Wall of Sound is a music production technique for pop and rock music recordings developed by record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, during the early 1960s.
Working with such audio engineers as Larry Levine and the session musicians who became known as The Wrecking Crew, Spector created a dense, layered, reverberant sound that came across well on AM radio and jukeboxes popular in the era. He created this sound by having a number of electric and acoustic guitarists perform the same parts in unison, adding musical arrangements for large groups of musicians up to the size of orchestras, then recording the sound using an echo chamber. The Wall of Sound forms the foundation of Phil Spector’s recordings, in general. However, certain records are considered to have epitomized its use. The Ronettes’ version of “Sleigh Ride” used the effect heavily. Another prominent example of the Wall of Sound was “Da Doo Ron Ron” by The Crystals.
Spector himself is quoted as believing his production of Ike and Tina Turner’s “River Deep, Mountain High” to be the summit of his Wall of Sound productions, and this sentiment has been echoed by both George Harrison (who called it “a perfect record from start to finish.” and Brian Wilson.
Perhaps Phil Spector’s most infamous use of his production techniques was on the “Let It Be” album. Spector was brought in to salvage the incomplete “Let It Be”, an album practically abandoned by The Beatles, performances from which had already appeared in several bootleg versions when the sessions were still referred to as Get Back. His work resulted in the legitimately released album being what the LP cover called “the freshness of a live performance, reproduced for disc by Phil Spector.” “The Long and Winding Road”, “I Me Mine”, and “Across the Universe” are often singled out as those tracks receiving the greatest amount of post-production work.
Outside of Spector’s own songs, the most recognizable example of the “Wall of Sound” is heard on many classic hits recorded by The Beach Boys (e.g., “God Only Knows”, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” — and especially, the psychedelic “pocket symphony” of “Good Vibrations”), for which Brian Wilson used a similar recording technique, especially during the “Pet Sounds” and “Smile” eras of the band.
Source: Wikipedia
