Don Pearson
1942–2006 · Co-founder, Ultra Sound; technical educator, Meyer Sound
Major contribution
Don Pearson connected touring-system practice with live experimentation and education through Ultra Sound and Meyer Sound.
Don Pearson co-founded Ultra Sound with Howard Danchik in 1978. The company became the Grateful Dead’s long-serving sound supplier, and Pearson’s work brought him into close collaboration with John and Helen Meyer.
Pearson helped secure opportunities to test new sound-system ideas during actual performances, mediating between Meyer and the band’s engineering team. In 2004 he left the road to teach technical seminars for Meyer Sound; the company named its Pearson Theatre in his memory in 2006.
Key work
- Ultra Sound founding (1978)
- Meyer Sound customer and research collaboration (from 1979)
- Meyer Sound technical seminars (from 2004)
- Pearson Theatre memorial (2006)