How We Got Loud
Live Sound Book
Archive
Archive
A growing research archive documenting the books that shaped our understanding of live sound — its history, technology, people, and culture. Click any row to view full details — then click a tag to find related books.
82
Total Entries
1958
Earliest Publication
4
Languages
106+
People Indexed
Research in Progress — This is not intended to be a final or complete record. It is a working framework built to collect, organize, and preserve information before it disappears. Information may be incomplete or contain inaccuracies. If you spot an error or have something to add, please reach out at HowWeGotLoud@gmail.com
Showing 54 entries
| Title | Author(s) | Publisher | Year | Category | Primary Focus | Geo | Era | Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Quality Sound Reproduction | James Moir | Chapman & Hall (London) | 1958 | Technical | Audio engineering / sound reproduction reference | UK | Late 1950s–early 1960s | English |
| Sound System Engineering | Don Davis; Carolyn Davis | Howard W. Sams (1st); Focal Press / Routledge (later eds.) | 1975 | Technical | System design / engineering reference | Global | General / timeless | English |
| Practical Guide for Concert Sound | Bob Heil | Melco Publishing (self-published, Marissa IL) | 1978 | Practitioner | System design / concert sound practice | US | Late 1970s–early 1980s | English |
| AES Anthology: Sound Reinforcement, Vol. 1 | Audio Engineering Society (ed.) | Audio Engineering Society | 1978 | Technical | Sound reinforcement engineering / AES papers | Global | Pre-1978 | English |
| AES Anthology: Loudspeakers, Vols. 1–4 | Audio Engineering Society (ed.) | Audio Engineering Society | 1978 | Technical | Loudspeaker engineering / AES papers | Global | Pre-1991 | English |
| Handbook for Sound Engineers | Glen Ballou (ed.) | Focal Press / Routledge | 1987 | Technical | Engineering reference encyclopedia | Global | General / timeless | English |
| Sound Reinforcement Handbook | Gary Davis; Ralph Jones | Yamaha / Hal Leonard | 1988 | Technical | System design / engineering reference | Global | General / timeless | English |
| Time Delay Spectrometry: An Anthology of the Works of Richard C. Heyser on Measurement, Analysis and Perception | John R. Prohs (ed.); Richard C. Heyser | Audio Engineering Society | 1988 | Technical | Acoustic measurement / TDS theory | Global | 1967–1987 | English |
| Concert Sound and Lighting Systems | John Vasey | Focal Press | 1989 | Practitioner | Touring production / system setup | Global | Late 1980s–1990s | English |
| Handbook of Sound System Design | John Eargle | Elar Publishing | 1989 | Technical | System design / engineering reference | Global | General / timeless | English |
| Woodstock: The Oral History | Joel Makower | Doubleday / State University of New York Press | 1989 | Memoir / Festival History | Festival history / oral history | US | 1969 | English |
| Audio Systems Design and Installation | Philip Giddings | Sams / Focal Press | 1990 | Technical | System installation / grounding / wiring | Global | General / timeless | English |
| Sound Reinforcement Engineering: Fundamentals and Practice | Wolfgang Ahnert; Frank Steffen | Focal Press / Routledge | 1993 | Technical | System design / engineering reference | Global | General / timeless | German (orig.) / English |
| Live Sound Reinforcement | Scott Hunter Stark | MixBooks / Thomson Course Technology | 1996 | Practitioner | System operation / engineering | Global | 1990s–2000s | English |
| AES Anthology: Sound Reinforcement, Vol. 2 | David L. Klepper (ed.) | Audio Engineering Society | 1996 | Technical | Sound reinforcement engineering / AES papers | Global | 1967–1996 | English |
| Concert Tour Production Management | John Vasey | Focal Press | 1997 | Practitioner | Touring production management | Global | 1990s | English |
| The Loudspeaker Handbook | John Eargle | Springer / Kluwer Academic | 1997 | Technical | Loudspeaker engineering / reference | Global | General / timeless | English |
| Das P.A. Handbuch | Frank Pieper; Gunther Carstensen | GC Carstensen Verlag | 1997 | Technical | System operation / PA engineering | Germany / German-speaking | General / timeless | German |
