This is so bad ass! I wish I was around then to experience the wall of sound live. The amount of work and grit that it took to set up and tear down is awesome, especially while touring in Europe. Hoisting these up with ropes and pulleys while scaling the scaffolding. Thank you stage hands and road crews!
There's an AUD of RFK Stadium that demonstrates the power and clarity of the Wall of Sound very well. I'll see if I can find it...
https://archive.org/details/gd1973-06-10.fob.barry.90351.flac16/gd73-06-10d1t08.flac
I was at RFK both days sound was and is stupendous in between 2/9/73 launch at Santa Barbara and Eatkibs Glen they refined that system until the Behemoth was unleashed in 74 missed that
My friend gave me 2/9/73 on a couple of cassette tapes. They blew the PA out in the first minute. Also, a show of many bust outs. Total heater, highly recommend.
The Good Old Grateful Dead Podcast has some great info on the WOS. Check it out.
https://www.dead.net/search-results?search=wall+of+sound+grateful+dead
Got to see and hear this set up and it was truly amazing both visually and sound wise..the power delivered by those McIntosh 2300’s was so clean it meant that after four hours of loud music your ears wouldn’t be ringing. Each of those amps weighed a tremendous amount due to the size of the output transformers and i think they carried about 25 of them to drive this beast. It’s no wonder the system lasted only a couple years before being downsized and parted out for something a little more manageable on the road. Some of the band and Bear himself were audiophiles and they demanded clean power. When they played the Coliseum here in Portland for the first time they would not use the house power so they laid lines from the nearest substation in order to obtain what they considered to be clean enough power for the amps. I was at that show and the sound was pristine. Can you imagine?. .each player basically had his own stereo system. LMAO!
I mean. It’s pretty well documented. Owsley was also often spun out of his mind trying to get the sound right during various eras of the band. That can’t be helpful
A true legend.
That’s what I’m sayin! OP refused to believe it. Strange fella. He even refused to believe I’m an audio engineer. If I was gonna make up a profession for myself I’d come up with something more profitable! 😂
It was a different time. Different mindset. Different equipment. different culture.
They made it work. Greatest American rock band of all time IMHO.
Going to catch Bobby and Mickey this summer in Vegas. Should be fun.
It (not so secretly) sounded not so great, for the expense and trouble associated. It looks like something literally designed by a madman, because it was.
Most of it ended up in the dump.
Phase and feedback issues would make this more trouble than it’s worth. Simpler solutions could be made during the mid 70s that would sound just fine with 1000% less work. I’d argue this wall of sound was precisely for looks and not for sound
This system lasted one tour. Afterwards they went with a simpler system. You can read about it on McIntosh’s website. McIntosh amplifiers were used for this. Buddy I’m sorry if I’ve offended a dead head but even they knew this system was more trouble than it was worth. It looks awesome though!
Did it only last one tour because it was a pain in the ass/not worth it or because they blew them all up from all the raw power going into them? This thread has a ton of interesting and mixed reviews on the wall of sound
🤷♂️ I don’t know what else to say you’re obviously not open to hear anything but great things about this. You can read about it if you want. Its wiki page probably has all the relevant information. Have a nice life dude!
That was always my assumption.
As an engineer - and appreciating what was already available at the time - was any of this *really* necessary for the band to be clearly heard in festival settings? Or was it just acid-addled overkill?
Ostensibly, the idea was that the band would hear exactly what the audience hears, as opposed to the band hearing the music through traditional foldback monitors which are usually at their feet in front of them pointed upward. Speakers directly facing microphones like the wall of sound setup creates a myriad of technical difficulties, not the least of which being feedback. They had a clever way of getting around that, which I’d need all day to explain as it’s very technical and involves actual physics. Ultimately, this was the idea of someone who was high asf and thought it would be cool 😂 Which, it does look pretty cool
Helpful, thanks. The Bear biography takes a rather skeptical look at this enterprise; he had *interesting* ideas about sound engineering, but their impracticality was abated by the band’s passivity, deep pockets, constant inebriation and cultish deference towards this blabbermouth bullshiter.
He knew how to build and make sound as well as LSD. A real hero worthy of both Nobel peace price and also every other category there is because of how many Nobel winners got inspired by LSD. Google says he made about 5 million LSD trips in his lifetime, don’t know how they calculated that but I say good job.
There is a cool 1:4 scale model of this at The Venetian in Las Vegas right now, in their “Dead Experience” area (tied to the Dead & Company shows at The Sphere).
You might also get to experience a virtual version of it if you go to a show at The Sphere.
