The Grateful Dead's Wall of Sound (2019)
Engineers and fans revisit the Grateful Dead’s 1970s “Wall of Sound” PA system, describing how its towering, instrument‑dedicated speaker stacks and dual‑microphone feedback cancellation were radically ahead of their time yet logistically unsustainable. Commenters trace how ideas from the Wall—vertical line arrays, precise phase management, room‑aware tuning—fed into modern concert sound design and products from companies like Meyer Sound and Bose. They also highlight the band’s taping culture and open‑sharing ethos, linking it to later developments such as lossless audio formats, online tape trading, and broader internet freedoms.
Historical concert sound & the Wall of Sound
- Early rock shows often had amps behind players, blasting them with extreme SPL; front-of-house amplification emerged later.
- The Wall of Sound gave each instrument its own dedicated speaker stack and amplification path, aiming for clarity and long‑range coherence rather than brute loudness.
- Some posters recall hearing it in the 1970s and describe unusually clear, separated sound at moderate levels, even far from the stage.
Microphone techniques & feedback control
- A key innovation was the dual (sometimes described as triple) vocal mic setup with one mic phase‑inverted.
- Because the singer is close to only one capsule, the PA spill common to both mics largely cancels, reducing feedback.
- Posters compare this to balanced lines and modern noise‑cancelling (e.g., phones), and share similar cancellation hacks in venues.
Line arrays, beam steering, and modern PA practice
- The Wall’s vertical stacks anticipate modern line arrays, now standard at big shows and even in home “tower” speakers.
- Advantages discussed: reduced horizontal comb filtering, better coverage, and possibilities like beam steering and planar arrays.
- Meyer Sound and others are cited as commercializing many of these concepts; modern systems can auto‑tune via measurement bursts.
Recording, taping culture, and codecs
- The Dead encouraged audience taping, with dedicated taper sections near the soundboard.
- This sharing culture helped shape attitudes toward decentralized distribution, early online communities, and even lossless codecs (FLAC, Shorten) originating from taping circles.
- Posters reminisce about tape and DAT “trees” and describe Relisten and archive.org as today’s primary hubs for these recordings.
Counterculture, LSD, and finance
- The engineer who drove the Wall’s development was also a major LSD producer; illicit funds reportedly subsidized the massive PA.
- LSD and Bay Area counterculture are linked in the thread to early personal computing, The WELL, and digital‑rights activism.
Critiques and practical limitations
- Several note that touring the Wall was logistically and financially unsustainable, requiring multiple full systems and huge crews.
- Some argue vocals never sounded great due to the mic arrangement and performance issues.
- Others counter that, despite flaws, it was a pioneering experiment that laid groundwork for modern PA design.
Meta: article, UX, and side threads
- Commenters complain about the article’s verbosity, commas, and light‑gray text.
- Side discussions touch on alternative “walls of sound,” other engineers, extreme‑volume bands, and modern anti‑feedback products.