Dan Healy | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | (1945-05-16)May 16, 1945 (age 80) |
| Origin | Weott, California |
| Genres | Rock |
| Occupation | Audio engineer |
Dan Healy is anaudio engineer who often worked with the American rock band theGrateful Dead.[1][2] He succeededAlembic andOwsley "Bear" Stanley as the group's chief sound man after theWall Of Sound in 1974 and subsequent band hiatus through 1975. A favorite amongstDeadheads for many years, he helped to introduce a tapers section at Grateful Dead concert to allow audience recording of live concerts. Healy would often provide direct output from the soundboard for the tapers to directly patch into their recorders.
He was a pioneer in rocksound system innovation, and helped Bear along with Ron Wickersham of Alembic design the Dead's "Wall of Sound" concert sound system.[2] He also helped perfect the ultra-matrix soundboard setup which was used by the Dead from 1986 through 1990. The setup mixed together audience feed with the soundboard feed to create a more dynamic, realistic concert sound. Some fans and collectors of the band's live recordings deem this setup to be the band's best-sounding, and most practical.
Healy has also undertakenrecord production duties on occasion, such as when he produced the 1960sSan Franciscopsychedelic bandThe Charlatans' eponymousdebut album. He is listed as co-producer and engineer onMother Earth's debut albumLiving with the Animals (1968), and also produced albums for theSir Douglas Quintet,Harvey Mandel,Dr. John, andQuicksilver Messenger Service.[3] Healy was also the bass player for Hoffman's Bicycle (later Bycycle) that played the Bay Area for 18 months from the Summer of 1968.
