dontaskalex on SoundBetter

Featured on Lofi Girl, Spotify Fresh Finds & Chill Nation. I specialize in mixing and mastering vocal-driven indie pop, alt-pop, bedroom pop, and dream pop, music where atmosphere and vocal presence define the sound. Co-producer and engineer for VANÈS (150K+ monthly Spotify listeners). 17+ years of experience, Master's degree in engineering.

I'm Alex, a mixing and mastering engineer based in Berlin with over 17 years of experience.

I've produced and engineered music featured on Lofi Girl, Spotify's Fresh Finds and Mellow Morning playlists, and YouTube channels like Chill Nation and The Bootleg Boy.

My specialty is vocal-driven music like indie pop, alt-pop, bedroom pop, dream pop. The kind of music where the vocal needs to sit inside the texture, not on top of it. Whether it's the warm, hazy side (think Clairo, Men I Trust, Boy Pablo) or the darker, more polished side (think Billie Eilish).

I co-produce and engineer for my sister VANÈS, an alt-pop artist with 150K+ monthly Spotify listeners whose debut single landed the cover of Spotify's Fresh & Chill playlist. My own releases under dontaskalex have been featured on Lofi Girl and have earned millions of streams. I understand both sides.

Rates:
Mixing: $400 per song
Mix + Master: $500 per song
EP/Album bundles available, message me for a custom quote.

What to expect:
First mix within 7 days of receiving your stems. Three revision rounds included, with clear, fast communication (additional rounds $50 each). Instrumental and acapella versions included on request. I'll always be transparent about what I'm doing and why.

Send me a note and let's talk about your project.

Contact me through the green button above and let's get to work.

Credits

Endorse dontaskalex196 Reviews - 34 Repeat Clients

by lesser music
Verified
A pleasure working with Alex again
by lesser music
Verified
Alex is a whizz! Great to work with as always
by Enrico F.
Verified
I really enjoyed working with Alex again. He's fast, helpful, and did an amazing job mixing and mastering my second song!
by David L.
Verified
Above and beyond as always!
by Kyle G.
Verified
Working with Alex was great, as always!
by Anthony
Verified
Excellent! As always!
by lesser music
Verified
Alex just gets it right every time 🙏
by lesser music
Verified
Always a pleasure working with Alex. Great ear, always helpful throughout the process
by lesser music
Verified
Really enjoyed working with Alex again, always appreciate the effort he puts in
by lesser music
Verified
Another great project working with Alex
by SSTEDI
Verified
Outstanding job by Alex. Very professional and prompt. Great communication skills. Brought our track to life! We will be back!
by John K.
Verified
Second song working with Alex and it is always a pleasure. Quick, clear communication and turnaround time. Alex understands the vibe and intention behind the track and works to elevate it.
by Hrannar B.
Verified
Alex was patient and quick, I can highly recommend!
by Kyle G.
Verified
Alex was fantastic to work with again. Really thoughtful with feedback to take the song to the right place. Thank you mate!
by thomas
Verified
Second time working with Alex and it's been a great pleasure working with him again. Will be back for more !
by lesser music
Verified
Alex was great to work with. He was very easy to collaborate with. He brought clarity, balance, and atmosphere to the track, and was great at working through ideas together. Would definitely work with him again.
by thomas
Verified
Alex was a real pleasure to work with. He understood the vision I was going for right away and was very timely as well as accurate in his revisions. Will definitely be working with him again !
by Nikita
Verified
This is my second time using Alex to both mix and master a song for me and I will be sending more. He makes corrections promptly and get's me the sound I'm looking for :)
by leï blu
Verified
Another great collaboration with Alex. Communication is always clear and easy, and the work is consistently well done ̆̈
by Nikita
Verified
Alex exceeded my expectations with both mix & master. He enquired about musical inspiration to get the right vibe and absolutely nailed the mix and in a timely matter too. Will definitely be using him again moving forward.

Interview with dontaskalex

Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Try to explain your goal as detailed as possible.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: Well without electricity i would be lost anyway haha
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I have been doing producing/mixing/mastering for over 10 years now.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: My style is simplistic and straight forward.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: I would love to work with Post Malone because he just seems like a chill dude to hang out and to work with.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Give it time and try to spread out your sessions over multiple days or weeks. Sometimes you just like an idea because you heard it too often in a row.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: I am working on lofi, indie pop, pop and chillout music. But i am really open to every kind of genre.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: Understanding the clients idea.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: I bring a lot of experiences from mixing and mastering hundreds of songs. Sometimes my own, sometimes working with other singers and sometimes for complete strangers. I think i can understand the ideas of other people pretty well and i can translate them into the song.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: There is no typical work process for me, its different everytime and thats the reason why its never getting boring.
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: I'm proud of my work with "dontask" and of my own work "dontaskalex". These are my first projects and i really like the sound of these
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: I'm working on an album with a singer and i am also producing my own songs.
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: There is another mixing and mastering engineer called Fred who does really good work.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Digital, because a lot of digital plugins have algorithms implemented designed to reimagine analog tools, for example reverbs and delays.
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: If you dont like it you dont have to pay for it
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: Its possible from everywhere and with everyone
Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: How should you prepare your pre-master: make sure it has some headroom about -6dB
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: Even though mastering and mixing is pretty technical it has a creative component to it.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: Where do you want to publish your track and what sound should be accomplished.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I am focusing on mastering single tracks, or tracks within a bigger project, for example an EP or LP. I am also doing mixing services, so there is the possibility to combine both services into one order.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I am working on a Desktop PC with two KRK 8 ROKIT G3 Speakers and DT770 Pro Headphones. The DAW i use is FL Studio 20. I invested in a few Plugins from Izotope, Youlean and Soundtoys for mastering and mixing purposes.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: I am a big fan of the producer Rick Rubin. I just love his positive energy and the calmness in his approach of making music with different styles.