| Theatre Sound | John Leonard; Robert H. Ball | A&C Black / Routledge | 2001 | Historical | Theatrical sound design / history | UK / Global | General | English |
| Professional Sound Reinforcement Techniques: Tips and Tricks of a Concert Sound Engineer | Jim Yakabuski | ArtistPro / Hal Leonard | 2001 | Practitioner | Live mixing / touring practice | US / Global | 1990s–2000s | English |
| Roadie: A True Story (at Least the Parts I Remember) | Karl Kuenning | iUniverse (self-published) | 2001 | Memoir / Festival History | Roadie memoir / sound and lighting technician | US / Global | 1975–1979 | English |
| JBL Audio Engineering for Sound Reinforcement | John Eargle; Chris Foreman | Hal Leonard / JBL Professional | 2002 | Technical | System design / engineering reference | Global | General / timeless | English |
| Entertainment Rigging: A Practical Guide for Riggers, Designers, and Managers | Harry Donovan | H.M. Donovan (self-published, Seattle WA); ITI (2nd ed.) | 2002 | Practitioner | Concert rigging / arena production | US / Global | 1960s–2000s | English |
| If Bad Sound Were Fatal, Audio Would Be the Leading Cause of Death | Don Davis; Carolyn Davis | AuthorHouse | 2004 | Culture / Essays | Industry history / professional culture | US / Global | 1950s–2000s | English |
| Crank It Up: Live Sound Secrets of the Top Tour Engineers | Clive Young | Backbeat Books / Hal Leonard | 2004 | Memoir / Festival History | FOH and monitor engineer interviews / touring practice | US / Global | 1990s–2000s | English |
| Searching for the Sound: My Life with the Grateful Dead | Phil Lesh | Little, Brown / Back Bay Books | 2005 | Memoir / Festival History | Band memoir / sound history | US | 1965–2004 | English |
| Grateful Dead Gear: The Band's Instruments, Sound Systems and Recording Sessions From 1965 to 1995 | Blair Jackson | Backbeat Books / Hal Leonard | 2006 | Historical | Band history / sound system history / equipment | US | 1965–1995 | English |
| Sound Systems: Design and Optimization | Bob McCarthy | Focal Press / Routledge | 2007 | Technical | System design / alignment | Global | 1990s–present | English |
| The Ultimate Live Sound Operator's Handbook | Bill Gibson | Hal Leonard / Rowman & Littlefield | 2007 | Practitioner | System operation / live mixing | Global | 2000s–2020s | English |
| Guide pratique de la sonorisation: Concert, spectacle, conférence | Lionel Haidant | Dunod | 2007 | Practitioner | System operation / concert sound | France / French-speaking | 2000s–present | French |
| This Business of Concert Promotion and Touring | Ray D. Waddell; Richard D. Barnet; Jake Berry | Billboard Books / Watson-Guptill | 2007 | Historical | Concert promotion / touring business / industry infrastructure | US / Global | Contemporary | English |
| The Sound of Theatre: A History | David Collison | Plasa Media | 2008 | Historical | Theatrical sound history | UK / Global | Ancient Greece–2000s | English |
| The Designs of Abe Jacob | Richard K. Thomas | United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) | 2008 | Historical | Figure biography / theatrical sound design history | US | 1960s–2000s | English |
| The Road to Woodstock | Michael Lang; Holly George-Warren | Ecco / HarperCollins | 2009 | Memoir / Festival History | Festival history / promoter memoir | US | 1960s–1969 | English |
| The Live Music Business: Management and Production of Concerts and Festivals | Andy Reynolds | Routledge | 2009 | Practitioner | Touring production / industry infrastructure | UK / Global | Contemporary | English |
| Live Audio: The Art of Mixing a Show | Dave Swallow | Focal Press | 2011 | Practitioner | Live mixing / touring practice | Global | 2000s–2010s | English |
| A Perfect Haze: The Illustrated History of the Monterey International Pop Festival | Harvey Kubernik; Kenneth Kubernik | Santa Monica Press | 2011 | Historical | Festival history / production history | US | 1967 | English |
| Basic Live Sound Reinforcement: A Practical Guide for Starting Live Audio | Raven Biederman; Penny Prentice | Focal Press | 2013 | Practitioner | Entry-level system operation | Global | 2010s | English |
