EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Mastering the Mix - Shalev Alon’s Fresh Perspective on Music Production and Engineering

Shalev Alon's career as a mixing engineer has yielded numerous projects throughout his career. He attended the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles, CA, to pursue his path in mixing engineering. There, he learned from his professors, networked, made connections and eventually landed an internship at a studio. Currently, he works on production in pop music and Film/TV trailers, collaborating with artists and film composers.

Shalev started getting into music around age 10. From there, he learned guitar, played in different bands, wrote songs and explored music production a bit. When he was 16 or 17, he decided to pursue a career in production engineering.

Shalev has loved music for quite some time and it’s clear he aspired to a music career, working diligently to pursue it.

He talks about his favorite project so far: “We went to the exact replica of the cantina from Star Wars that they built in Disneyland and there are a few speakers around the bar. There is a DJ, who is like a rabbit, and I needed to mix the music, the songs, between all the speakers and the main speakers from the DJ. It was super unique because it was an environment I had never experienced, since they just built it. That was creative mixing, and it was super fun with a lot of creative work,” said Alon.

Mentioning that there were a few changes to his work lifestyle during COVID-19, he had to create a home recording studio and work with other collaborators and clients. This experience led him to learn more about himself: “I built (sound) diffusers, I built acoustic panels and a lot of hands-on work as well, which teaches you a lot and was amazing for me. Especially when I had clients who were bigger in the industry, I had a lot of topic conversations and they knew that I’m not just an engineer but that I know beyond my mixing capabilities. That was great for me,” said Alon.

Working with notable pop artists, he has a lot to showcase in his portfolio of mixing engineering work.

“When I recorded pop singers like Busta Rhymes, Zara Larsson, Nick Jonas, once they see you have a lot of knowledge, they look at you from a different perspective and come to you with questions and ask for your opinions because you know about acoustics and music production. It brings you a little bit into the room, into the team; they trust you more,” said Alon.

A few trends Shalev is excited about involve recreating old school styles. From working in the studio with notable clients to reimagining timeless tunes, he continues to improve his skills in mixing engineering.

Some upcoming projects and collaborations that Shalev Alon is looking forward to include big trailers for TV shows and movies, video games, a movie filmed in Puerto Rico and a sequel to a Netflix movie.

Shalev has already made an impact on the mixing engineering world and he continues to challenge himself with each project, striving to do his best every time.

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