Help rebuild The Wall of Sound!

Le Petit Mur De Son is dedicated to rebuilding the Grateful Dead's legendary Wall of Sound from 1974. The intent of this series of projects is to preserve The Walls place in history and allow people to experience what so few were able to! Each in this series of walls will be increasing in size until the full scale wall is completed. Currently the 1/2 scale wall is underway and will be100% functional as the original. The goal at completion it to make the wall available to venues and musicians so that music fans can experience The Wall of Sound as they would have nearly 50 years ago. If fundraising is successful I expect a late spring/early summer completion of the half scale wall. In doing so I expect the interest to peak and for a plan to take shape for the final phase of the project.

I am a luthier and in addition to guitars I make speaker cabinets professionally. As a lifelong Deadhead, The Wall of Sound has always struck me as a part of history that should be preserved and enjoyed by future generations. I started this project 6 months ago in miniature form creating the 1/6 scale Wall of Sound. The progress was documented and shared via social media and the interest in the project grew rapidly with over 750,000 people having seen content from the original projects. In the spring of 2021 it was featured on the front page of The Wall Street Journal. Various publications, websites, podcasts and radio shows have done interviews about the project. Those include Fretboard Journal, Liveforlivemusic.com, Tales From the Golden Road, Dean Delray and others.

What started as a side project to gauge interest in rebuilding The Wall of Sound has quickly evolved into a full fledged plan to accomplish the project in stages. Unfortunately, each larger scale increases in size and cost exponentially. It is no longer feasible to finance these projects alone. To this point the projects have been self financed with the help of a few private collector sales and a LOT of volunteer hours logged by many people. If we are to see this project through to completion I will need your help!

Stage 1: (Completed) 1/6 scale wall focused solely on aesthetics while still playing stereo recordings. Looking back at this first phase I am amazed at how much the project has evolved in such a short time.

Stage 2: (Completed) 1/4 scale wall that supports multi-track playback, stereo playback and live performance. This version is powerful enough for small clubs and functions as a hybrid wall. It demonstrates the features of the original Wall of Sound while remaining flexible in it's use. The ideal use was demonstrated at Garcia's at the Capitol Theatre where we played recorded music through the wall prior to Phil Lesh playing the main stage. Then we switched to a direct feed from the soundboard and broadcast the live performance. The 1/4 scale wall measures roughly 14' wide by 10' tall and handles well upwards of 6,000 watts through 8 channels. One of these walls raised $100k for Headcount.org, a voter registration non-profit. A second was sold to a private collector and a third was retained for private events, fundraising for future projects, exhibits etc.

Stage 3: Now on to the 1/2 scale wall which will again be a hybrid wall allowing for even more control. It ill be geared towards performance with the ability to play multi-tracks as well. It will measure roughly 17' tall by 30' wide and have a minimum of 16 separate amplified and controlled speaker arrays that will give musicians similar control over their own sound as the original wall. Total power will exceed 20k watts.

Stage 4: Rebuild the full scale wall as a permanent installation to serve as both a functioning venue and a museum of sorts. The full scale wall will measure 30+ feet tall x 50+ft wide. It will not fit your typical music venue. Let’s cross that bridge when we get there!

Q: How will my donation be used?

A: All funds will be used for the current phase 3 of the project. Roughly 600 speakers, 150+ speaker cabinets, amplifiers, cabling, mixers, mics, scaffolding, rigging, storage units, testing facilities, lighting etc. Many have donated time and resources to this project and vendors have graciously extended significant price reductions to be involved. That said, there is a lot of work to do and this is a full time endeavor for myself and one other craftsman. A fair wage is accounted for as well as labor from various sources where outside help is required. ****CONSTANT UPDATES ON THE PROJECT WILL DEMONSTRATE WHERE YOUR DONATION IS BEING USED**** Any excess contributions will be allotted to phase 4 of the project.

Q: How will I be able to see the completed project?

A: It is my hope that the project will be financed solely through donations and my own contributions. If I am successful I would like to organize a residency program of sorts where a venue can have The Wall for several months at a more reasonable cost. This would allow for the wall to be displayed and accessibly to people in different areas.

Q: Is there any way I can help beyond financial contributions?

A: There will be volunteer opportunities along the way. I will share needs as they arise. If you have a venue or individual that would be interested in hosting or commissioning a 1/4 or 1/2 scale wall send them my way. These private sales have allowed me to continue this and will be necessary to keep things going through full scale.

With help from everyone following this project we can rebuild The Wall of Sound!

Follow along on various social media platforms for updates on every step of the project.

***Donations to the project are not tax deductable***

This project can be followed on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Le-Petit-Mur-De-Son-Mini-Wall-of-Sound-166744631760798

or on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/mini_wall_of_sound/