ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the technologies of sound amplification, paying particular attention to their application in educational settings, where public, group, and private monitoring of music need to be accommodated. It focuses on sound systems for public performance and covers the details of wireless audio connection. Sound system setup and operation are skillful and performative acts that require technical and musical judgment. In educational settings, all students may find it useful to become competent at these skills, skills that some students will go on to master. Sound systems may be used in educational settings in many forms and contexts, from personal listening using headphones or in sound studios, to small playback systems or headphone distribution for group collaborations, to live sound reinforcement for public performances. Components of sound systems are increasingly integrated; the choices are expanding and the line between analog and digital components is blurring.
