Best recordings of Grateful Dead "Wall of Sound"?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by rogertheshrubber, Mar 17, 2010.

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  1. tedhead

    tedhead Forum Resident

    Location:
    Space City
    Did anyone get to experience the quad setup of the Wall of Sound? If possible, could you compare it with, say, Pink Floyd's quad setup?
     
  2. jacksondownunda

    jacksondownunda Forum Resident

    I haven't heard of a quad version of the whole WOS, but I have heard that Phil could make his quad bass come out of different sets of speakers at will. (There were delay towers at Watkins Glen, but that was sound re-inforcement at a distance).

    I did hear both WOS and Pink Floyd's quad in the day and they were apples and oranges (pardon the pun). The strength of the WOS was that the sound eminated from the middle of the stage outward (so there was no time smear from a stereo set of speakers on opposite sides of the stage), but the HUGE difference was that the huge vibrating plate of speakers MOVED the air as a whole; you were immersed in it like an aquarium or breeze and they could get the effect with the volume set at 2 1/2 (virtually distortionless).
    PF on the other hand had stage speakers plus others around the back of the hall so they could bounce their sound effects around. I recall their sound was pretty clear, but still with the harshness of something cranked way up.
     
  3. JimSmiley

    JimSmiley Team Blue Note

    WOS or WAF?
     

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  4. tedhead

    tedhead Forum Resident

    Location:
    Space City
    I gotcha. I seem to remember an old interview with Garcia and he said "Well, the guy in Pink Floyd just sorta spins it around..." when comparing Floyd's to Dan Healy's live mixes. That sounds fascinating. I could've sworn I read that there were trippy effects sent out to the tower speakers as well, but funny enough the Dead's book on their sound system doesn't really talk as much about the WOS as one would think.
     
  5. jhw59

    jhw59 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Rehoboth Beach DE.
    yeah, but he did answer emails like mine. We had quite a back and forth years ago about one of the DPs. Did I save this exchange? No:realmad:
     
  6. JA Fant

    JA Fant Well-Known Member

    Dick's Picks 12 & 31.
     
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