12 years of professional experience, Mixing and Mastering. With 100+ clients, and recipient of the Iowa Music Awards 2022 Best Engineer Award. Studio Owner, ProTools and Apple Logic Certified. A.A.S. Degree in Audio Engineering, Music Production and Audio Post Production. If it makes noise, I make it sound amazing!
Meet Jon Limmer, also known as J. Limm, one of the Head Engineers at The Sound Box Recording Studio. Jon's passion for music began at the age of 16 in the year 2005, when he started experimenting with music production software, specifically PcDj Record Producer.
Jon's interest in music production only grew from there. He attended The Institute of Production and Recording from 2009 to 2011, where he received an AAS Degree in Audio Production, Engineering, and Audio Post Production. During his time at school, he honed his skills and knowledge in music production, mixing, mastering, and post-production.
Upon graduation, his friend from college, Richard Shultz always spoke about creating a studio and that he wanted Jon to work there with him. So when it was ready to go, Richard extended the invite and Jon moved from Nebraska to Iowa and started working at The Sound Box in 2016.
Since then, he has worked with over 100 artists, helping them bring their musical vision to life. He has experience working with all genres of music, from hip-hop and rock to country and pop..
Jon's expertise also extends beyond just music production. He has experience doing sound for film, TV, and various multimedia projects. However, his main area of focus remains mixing and mastering music.
Tell me about your project and how I can help, through the 'Contact' button above.
Languages
- English
Interview with J. Limm
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: Riley Mobz - Okay 4 Now (Album) released early 2022. It was a project he and I spent 2 years on. And was the first album I mixed and mastered from bottom to top out of my own studio.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: I work 5-6 days a week from 6-10 hours a day engineering for various clients.
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: Tone Da Boss for song writing.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Both, because there are things you can do with Analog gear that software still can’t do. And digital because some Analog gear is out of budget at the moment.
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: I meat my deadlines
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: I work for myself, and help make people’s ideas come to life. Ultimately providing a comfortable space for creativity is and will always be the best part of my job.
Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: Q: Can I get in today? A: I wish we could, but I am booked a month in advance. Lock it in now for next month, and if something opens up between now and then I will let you know!
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: That I sign artists, or that I run a record label.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: Are you open to professional/creative input? What DAW was used to record the song? If it is ProTools or Logic, do you or your engineer have the ability to send me the entire session file? If it is not the DAWs I listed above am I able to have stems delivered to me? What is their inspiration for the project, and are there any artists that you want me to reference when working on this project?
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Look no further, I am the guy that will make your music sound exactly the way you envision it.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: MacBook Pro maxed out with power and storage, Apollo X8p, Two Sphere Microphones, Bettermaker Mastering Limiter.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: Professionally recording, mixing and mastering since 2011. However I started making beats and recording music in 2006.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: I pull from all of my idols, but ultimately what sounds good is good. A lot of my decisions are either instinct or made out of curiosity.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: The Weeknd, his vocal layering and reverb/other fx are right up my alley. I think we would mesh well together.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Just because you have them all, doesn’t mean you need to put plug-ins on everything,
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Hip-Hop, Pop, and R&B.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: Translating an artist’s vision into a final mix/master they are proud to share with the world.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: Energy, space, depth, width, and clarity.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: Depends on what I am being tasked with. If it is tracking vocals, I set mic height and distance for the artist. Set up the queue sends to give them control over their headphone mix. Set levels on a scratch take. And work from the top down editing while recording until we agree we have what the song needs (for now) then move on to the rest of the editing and getting the mix balanced. Once the pieces sit where they need to, we look for any additional things that could enhance the song such as bg vocals, harmonies etc. if we are happy with where the rough mix sits we begin to polish the mix with, EQ and Compression for example. Then add in fx like delays, and reverb. Once we have a solid mix I usually send it home with them to critique before we move on to Mastering in a later session if they hire me to do so.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: 2022 Mac Studio M1 Max, 3 UA Apollo x8p’s, UAD-2 Satellite, ProTools, Logic. Hundreds of Plugins from almost all manufacturers. TL Sphere Microphones, Shure SM7B, SM58, SM57, Beta 52A microphones, and many more. RND Portico II MBP. Avantone Mix Cubes, JBL LSR4328P. Various headphone options.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Ali, Carlo Montagnese, Timbaland, 40, Scott Storch, Andrew Scheps
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: Tracking vocals or instrumentation, vocal production, editing recordings, Mixing, and Mastering.
I was the Co-Producer, Engineer, Mixing Engineer and Mastering Engineer in this production
- Universal Audio Apollos
- RND Portico II Mb Processor
- Dangerous D Box
- TL Sphere Microphones
- Plugins (Fabfilter
- UA
- Izotope
- Waves and many more)
