Wall of Sound - Other References

Other References

The term "wall of sound" first appeared in print in the New York Times on 22 June 1884, in a description of Richard Wagner's redesigned Nibelungen Theater in Bayreuth, Germany, which placed the orchestra (for the first time, it seems) in a deep orchestra pit out of sight of the audience. (Previously, the orchestra had been placed in front of the stage, at the same level as the audience and in plain view).

"The mere sinking of the orchestra is, however, not the only innovation. Wagner leaves there, a space of eighteen feet wide, and extending the entire breadth of the stage (not merely of the proscenium) and extending up to the roof, perfectly free. He calls this the Mystic Space, because he intends that here the invisible 'wall of music,' proceeding from the invisible orchestra, shall separate the real (that is the audience) from the ideal (the stage pictures.) If we may so express ourselves, the audience will perceive the scenes through an invisible wall of sound."

The term became popularly used around 1955 to describe sound of the jazz orchestra led by Stan Kenton, with its booming trombone, trumpet and percussion sections.

The term "Wall of Sound" was also used to describe the enormous public address system designed by Owsley Stanley specifically for the Grateful Dead's live performances circa 1974. The Wall of Sound fulfilled the band's desire for a distortion-free sound system that could also serve as its own monitoring system.

Raymond Scott nicknamed the vast array of homemade sequencers and synthesizers that took up a wall of his studio the "wall of sound."

Bernie Taupin refers to the term explicitly in the Elton John hit song Bennie and the Jets in the line "We're gonna hear electric music/Solid walls of sound." It is unclear if this reference is for the term itself or just a line he conjured, but the context would support the former.