Producer & mixer, Romesh Dodangoda recently set up Control Room, an online membership forum for the audio community to learn and share information, which also offers exclusive deals on some big brands.
With his own studio in Wales built around a classic Audient ASP8024 console and 17 years under his belt producing and mixing artists such as Motorhead, Bring Me The Horizon and Bullet For My Valentine, Romesh certainly knows what he’s talking about.
So Audient caught up with him to find out more about his what he’s up to and his plans for the future, but started off by asking him more about the impetus behind setting up Control Room:
It’s been an idea of mine for years really. I would always get lots of questions sent to me about recording and I thought, there must be a better way to help people who want to learn about this stuff. I had wanted to set something up like this for a while and it’s been absolutely incredible so far! I’ve had so many messages from Pro’s as well as people who are just starting out saying how much they enjoy it, which is really nice to see. What has been so great about it now is it’s full of some incredible well known Producers and it’s so great that everyone gets to learn cool techniques off each other!
How does it work?
You visit www.control-room.net and sign up which takes a few seconds, click the join button and then you’re in! It’s an incredible audio community that has some huge successful Producers and Mixers in it and we’re constantly discussing new techniques or tricks we use.
We have a Producer / Mixer Q&A which happens regularly and that allows any member to speak directly to a Producer and get answers to the questions they have. I wanted to do it this way because not a lot of people have time to watch videos, and as videos are prerecorded, you can’t really ask the person to elaborate or clarify something they’ve said, or ask a related question to their answer. This format takes place as a thread so it’s really easy to get involved and learn a lot whenever you’re scrolling on your phone or have some time to yourself.
“I had wanted to set something up like this for a while and it’s been absolutely incredible so far”
There are loads of cool moments. Sometimes a member asks a specific question about a song they like the sound of, and it turns out the Producer who did it is in Control Room! As a reply to that, the Producer has put up screen shots from the actual session with all the plugin settings which has been so generous – and incredible to see. It happens surprisingly frequently!
I also give multitracks for download in Control Room so you can learn a lot and level up your mixing skills mixing real sessions. This month we have just announced a Lower Than Atlantis multitrack and Mike Duce from the band will also pick his favourite mix as the winner. So you are actually mixing it for the client! Pretty cool!
“The savings you make on equipment alone pay for the Control Room subscription”
I’ve also partnered with an amazing friend of mine Mike Fletcher who runs a company called Ehko. We are able to offer amazing artist deals on so much recording equipment so members of Control Room have access to getting the gear they need cheaper and have a bit of change to get something else! The savings you make on equipment alone pay for the Control Room subscription. I wanted to keep the cost very low so it’s affordable for as many people as possible to get access to all the things we have available in there.
There are constantly really interesting topics happening, whether it’s special drum micing techniques, how people who mixed on a console transitioned to in the box and their tricks, in depth discussions about getting into the world of assisting or engineering, it’s been so inspiring for everyone.
“The really amazing thing is we seem to have created a community where everyone gets along and is talked to on the same level”
We’ve had some amazing insights into albums too. These have included Mike Crossey discussing The 1975 Production & Mixing, Chris Sheldon talking about mixing The Colour And The Shape by The Foo Fighters, Dave Eringa on Manic Street Preachers and Dan Korneff discussing his techniques recording Paramore, etc!
Who is it for?
Everyone really. There are Pro’s in there and there are people who are really keen to learn in there. The really amazing thing is we seem to have created a community where everyone gets along and is talked to on the same level. I love that.
You also recorded the new album for Bring Me The Horizon in LA, which was out earlier this year – big congrats on that and its subsequent number one in the UK!
Have you had time for anything else?
Thank you! That was a really great time recording it and I’m really proud of how well it’s done. Everyone worked really hard on it. I’ve been really busy since finishing working on that and it’s been great to get out of the UK and travel to studios I haven’t been to before.
Tell us about your studio, where your classic ASP8024 resides.
My studio is my “hub” if you like. It’s my private studio so it’s got all my equipment set up how I want it so I can track or mix at any time. I have a lot of projects on and it’s great to be able to have my own facility so I can save on hiring a studio every day and make better use of the client’s budget.
I’ve had my ASP8024 for years now and it’s been rock solid. I was actually talking about it the other day, it’s remarkable how many times it’s been switched on and off and used over so many years and it’s never caused me any maintenance downtime.
On ASP8024: “…it’s remarkable how many times it’s been switched on and off and used over so many years and it’s never caused me any maintenance downtime”
I have a lot of analogue outboard equipment which I love to use to colour the sound on the way into Steinberg Nuendo which is my DAW of choice. There’s a pretty big collection of Guitars, Amps, Drums etc as well because I really love not being limited by whatever gear the band has. I love being able to just plug into another amp or use another snare drum if something isn’t working. It’s a bit of a gear playground for musicians!
Did you always want to do what you’re doing?
I’ve always been into music since a very young age and doing what I do now has been an obsession of mine for so long now. I love what I do and wouldn’t change it for anything!
Long may that continue for you, Romesh! Thanks so much for chatting with us.
