# The Grateful Dead's Wall of Sound (second largest) question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [March 5, 2023, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grateful-deads-wall-of-sound-second-largest-question/980741 "2023-03-05T02:22:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2025, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grateful-deads-wall-of-sound-second-largest-question/980741/21 "2025-07-05T20:59:43Z")
There’s a new book entirely about the Wall of Sound: _[Loud and Clear: The Grateful Dead’s Wall of Sound and the Quest for Audio Perfection](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1250319676/)_ There’s a fairly lengthy sample from the book there. There’s also an interview with the author here: > **[Loud and Clear: A New Look at The Grateful Dead’s Epic Wall of Sound](https://relix.com/articles/detail/loud-and-clear-a-new-look-at-the-grateful-deads-epic-wall-of-sound/?utm_source=relix-daily&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=weekly-encore-your-must-read-setlist&_bhlid=66fb3f7ac3b06b92001fb0435a2421416ac17883)** > > photo: Richie Pechner/rpechner.com \*\*\* On March 23, 1974, the Grateful Dead performed a one-off gig at the famed Cow Palace just outside San Francisco, ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2025, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grateful-deads-wall-of-sound-second-largest-question/980741/22 "2025-07-05T23:36:45Z")
Imagine the damage that thing could do if you played something heavier than the Dead through it. Einstruzende Neubaten comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2025, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grateful-deads-wall-of-sound-second-largest-question/980741/23 "2025-07-06T04:14:49Z")
Interesting article. Thank you for posting this. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2025, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grateful-deads-wall-of-sound-second-largest-question/980741/24 "2025-07-06T18:32:57Z")
I believe that I’ve read that the bass guitar sound was split into 4 different channels, each with its own stack of amps, as though each string had its own stack. I’m not a sound engineer, all hail Bear Stanley! ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2025, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grateful-deads-wall-of-sound-second-largest-question/980741/25 "2025-07-06T18:39:01Z")
> [@Johnny\_Q](#): > > Imagine the damage that thing could do if you played something heavier than the Dead through it. And what if they turned it up to eleven?! ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2025, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grateful-deads-wall-of-sound-second-largest-question/980741/26 "2025-07-07T05:25:03Z")
The interview linked above has a quote from Dennis McNally, the Grateful Dead’s former publicist: > “There is a standard joke in rock-and-roll about turning an amp up to 11, given that all amp dials are calibrated to 10. With the Wall, there was so much power available that the musicians generally turned things up to 2.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grateful-deads-wall-of-sound-second-largest-question/980741.md?page=1)