| The Co-Evolution of Improvised Rock and Live Sound: The Grateful Dead, Phish, and Jambands | Nick Reeder | Brown University | 2014 | Academic | Live sound history / jamband culture | US | 1965–present | English |
| The SOS Guide to Live Sound | Paul White | Focal Press / Sound On Sound | 2015 | Practitioner | System setup / live mixing | Global | 2010s | English |
| Bear: The Life and Times of Augustus Owsley Stanley III | Robert Greenfield | Thomas Dunne Books / St. Martin's Press | 2016 | Memoir / Festival History | Figure biography / sound history | US | 1935–2011 | English |
| Bruce Jackson: On the Road with Elvis | Gary Jackson | Self-published / FTD reissue | 2018 | Historical | Figure biography / company history | Australia / US | 1960s–1980s | English |
| A New History of Rock Music: Documenting Live Sound between 1967 and 1973 | Sergio Pisfil | University of Edinburgh | 2019 | Academic | Live sound history / industry | US / UK | 1967–1973 | English |
| Surviving the Hot Seat: The Guide to Mixing Monitors for Touring Bands | Michael Babcock; Gary Brunclik | Self-published (Michael Babcock) | 2019 | Practitioner | Monitor engineering / touring | US / Global | 2010s–2020s | English |
| The Last Seat in the House: The Story of Hanley Sound | John Kane | University Press of Mississippi | 2020 | Historical | Company history / figure biography | US | 1950s–1970s | English |
| The Development of Large Rock Sound Systems, Vol. 1 | Chris Hewitt | Ozit Dandelion | 2020 | Historical | System history / company history | UK | Late 1960s–1970s | English |
| Researching Live Music: Gigs, Tours, Concerts and Festivals | Chris Anderton; Sergio Pisfil (eds.) | Routledge | 2021 | Academic | Live music studies / production / industry | Global | 1960s–present | English |
| The Development of Large Rock Sound Systems, Vol. 2 | Chris Hewitt | Ozit Dandelion | 2022 | Historical | System history / company history | UK | Early 1970s | English |
| Diary of a Rock and Roll Tour Manager: 2,190 Days and Nights with the South's Premier Rock Band | Willie Perkins | Mercer University Press | 2022 | Memoir / Festival History | Tour manager memoir / touring history | US | 1970–1976 | English |
| Live Music in America: A History from Jenny Lind to Beyoncé | Steve Waksman | Oxford University Press | 2022 | Historical | Live music industry history / production history | US | 1850–2018 | English |
| The Development of Large Rock Sound Systems, Vol. 3 | Chris Hewitt | Ozit Dandelion | 2023 | Historical | System history / company history | UK | 1973–1977 | English |
| The Road Crew: Live Music and Touring | Gabrielle Kielich | Routledge | 2023 | Academic | Touring labor / road crew culture | Global | Contemporary | English |
| The Development of Large Rock Sound Systems, Vol. 4 | Chris Hewitt | Ozit Dandelion | 2024 | Historical | System history / company history | UK | Mid-to-late 1970s | English |
| Loud and Clear: The Grateful Dead's Wall of Sound and the Quest for Audio Perfection | Brian Anderson | Flatiron Books | 2025 | Historical | System history / company history | US | 1965–1974 (influence to present) | English |
Showing 23 entries
| Title | Author(s) | Publisher | Year | Category | Primary Subject | In Print |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All You Need to Know About the Music Business | Donald Passman | Simon & Schuster | 1991 | Music business | Music industry / touring business / artist contracts | Yes |
| Bill Graham Presents: My Life Inside Rock and Out | Bill Graham; Robert Greenfield | Doubleday / Da Capo Press | 1992 | Promoter memoir | Concert promotion / Fillmore / rock touring history | Yes |
| The Stage Management Handbook | Daniel Ionazzi | Betterway Books | 1992 | Stage management | Production coordination / live events | Limited |
| Concert Lighting: Techniques, Art and Business | James L. Moody; Paul Dexter | Focal Press | 1994 | Practitioner / history | Concert lighting design / touring production | Yes |
| The Backstage Handbook: An Illustrated Almanac of Technical Information | Paul Carter; George Chiang | Broadway Press | 1994 | Reference almanac | Stagecraft / technical reference for live events | Yes |
| Message to Love: The Isle of Wight Festival 1968, 1969, 1970 | Brian Hinton | Castle Communications / Music Sales | 1995 | Festival history | Isle of Wight Festivals / British rock festival history | Limited |
