Look & Sound Like You're the Host of Your Own Late Night TV Show
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Transcript Details
Full Transcript Below
Show Transcript:
Start with Live Sound Experiences (Stage and Broadway) and focus on Signal Flow, Reference, and Self Assessment — explore the entire concept of getting your cockpit right to be able to put on that SHOW.
Then transition to TV — and expand the premise that audio is only 1/5th. To keep it in perspective.
Then move into The Roadie Clinic and about the people behind the show and about Paul's transition to being front of camera.
OK. HERE WE GO
DEREK: Welcome Intro
Welcome to another episode of rom the Stage to the Screen — the show where live sound engineers and studio professionals help gamers,streamers, creators and business presenters sound their best. We bring all the tricks from your favorite concerts and albums to you and your audio set up. Whether you're just starting out or you already have that massive following, we're here to help you look, feel, and sound better.
Today _ we're talking with Audio Engineer Paul Klimson — from acclaimed Theory One Productions — Paul's going to get you sounding like you just stepped off the red carpet. When he wasn't touring, Paul mixed audio for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He's also run sound for Kelly Clarkson, Justin Timberlake, The Roots, and Drake so he'll share tips from the stage and the studio that will help you present like a true pro.
Mike Dias is the VP of Sales for Earthworks Audio and this is going to be a great talk. I can't wait!
MIKE — Thanks Derek. I always wonder what goes on behind the scenes in order to make concerts look and sound so memorable? Or how top shows get produced and how polished every detail feels.
But more importantly, I always dream about incorporating those same elements into my own presentations and creations. So today, I'm going to ask Paul for all his tips.
Paul — let's get right into it. You've worked with some of the world's top talent and you always talk about creating a universe inside an arena. How do I do that for myself? How do I get some of your sugar and spice for my stuff?
LOOK. OUR JOB IS TO CREATE A UNIVERSE INSIDE AN ARENA.
We start with nothing. A true blank slate. Lights out. Right. If you think about it. Your favorite concert is really just a show in a gymnasium. An old basketball court or hockey arena.
It's our job to create the show and to weave the fabric. — That consistency of reality and quality. Human beings can detect flaws quickly. On a white wall, we see the hairline crack. The magic of technology when used properly is to prevent us from getting pulled out of the illusion.
RIFF ON THIS FOR A BIT.
END WITH THIS LINE. IT COMES DOWN TO UNDERSTANDING AND MASTERING 3 ELEMENTS: SIGNAL FLOW. REFERENCE. AND SELF-ASSESSMENT:
Alright. So let's break it down. I want concrete steps. Let's start off with Signal Flow. What is it and why does it matter?
I like to think of it as water valves. You've got to look for the leaks and where it is all going. It starts with the voice and gets converted. Gets digitized. from here to there.
Then it's my job to decode the product or software. LEARN THE TOOLS IN FRONT OF YOU in order to create something that anyone can walk into and use.
So what is REFERENCE
Reference has to do with your overall volume. How hot do you want the volume and on what graph? Is what you are producing at consistent levels with other content in the space? And will it play as you expect out in the world on the platforms that your audience will consume it on? This concept matters. It can't just sound good on your laptop. It has to sound great on your car, your phone, your headphones. It has to work in the ecosystem. You've got to listen to the source and the medium.
You have to ask yourself — is this something that YOU would listen to? Which leads to Self-Assessment.
AND SELF ASSESSMENT
It's constant learning. Constant sneaking up on perfection. You've got to run the game highlights. You've got to listen and to see what's working and what needs refinement. You've got to go back and watch.
The same is true during the editing process. You've got to be in a different headspace from creation in order to hear and see what needs to be corrected and built upon.
OK — HOW DO YOU DO ALL THIS? HOW DO YOU COMBINE SIGNAL FLOW, REFERENCE, & SELF-ASSESSMENT?
That's easy. You've got to build this into your PRODUCTION SCHEDULE. You've got to get everyone on the same page and you've got to get your ideas and goals down ahead of time. You've got to plan and work backwards.