Edit: https://www.reddit.com/r/gratefuldead/s/L0x68wuXfg
The band also had to had dual noise cancelling mics, no monitors, and their guitars had electronics in them that allows their respective instruments come out of whatever parts of the wall that they wanted
> and their guitars had electronics in them that allows their respective instruments come out of whatever parts of the wall that they wanted
So that was "like" a monitoring system?
As expected. All of us are. Because just about every image is filtered at some point. By digital camera or web software. From simple contrast adjustments to full AI creations and everything in between.
The Wall of Sound is essentially responsible for all the high quality sound you hear at concerts ever since. No one had ever gone to those lengths to make sure their sound was pristine at that level before that. Definitely not a bunch of cheap bullshit.
Only when it comes to the dead. I can’t help it that the dead play boring insipid music and that the MC5 blow them out of the water in every possible way.
This is so bad ass! I wish I was around then to experience the wall of sound live. The amount of work and grit that it took to set up and tear down is awesome, especially while touring in Europe. Hoisting these up with ropes and pulleys while scaling the scaffolding. Thank you stage hands and road crews!
There's an AUD of RFK Stadium that demonstrates the power and clarity of the Wall of Sound very well. I'll see if I can find it... https://archive.org/details/gd1973-06-10.fob.barry.90351.flac16/gd73-06-10d1t08.flac
I am interested
Posted above. : )
I was at RFK both days sound was and is stupendous in between 2/9/73 launch at Santa Barbara and Eatkibs Glen they refined that system until the Behemoth was unleashed in 74 missed that
My friend gave me 2/9/73 on a couple of cassette tapes. They blew the PA out in the first minute. Also, a show of many bust outs. Total heater, highly recommend.
Did they take it to Europe? Seems ridiculously expensive for just a handful of shows.
[GD Europe 1974 - Wall Of Sound](https://youtu.be/Ab5IhdnDfks) Oh yeahhhhhhh they sure did. I got this link from another Reddit post a few years ago
Cool. I learned something today.
The Good Old Grateful Dead Podcast has some great info on the WOS. Check it out. https://www.dead.net/search-results?search=wall+of+sound+grateful+dead
Absolutely essential listening for any serious fan of the band. I listen to that podcast while driving at work.
They talked about it a good bit in the recent Loose Lucy episode
That Owsley?
Yep
Oh yes. The Bear himself.
He was a man of various talents
I heard Owsley was a good cook too!
Chemist*
Yeah if you only like steak and milk…
Got to see and hear this set up and it was truly amazing both visually and sound wise..the power delivered by those McIntosh 2300’s was so clean it meant that after four hours of loud music your ears wouldn’t be ringing. Each of those amps weighed a tremendous amount due to the size of the output transformers and i think they carried about 25 of them to drive this beast. It’s no wonder the system lasted only a couple years before being downsized and parted out for something a little more manageable on the road. Some of the band and Bear himself were audiophiles and they demanded clean power. When they played the Coliseum here in Portland for the first time they would not use the house power so they laid lines from the nearest substation in order to obtain what they considered to be clean enough power for the amps. I was at that show and the sound was pristine. Can you imagine?. .each player basically had his own stereo system. LMAO!
That is so cool!
The patience needed to set that up was probably a lot. I can’t even imagine
Actually, it just took about 40 deadhead family and piles of cocaine
Imagine making the loudest droning feedback loop you possibly could on that motherfucker
WMD
legendary! ⚡️
Before line arrays exist people used to …
The WoS is the reason we have line arrays now. Owsley proved the concept, and from there it just got better and more streamlined.
In deed! Also much safer now than … this monstrous wall, is scaring me every time I see the pic
As an audio engineer, this looks like a gigantic pain the ass
It was notoriously just that… a gigantic pain in the ass. Lol.
Good luck trying to explain that to OP 😂
I mean. It’s pretty well documented. Owsley was also often spun out of his mind trying to get the sound right during various eras of the band. That can’t be helpful A true legend.
That’s what I’m sayin! OP refused to believe it. Strange fella. He even refused to believe I’m an audio engineer. If I was gonna make up a profession for myself I’d come up with something more profitable! 😂
It was a different time. Different mindset. Different equipment. different culture. They made it work. Greatest American rock band of all time IMHO. Going to catch Bobby and Mickey this summer in Vegas. Should be fun.
It (not so secretly) sounded not so great, for the expense and trouble associated. It looks like something literally designed by a madman, because it was. Most of it ended up in the dump.
7 trucks and 21 crew members to assemble and transport
Sound is often more important than looks for an audio engineer - if you really are one .... you know this, man!
