At the start of the pandemic, when everything was shut down and everyone was locked inside, Connecticut luthier Anthony Coscia began building a scale model of the Grateful Dead‘s revolutionary Wall of Sound. The model used speakers from cell phones, alarm clocks, and other small electronics to accurately recreate the beast of a sound system, which accompanied the Dead on the road through most of the year 1974.
After building a fully functional Wall of Sound at a scale of one-sixth the size of the original, Coscia donated the model to HeadCount, which used it to raise $100,000 from an anonymous donor. Coscia subsequently built a one-quarter scale model, and now has completed the largest Wall of Sound recreation yet at one-half the size of the original. The latest model recently underwent its first tests with a full band, and its creator is now seeking a permanent home for the high-fidelity sound system.
The half-scale Wall of Sound is currently housed in a space donated by SpreadMusicNow at Granite Church in Redding, CT, which Coscia says is far too small a room for the system. “For perspective, the half scale wall in its current location is like putting a full scale wall in a small theatre,” he wrote in a Facebook post following one of the first tests of the system, “so needless to say it was loud but surprisingly clear and clean.”
Related: Anthony Coscia Recreates A Grateful Dead Legend With Mini Wall Of Sound Project [Interview]
Despite its small size, the church has proven suitable for testing purposes. Coscia has welcomed a couple groups of musicians to play through it, including the self-proclaimed “world’s worst-named Grateful Dead cover band,” The Spadtastics. The system was also tested using a replica of Mickey Hart‘s beam created and played by Eric Mitchell (though Mickey never actually played the beam through the original Wall of Sound).
Asked whether he would be taking the half-scale Wall of Sound on tour, Coscia said he was too old for such an undertaking. In a statement posted to social media, he announced that he would likely hold one or two larger public ticketed events to showcase the project between now and the spring, adding that they would have to take place somewhere other than the church due to a lack of facilities.
His ultimate goal, however, is to fund a full-scale recreation of the Wall of Sound by selling or renting out the half-scale model. He enumerated several different options for potential uses of the Wall that would contribute to that end:
1) Outright sale of the wall. The half scale wall is for sale! Ideally to a venue that seats between 1,000 and 3,000 people. It would be great to see a 1/2 scale wall in several metro areas to allow for a lot of regional acts to perform through it and for fans across the country to have reasonable access.
2) Sale to an organization who can tour with the wall.
3) Sale to a museum/venue.
4) Long term leases of the wall to venues willing to operate the wall for several months or more.
5) Privately organized and funded events/popups venue.
6) Public Auction.
Those with serious inquiries should contact Anthony Coscia directly, and those interested in supporting the project can donate to the GoFundMe.
Watch videos of the half-scale Wall of Sound tests below.
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The post Half-Scale Replica Of The Grateful Dead’s Wall Of Sound Completed & For Sale [Videos] appeared first on L4LM.