It starts by asking yourself:
- WHAT's MY OUTCOME?
- I want to have a great gaming show on Twitch. OK.
- WHAT ELEMENTS DO I WANT TO INCLUDE?
- Well. I want to have the right look. The room needs a vibe. I need the gaming chair. I need the neons. I need to take a page out of the Ready Player One book.
- Why? Because I want to PROJECT that I AM A PROFESSIONAL GAMER and that you SHOULD LISTEN TO ME. I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY & TEACH.
- The setting matters. The details matter. The entire package matters.
- And then: YOU GET TO HERE: HOW DO I TAKE THE CREATIVE ELEMENTS AND BREAK THEM DOWN INTO THE TECHNICAL?
- Here's what I want to do.
- Here's how I achieve it.
EVERY ELEMENT NEEDS TO BACK UP THE PRODUCT
Once you know what you want to achieve — then you go dark and practice.
You playback and watch. (within the allocated time frame)
Then you decide:
AM I GETTING CLOSER TO THE END RESULT?
WHAT'S TRIPPING ME UP?
WHAT ELEMENT IS THROWING ME OFF?
*** Anything that you are striving for but that is tripping you up will do significantly MORE DAMAGE than not having it included.
You've got to build your cockpit. Everything that surrounds you needs to serve you. You organize for control and comfort. You build your bubble.
People want to watch to be entertained. To learn. To escape. They need the fabric to exist or it breaks the illusion and it's over.
So once this is set up, I can set & forget? I'm one and done?
No. You have to crawl before you can walk. It gets easier and faster but no. You need this routine every time. Once you get all the elements in place — once you build your cockpit, then it's just maintenance. You plan for it to fail - for something to creep in. A zoom update. A software patch.
You log in 20 minutes early to get it all running. You get your checklist. Lights. Camera. Action.
You build the tension. You get the show started. Look. Why does someone tune in? They know / they expect that SOMETHING is GOING TO HAPPEN.
THE LIGHTS GO OUT. THERE'S AN EXPECTATION. It's building to a moment.
AND IF YOU CAN NAIL THE INTRO — IF YOU CAN OWN THE FIRST 30-60 Seconds _ if you can pop that balloon — then you've got them the entire show. The audience is right there with you. You've got them the full show.
And as long as you kill the last song — You send them off with the memory. The full experience. That's the SHOW. The initial pop and how it ends.
Imagine what would happen if the lights dimmed. The intro music starts. Then the band doesn't come right out. What if you had to wait another hour after that???
The point is to have the tech not be cumbersome. The tech can not take away from you - from WHO YOU ARE - because that's the show.
OK. So that's getting the creative and the tech right. But how do you get your head right? How do you get your mind right?
Well. This is where it comes down to practice. Because it will fail. Everything will fail. You just have to have rehearsed it so much that you know all the points of failure.
And of course as a sound engineer, I have all my contingencies. I have the song loaded on the iPod. I've planned for every contingency. But planning for and rehearsing those are 2 totally different things. The show is never over until the SEE YOU NEXT YEAR.
And go into the show idea of Litz and of setting every bit up. Of rehearsing EVERY ELEMENT>
What is the full sequence? What is the queue. Who does what when?
Well. Let's talk about that. When a show truly pops, how much work is behind it?
Well. It depends on the size of the show and the complexity. If it's just me a singer and a DJ with 6 channels, I can handle a lot of the elements. If there are 35 semis of stuff — then you need 2 months of dedicated rehearsal in a workspace to translate your ideas into product.
There's an order of things. Space and time are always premiums. Who comes in first matters. You've got to start with the motors - the things that lift the lights and speakers into the sky. The rigging. The structure.
THERE MUST BE A COMMITMENT TO PROCESS
WE PRACTICE TO FIND THE TROUBLE PARTS
Do you mix for the artist or the crowd?
It depends if I'm mixing monitors or front of house. But If I'm on monitors - yeah. I'm looking to harness that energy and feed it back to the artists. I'm looking to massage and tweak it for the performers.
