Audio Pioneer And Talk Box Inventor Bob Heil, Dead At 83

BELLEVILLE, Ill (CelebrityAccess) — Robert Heil, the sound and radio engineer who helped to define the sound of Rock & Roll, and the inventor of the Heil Talk Box, died on February 28th after an illness. He was 83.

According to a statement from Heil’s company, Heil Ham Radio, he died after a “yearlong battle” with cancer.

A native of St. Louis, Heil developed an early interest in music and learned to play the organ. Heil began to perform on the instrument in local restaurants and by the time he was 15, he was the house player of the Wurlitzer theater organ in the Fox Theater in St. Louis.

In addition to performing on pipe organs, Heil became proficient at the arcane art of tuning the instruments and began designing and building pipe organs in the St. Louis area.

In 1966, Heil launched Heil Sound, designing and building microphones, audio equipment and custom touring gear for bands such as The Who and the Grateful Dead. He also created the now iconic Talk Box, which was used on Peter Frampton’s iconic live album Frampton Comes Alive!

In 1995, Heil was named the inaugural recipient of the Live Sound Pioneer Award by the Audio Engineering Society and was presented with the Parnelli Award for Innovator of the Year in 2007.

Along with his interest in music, Heil was an avid Amateur Radio enthusiast, with the call sign K9EID.

“My life has been about achieving great sound, whether on the concert stage or in the amateur radio world,” Bob Heil recounted in 2022. “I’ve watched Heil Sound go from a regional sound company to a world-class microphone manufacturer. This company has been my passion.”

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