| Stage Lighting Design: The Art, the Craft, the Life | Richard Pilbrow | By Design Press / Nick Hern Books | 1997 | Lighting design memoir / reference | Concert and theatrical lighting design / history | Yes |
| Home Before Daylight: My Life on the Road with the Grateful Dead | Steve Parish; Joe Layden | St. Martin's Press | 2003 | Roadie / crew memoir | Grateful Dead road crew | Yes |
| Myself Among Others: A Life in Music | George Wein; Nate Chinen | Da Capo Press | 2003 | Promoter memoir | Jazz/folk festival promotion / Newport Jazz Festival / Newport Folk Festival | Yes |
| The Automated Lighting Programmer's Handbook | Brad Schiller | Focal Press / Routledge | 2004 | Practitioner / lighting | Automated lighting programming / concert production | Yes |
| No Saints, No Saviors: My Years with the Allman Brothers Band | Willie Perkins | Mercer University Press | 2005 | Tour manager memoir | Southern rock touring / production / 1970s | Yes |
| Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles | Geoff Emerick; Howard Massey | Gotham Books | 2006 | Studio memoir | Studio recording / Beatles | Yes |
| Electricity for the Entertainment Electrician and Technician | Richard Cadena | Focal Press | 2009 | Practitioner / electrical | Electrical systems for live events | Yes |
| Roadie: My Life on the Road with Coldplay | Matt McGinn | Transworld / Bantam | 2010 | Roadie memoir | Rock touring crew / 2000s–2010s | Yes |
| Sound: A Reader in Theatre Practice | Ross Brown | Palgrave Macmillan | 2010 | Academic / theatrical sound | Theatre sound design / history / theory | Yes |
| Sound Man: A Life Recording Hits with The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, the Eagles, Eric Clapton, the Faces | Glyn Johns | Blue Rider Press / Penguin | 2014 | Studio memoir | Studio recording / production | Yes |
| Out on the Streets: The True Tales of Life on the Road with the Hottest Band in the Land — KISS! | JR Smalling; Peter Oreckinto; Rick Munroe; Mick Campise | Self-published (Lulu Press) | 2014 | Road crew memoir | KISS road crew / 1970s touring production | Limited |
| Stealing Dylan from Woodstock / The Last Great Event (2 vols.) | Ray Foulk | Medina Publishing | 2015 | Festival history / promoter memoir | Isle of Wight Festivals 1969–1970 / WEM sound systems | Yes |
| Media Design and Technology for Live Entertainment | Davin E. Gaddy | Routledge | 2018 | Practitioner / video | Video design / live entertainment technology | Yes |
| Memoir of a Roadie | Joel A. Miller | Albion Entertainment | 2020 | Roadie memoir | Rock touring crew / 1990s–2000s | Yes |
| Introduction to Show Networking | John Huntington | Zircon Designs Press | 2020 | Technical / networking | Show networking / AV over IP / live events | Yes |
| Live Aid: The Definitive 40 Year Story | Paul Vallely | Simon & Schuster UK | 2025 | Promoter / event history | Live Aid / Band Aid / Live 8 / concert promotion | Yes |
| Chip Monck: [Untitled — in development] | Chip Monck; [writer TBD] | [Publisher TBD] | TBD | Production / staging memoir | Concert staging / lighting / Woodstock / Fillmore | No |
Showing 5 entries
| Title | Author(s) | Publisher | Year | Category | Primary Subject | In Print |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Master Handbook of Acoustics | F. Alton Everest; Ken C. Pohlmann | McGraw-Hill / Tab Books | 1981 | Acoustics reference | Architectural acoustics / room acoustics fundamentals | Yes |
| Audio in Media | Stanley R. Alten | Cengage Learning / Wadsworth | 1981 | Audio production / textbook | Broadcast audio / production / general audio | Yes |
| The Audio Expert: Everything You Need to Know About Audio | Ethan Winer | Focal Press / Routledge | 2012 | Audio science / reference | Audio science fundamentals / acoustics / psychoacoustics | Yes |
| The Sound Book: The Science of the Sonic Wonders of the World | Trevor Cox | W. W. Norton | 2014 | Popular science / acoustics | Acoustic phenomena / room acoustics / sonic curiosities | Yes |
| Sound System Design Primer | Josh Loar | Focal Press / Routledge | 2017 | Technical / primer | Sound system design fundamentals | Yes |