OK. So with all of this, I've got to ask. How is TV different than LIVE?
My first time running sound for TV — of course it happened to be Adele on solo vocals and piano — and the guy who normally handles broadcast called to check in on me and said - don't worry. It's only 7 million people watching.
TV is more controlled but also less constrained.
**Talk about how live crews / the artist's crew mesh with the TV crew and how everyone needs to work together.
But set more realistic expectations: The musical act is just act 5. It's one fifth of the show.
On live, I have 1 or 2 bosses. On TV - there are a minum of 9. TV is playing a different game.
But the rules are still the same. IT DOES NOT MATTER IF IT's TV, LIVE MUSIC, A TWITCH OR YOUTUBE STREAM _ the elements that we just went over are the exact same.
You start with understanding what you want create and then you work backwards to build your cockpit to protect the fabric.
Look — WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A NORMAL YOUTUBE STREAM AND A TONY ROBBINS SEMINAR?
- IT'S THE SHOW. TONY HAS AN ANNOUNCER
- HE HAS AN INTRO
- HE HAS SHARED HIS VISION WITH HIS ENTIRE TEAM SO THAT EVERY ELEMENT BUILDS TOWARDS THE STORY AND TO WHAT HE WANTS TO CONVEY. SO THAT WHEN HE HITS CENTER STAGE IT IS GO TIME AND SO THAT HE DOESN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THE ELEMENTS SUPPORTING HIM.
HE HAS MASTERED THE ELEMENTS AND DYNAMICS OF MAKING YOU FEEL WHAT HE'S FEELING.
LIKE ANY GOOD STORYTELLER — LIKE TOM HANKS ON LATE NIGHT — THEY BRING YOU IN WITH THEIR VOICE AND THEIR RANGE AND THEIR PACING.
THEY PULL YOU IN
Then we transition to The Roadie Clinic.
NOTES FROM PAUL
It was the Mackie Boards that hooked me. The cartoon of the running man that made it approachable to me as a kid. The idea of taking something complex and of delivering a turn key solution out of the box.
His career arc of learning the ropes to ending up in Nashville to getting thrown on a bus weeks later. Pack your bag. You'rs going out! From Christian to Country to the idea of a much bigger world. To New York.
Working for the composure who did comercial spots. Landing at Masque to learn all the broadway gear. To coinciding with the rise of the manufactures working with industry to create the new DiGiCo boards. With Skovil and the likes.
From Masque to John Legend to Saturday Night Live around 2008….
Event Description:
Audio Engineer Paul Klimson — from acclaimed Theory One Productions — will get you sounding like you just stepped off the red carpet. When he wasn't touring, Paul mixed audio for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He's also run sound for Kelly Clarkson, Justin Timberlake, The Roots, and Drake so he'll share tips from the stage and the studio that will help you present like a true pro.
Paul Klimson Bio:
Paul Klimson brings over twenty highly-credited years of technical experience to the world of pro-audio in the areas of television broadcasts, arena performances, international music festivals, and top-tier special events production.
During a John Legend tour, Paul was asked to audition at SNL for what was to become the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon television show. Over the course of 6 years (and 965+ episodes), he worked in every music production element of the NBC nightly broadcast, in direct support of The Roots.
After solidifying the show's audio team and designing and building the monitor package for the famous Studio 6B set at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City — and seeing the show through its memorable transition into The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon — Paul joined Justin Timberlake for the massive The 20/20 Experience World Tour and the Man of the Woods Tour.
Right before the pandemic, with decades of experience in the industry, both Paul and his wife of 19 years, Courtney, saw a missing need for touring crew to have direct support from their peers, and this caused them to found a nonprofit called The Roadie Clinic. TRC exists to empower + heal roadies and their families by providing services and resources dedicated to the struggles of the touring lifestyle. This movement is shaping up to be the next chapter in Paul's ever-evolving career.
END OF TRANSCRIPT
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