A (Brief) History of Sound Reinforcement

I’ve had to teach about live sound in so many ways to various audiences over the years. I have always felt that an understanding, however cursory, of the past and development of the tools we currently have is key in understanding how and why we use them. Like graphic design and desktop publishing (a field that I spent many years also working in), there is a lot of terms and jargon from decades of development, and being able to cut through that can really help students and early career sound engineers keep it all straight.

Here is an excellent video that does a great job summarizing the development of the PA system (shared with me by NVCC’s technical director Bill Cone). It’s 30 minutes long and covers a few thousand years in a delightful accent, so it’s a good return on your time investment!

Cheers!
-brian