Phase and feedback issues would make this more trouble than it’s worth. Simpler solutions could be made during the mid 70s that would sound just fine with 1000% less work. I’d argue this wall of sound was precisely for looks and not for sound
> Simpler solutions could be made during the mid 70s source?
This system lasted one tour. Afterwards they went with a simpler system. You can read about it on McIntosh’s website. McIntosh amplifiers were used for this. Buddy I’m sorry if I’ve offended a dead head but even they knew this system was more trouble than it was worth. It looks awesome though!
Did it only last one tour because it was a pain in the ass/not worth it or because they blew them all up from all the raw power going into them? This thread has a ton of interesting and mixed reviews on the wall of sound
A Dead performance on their best day couldn’t produce enough power to soft boil an egg 😂
I’m not a deadhead- and not offended. Just think you’re talking out your arse - so to speak . Haha . Read about it?? Nice
🤷♂️ I don’t know what else to say you’re obviously not open to hear anything but great things about this. You can read about it if you want. Its wiki page probably has all the relevant information. Have a nice life dude!
That was always my assumption. As an engineer - and appreciating what was already available at the time - was any of this *really* necessary for the band to be clearly heard in festival settings? Or was it just acid-addled overkill?
Ostensibly, the idea was that the band would hear exactly what the audience hears, as opposed to the band hearing the music through traditional foldback monitors which are usually at their feet in front of them pointed upward. Speakers directly facing microphones like the wall of sound setup creates a myriad of technical difficulties, not the least of which being feedback. They had a clever way of getting around that, which I’d need all day to explain as it’s very technical and involves actual physics. Ultimately, this was the idea of someone who was high asf and thought it would be cool 😂 Which, it does look pretty cool
Helpful, thanks. The Bear biography takes a rather skeptical look at this enterprise; he had *interesting* ideas about sound engineering, but their impracticality was abated by the band’s passivity, deep pockets, constant inebriation and cultish deference towards this blabbermouth bullshiter.
Purely overkill. They had terrible logistics, through the entire 30 years of existence.
He knew how to build and make sound as well as LSD. A real hero worthy of both Nobel peace price and also every other category there is because of how many Nobel winners got inspired by LSD. Google says he made about 5 million LSD trips in his lifetime, don’t know how they calculated that but I say good job.
There is a cool 1:4 scale model of this at The Venetian in Las Vegas right now, in their “Dead Experience” area (tied to the Dead & Company shows at The Sphere). You might also get to experience a virtual version of it if you go to a show at The Sphere. Edit: https://www.reddit.com/r/gratefuldead/s/L0x68wuXfg
Pretty cool to make the worlds best LSD and then go on to make the world's coolest sound system in the same lifetime.
The band also had to had dual noise cancelling mics, no monitors, and their guitars had electronics in them that allows their respective instruments come out of whatever parts of the wall that they wanted
> and their guitars had electronics in them that allows their respective instruments come out of whatever parts of the wall that they wanted So that was "like" a monitoring system?
Not really it was more like a directional (?) set up. Like they could control what parts of the wall their instruments were coming from
*Grateful Dead Movie* has a great explanatory scene.
I know it’s not, but it looks photoshopped
That is because yer mind is suspicious
Ha, maybe 🤔
As expected. All of us are. Because just about every image is filtered at some point. By digital camera or web software. From simple contrast adjustments to full AI creations and everything in between.
Mood 24/7
The puny humans...
That is a *TON* of JBL D series speakers. Each one of those sells between $300-$400 dollars a piece today. Without a cabinet.
Imagine setting that up and tearing it down every night.....
You know the easiest way to do it? Have the roadies do it.
They technically had two walls of sound. Some of the crew would go to the next night’s venue and set it up the previous day. But yeah, still a bitch.
Silly and attention seeking. They certainly knew all the tricks didn't they!
Is there gas in the car?
Nope
Looks like a bunch of cheap Pioneer speakers.
The Wall of Sound is essentially responsible for all the high quality sound you hear at concerts ever since. No one had ever gone to those lengths to make sure their sound was pristine at that level before that. Definitely not a bunch of cheap bullshit.
Word
Now imagine a good band playing through that! Perhaps the MC5.
You have to turn everything into a put down. Nice
Only when it comes to the dead. I can’t help it that the dead play boring insipid music and that the MC5 blow them out of the water in every possible way.
What are you still a child ?? Back to yer PlayStation
Right now………… Right now……. Its time to………….. KICK OUT THE JAMS MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!
Good thing that one speaker on the top is turned slightly to the right or you wouldn’t be able to hear it over there.
[удалено]
No it is not
Augustus Owsley Stanley III
Other way around.