| Woodstock
'69: Sound by Hanley |
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| Bill's
recording of a personal favorite
dance band (2008) |
| "One of the
most important people in rock and roll" - Esquire |
| "Hanley taught
the industry what a sound man is." - David Scheirman, JBL |
| "He's
the father of festival sound" -
Woodstock Producer Mike Lang |
| "The distance
between insanity and genius is measured only by success." -
Elliot Carver |
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August 13:
Hanley Speaks on Woodstock '69
at Arlington's
Regent Theater
Sound Engineering Pioneer
Bill Hanley, a recipient of the Parnelli Award for Audio
Innovation, will speak on a panel, answering questions about the Woodstock
experience, from his choice
of the Festival site to planning, building and operating the custom-built
sound system designed for 200,000. |
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August 2009 |
Woodstock 40th Anniversary
Aug 15, 16, 17, 2009 |
George Wein's "Folk Festival
50"
August 1, 2, 2009 |
| Bill Hanley designed, built and operated
the Woodstock sound system.
Here's the story... |
Bill Hanley began
mixing sound for the Newport Connecticut Folk and Jazz Festivals
In 1957 (...more) |
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As
Chief Sound Engineer for George Wein's Newport
Jazz and Folk Festivals, The Fillmore East, Woodstock,
and The Bitter End, and in his innumerable other projects, Bill
Hanley has always been committed to making a better world through
sound.
In an era when concert promoters
didn't care about sonic fidelity, Bill revolutionized live sound.
He's credited with many innovations, particularly in the outdoor
"festival" sound industry. These include the modern wedge
monitor and the multicore "snake" connecting stages to
consoles. He continues to work in the sound and stage industry
with his brother Terry and son Joe. Bill lives in Massachusetts
with his wife, Rhoda.
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| The Beatles Tour: Altec
210's |
Hanley Brothers w/modified "Rebels" |
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Artists
The Band, Joan Baez, The Beatles,
The Beach Boys, Blood, Sweat & Tears, James Brown, Buffalo
Springfield, Joe Cocker, Miles Davis,
Bob Dylan, Duke Ellington, Connie
Francis, Country Joe MacDonald, Taj Mahal, Dizzie Gillespie
The Grateful Dead, Arlo Guthrie, Richie Havens, Hendrix, Jefferson
Airplane, Janis Joplin , Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Peter. Paul, & Mary, Andy
Pratt, Rolling Stones, Melanie, Andy Pratt, Ravi Shankar, John
Sebastian, Santana, Barbra Streisand, Lawrence Welk, The Who, Johnny
and Edgar Winter, Neil Young . . . |

Bill at the Audio
Engineering Society's 125th convention in New York, 2008
photo: Freeman
Z |
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Looking for Terry
Hanley Audio Systems ? |
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Elmore Magazine Interview: Bill Hanley |
"Woodstock:
40 Years After"
Elmore magazine
retells Woodstock using new interviews with
sound engineer Bill Hanley, plus Richie Havens, Jorma Kaukonen, Michael
Lang and... (Buy
it!) |
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When you’re starting
something on this scale,
the critical thing
is the people.
- Woodstock Producer Michael Lang (Elmore) |
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- About Bill -
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- Audio History -
Links Page |
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Joe Hanley

Joe Hanley prepares one of Hanley
Audio's forty foot tall trailer-mounted hydraulic speaker towers
for transit to a half-million dollar fund-raising festival. New Yorkers
might recognize these from their role in the Metropolitan Opera's
acoustic arsenal. You can see them in place on the job here. |
Bill's son Joe Hanley
is a pro sound engineer and a certified crane operator. He runs his
own small business and works with his father and his uncle Terry
Hanley, providing sound and stage services in New England. |
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Letters |
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From South Africa
I'm a Woodstock Sound Crew Veteran. I would like to let
BILL HANLEY know how much this country really owes him. There is something
I would love to tell Bill & all the crew from Hanley Sound, (Billy,
Scott, Sam, David, John etc. and Chip
Monck.
You all had an unintentional subliminal hand in the struggle
against apartheid - you also started the 'sound and music PA industry'
in Africa...see how the Woodstock Philosophy lives on in our President
Nelson Mandela - despite the disasters in this country "people are
feeding each other..." is this "heaven man!!...?" Not
quite!... we're still trying.
I am still actively involved (at 53) producing music
and festivals in South Africa, partly due to my Woodstock experience.
I am currently producing a series of re-issue tapes & records and
a book project through my company 3rd
Ear Music (est 1969) titled: THE HIDDEN YEARS.
I also want to contact JOHN BRODIE. (He's got my Woodstock
negatives.) and DAVE FREEZE. (I used his camera.)
-DAVID MARKS Durban. kwaZuluNatal, Rep of South Africa.
(letter edited)
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Woodstock Sound Team Member David Marks,
with photographer Tony Campbell, devised the Free People's concerts that
became regular festivals on South African campuses in the 1970s.
The first Free People's concert was on the beach in Durban and they had
to find ways of circumventing the laws against mixed bands. "This
was a Nusas/Third Ear Music concert. I remember seeing a newspaper banner
with the headline: 'white boy leads Zulu warriors', which referred to
Johnny Clegg and Sipho Mchunu's band and dance group, WaMadlebe."
It was a time when many musicians were
hounded by the security establishment and Marks says they tended to target
white English-singing musicians more than Afrikaners, while large numbers
of talented black musicians, at that time, including Hugh Masekela (Grazin'
in the Grass,) went into exile.
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Where's Bill?

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Bill
continues to work in the sound and stage industry.
He can be found working in his
own metal shop improving his hydraulic stage
and roof system. |
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| Contact |
| All content ©2009
Freeman Z, except where noted. |