assistant engineer at Mushroom Studios in Vancouver, Canada and he was later a part owner of Bullfrog Studios, also in Vancouver.

Leon's ultimate dream would be to win an Academy Award for Best Sountrack or Best Song, but a number 1 hit on Billboard wouldn't hurt either!

Leon Portelance's Photos

Loading…

View All

Leon Portelance's Blog

Reorganized my music player list and added a couple of new tracks

I just reorganized my music player list on my profile and added a couple of new tracks: "The Autumn Mist" & "A Spring Rain." My goal is to eventually turn this into a demo reel with about 10 tracks that I can put onto CDs. As always, comments are welcome! A Spring Rain was especially challenging in the orchestration. I spent a lot of time on it and I'm not sure if I quite got it right yet.

Posted on June 21st, 2008 at 4:22pm — No Comments (Add)

Some New Material - would like some feedback.

I've recently posted some new material. A couple of shorts that I did for the MFTM course: Indianapolis Raggae Electronica They are both exactly 1 minute long and are meant to be looped. And also 4 new installments in a series I am working on based loosely on Tolkien's the Silmirillion The Dawn The Long Road Home Call to War The Refugees Any feedback would be appreciated! Thanks.

Posted on February 20th, 2008 at 7:00am — 5 Comments (Add)

Faith before Reason - The New America

My new book is hitting the shelves on 1/15/08 and is already available for pre-order from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and all major online bookstores. It can also be ordered from any brick and mortar bookstore. Getting it on the shelves is another thing, but I am working on it! The best deal is still on my website www.RBooks.org, where you can get an autographed copy for only $10.00.
_____________________________________________________________…
Continue

Posted on January 13th, 2008 at 6:59pm — 6 Comments (Add)

My second Novel is being published in December!

My 2nd novel will be released in December. I am quite excited about it. It is very political and will likely do better in the "blue" states than the "red" states. The book will have a suggested retail of $13.95 and will be distributed by Ingrams. It will be availble to order at all major bookstores (getting it on the shelves is another thing when you are trying to get established) and online at all major bookstores. I will be selling autographed copies on my website for $10 plus shipping at cost… Continue

Posted on November 23rd, 2007 at 4:55pm — 1 Comment (Add)

Comment Wall (57 comments)

You need to be a member of Composer's Forum to add comments!

Join this network

At 5:51am on July 4th, 2008, Mike said…: Very great sounding compositions ... and sense of humor ... (mid-life crisis thing) downwards. ...

At 11:51pm on June 29th, 2008, Leon Portelance said…: Naw. No mid-life crisis, my daughter caught me unawares out at a lake. I was getting ready to go on a tube, so I didn't want my cap to blow off. I lasted about 10 minutes and then my back and neck were killing me. Now that, is a mid-life crisis :)

At 2:36pm on June 22nd, 2008, RayKemp said…: Hey! Leon,
Are you having a mid-life crisis with that cap on back to front :-)

At 11:39am on May 4th, 2008, ahmadjawadi said…: Hello Leon,
Great music, very beautiful writing and really good orchestration, it is very nice to use different styles, your track The English Garden is little bit close to my composition Love Melody but in the Oriental style, and very nice that you used the same idea in The Soldier's Dream but with different rhythm, you can listen to Love Melody in my site or from the youtube.com just please follow this link.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=yGj1-6cueqQ
Best regards,
Ahmad

At 5:24am on January 12th, 2008, craglione said…: Thank you for adding my to your personal community. I am at your services...

The best

At 5:20am on January 12th, 2008, David Beard said…: All my very best wishes Leon.
Wishing you continued success in all that you do.
David Beard - UK

Film Music Composer

At 2:52pm on January 11th, 2008, Mike Kitchens said…: Nice Orchestrations Leon.

Mike

At 5:20am on December 24th, 2007, Don Poole said…: Hi Leon,

We absolutely love all the new songs you added! Have a great Christmas!

Don

At 11:33am on December 15th, 2007, Don Poole said…: Hi Leon,

My wife and I listened to your music again while writing out our Christmas cards. We are liking these "Saturday Mornings with Leon".

Have a great week and Happy Holidays!

Don

At 8:11pm on December 10th, 2007, Don Poole said…: Hi Leon,

Between jobs is the worst time for me too! I absolutely cannot stand not having something to write for. I think going to the festivals is a good idea as well as the class. You might make a great contact. My last movie was submitted for the Park City Film Music Festival in Utah in January. If it makes it in the festival, I will be flying out there on the 17th! Please keep your fingers crossed. I will keep you in mind as well. Hang in there. 2008 will be a great year!

Don