Dead Sound

I saw the Grateful Dead eight times between 1970 and 1992 and one thing was common to all their concerts – they had great sound systems. It was possible, sitting near the back of an arena like Copps Coliseum, to distinguish the sound of individual drums, in stereo, and when Phil Lesh "dropped the bomb", you could feel it in your gut.

It's not well known outside of the sound reinforcement industry, but the Dead were responsible for many of the amplification techniques that we now take for granted – mixing hall sound in stereo, analyzing hall sound to tune the mix, using phase cancellation microphones, using the PA instead of the bands amplifiers for instrumental sound, and more.

CBS has an audio documentary about the sound of the Dead with an accompanying article.

"I mean very early on they got a reputation for having the best sound of any band that was out there touring," Jackson said. "A lot of the other sound engineers copied what they were doing or talked to them about what they were doing and how they were able to isolate instruments, and how they were able to combine instruments in interesting ways in the PA, and give a faithful reproduction of what was actually being played."

The Dead's innovation culminated in the Wall of Sound: more than 600 speakers, 40 feet high and 70 feet wide across the stage.

McNally said it could create perfectly acceptable sound at a quarter mile away.

Unfortunately, I never saw the Dead while they were touring with it. I have heard audience recordings from that period that sound better than some soundboards, so I will attest to its quality.