Speaking from personal experience, furthering my understanding of tone has simultaneously been one of the most rewarding and frustrating experiences of my life. Below is an example of the Syd's Theme section of Shine on You Crazy Diamond from Pink Floyd's 1994 tour. Any delay with a 100% wet signal output can be set up in a parallel signal chain to do this. The notes fade in and out, like a pedal steel guitar. A little later he switched to the MXR Digital Delay. The Mode switch is in position 7, which is Head 3 + Head 4. 1st delay 470ms. You might be tempted to make it ear piercingly loud, but trust me on this, a little goes a long way, especially when playing with other people. Guitar stuff, gear stuff, soundclips, videos, Gilmour/Pink Floyd stuff, photos and other goodies. He set the time to 310ms for most everything. HOW DO I REPLICATE THAT SMOOTH GILMOUR DELAY SOUND? Any delay with a 100% wet signal output can be set up in a parallel signal chain to do this. solo (Pulse): 490ms, Astronomy Domine - Pulse version (MXR Digital Delay System II for solo) delay 2 time: 1100ms -- feedback: 1 repeat - delay level: 10% -- delay type: warm digital, Today - 2016/15 live version: Here are what the settings mean -. There are several parallel looper pedals that can be used for the actual "looping" part of the setup. outro: 340ms -- feedback: 3-4 repeats, Shine On You Crazy Diamond I-V (Binson Echorec): PDF David Gilmour Solo Tone Settings For "Time" Too much volume from the first delay will make a mess of double tapped delay sounds on the second, so be careful not to over do it. Then I have two regular Boss units (DD2) which I set so one works in a triplet and the other in a 4/4 time - they're actually set in time with each other, so they combine and make a nice sound. Echorec Style Delay Jamming - 428ms and 570ms. You can hear this in songs like One of These Days, Short and Sweet, Another Brick in the Wall Parts I and III, Run Like Hell, Blue Light, Give Blood, One Slip, Keep Talking, Take it Back, and Allons-Y. For example, when he played Time for Pink Floyd's 1994 tour he used a TC 2290 Digital Delay and the dual delays from a PCM 70 delay. Program Position 3 is equivalent to Switch Position 6 on the real Echorec, which is Head 3 + Head 2. A large part of that comes from Davids use of delay. This is also one of the few Gilmour solos that features a heavy reverb effect, so it does not sound the same with delay only. All these effects can be heard in most of Pink Floyds discography. When the IC chips became less expensive to manufacture Boss simply rebranded it as a new, lower priced version rather than lowering the price of the DD-2. These effects combined with Gilmours guitars, amps, and more importantly, his fingers, all add up to the legendary sound we love, and the signature sound that will send any 40+ year old into a state of ecstasy if it comes on the radio. How to Sound Like Pink Floyd: Amp Settings Guide David also had an MXR 113 Digital Delay System that could do that delay time. R channel -- 1400ms with two repeats. The slide parts were made up of several multi tracked recordings, each playing slightly different, but similar phrases. David used a Binson Echorec for his delay at the time DSOTM was recorded, but the Binson cannot create a delay as long as 440ms. Head 1 = 1/4. The repeats had a warm high end roll off, similar to David's Binson Echorecs. Blue Light Riff - with and without delay. Using two delays to simulate the multi head Echorec effect - 470ms and 352ms. Starting with the finer details of the setup's tone like amp EQ and drive pedal levels and EQ will help you hear everything much more clearly before adding all the delay and reverb. This pedal was a little easier to use than the Binson, and its the exact delay you can hear in The Wall. The mode should always be set at 800ms, unless you want a short slapback delay for something like the dry solo in Dogs. I used a Free the Tone Future Factory delay set for 300ms and long repeats. But fear not, if you want a semi-authentic Echorec experience, Catalinbread makes an Echorec pedal that sounds very close to the original. I believe that every music school should analyse Pink Floyds music, as theres so much to learn from it. Some are actually too high quality for my personal taste. third (dry) solo: simulate studio ADT with a 40-50-ms slapback delay -- feedback: 1 repeat Other than a few instances like that, reverb from David rig was not used and I do not recommend it. However, it is possible to play this one one guitar. Syd's theme: 375ms and 500ms It plays through first with the guitar and delay, then plays through again with just the left channel dry guitar, then again with the right channel, which is a multi tracked guitar, but delayed behind the left channel guitar. David would play a two note chord, then fade the volume in as he slides to the next position. He has a 2.2 second delay on the guitar so he can play over his repeats, building up layer upon layer of guitar repeats. Depending on your second delay EQ, you may need to experiment with the number of repeats and repeat volume. Try playing the Comfortably Numb solo with a 380ms delay with 4-6 repeats, versus a longer 540-600ms delay to hear the difference. Its also easier for live situations as changes can be made on the fly. It helps to have a delay with a digital display to set the exact delay time. Gilmour uses this type of delay setting on several songs in the Pink Floyd catalog, most famously in "Run Like Hell." Here is the tab for Another Brick In The Wall pt. In this clip I'm using Coming Back to Life as a reference with 700ms. - David often has a big, watery delay tone, as if he were playing in a large hall, but the actual audible echo repeats in his solos are almost absent in many cases. I am not talking about spring reverb from an amp. Give Blood The delay volume is often not very loud in the studio recordings, so in a full band context, the other instruments mask the repeats. Below are examples of a few ways to set up the type of parallel signal chain used in Gilmour's rigs. The first delay is set to 570ms, which is the 4/4 time, and the second is set to 428ms, which is the 3/4 time. On the left is my standard setting range for the early 1970s Gilmour Echorec sound. It is actually dotted-eighth-notes, or one eighth note followed by two sixteenth notes. - Most of the delay times David Gilmour used in the early 1970s with Pink Floyd were around 300ms long, since that was the approximate delay time of head 4 on the Binson Echorecs he was using at the time. Theyre so famous they sell for a very high price and are deemed a collectable for many. The delays are set in series like this: ..(later in song): 450ms -- feedback: 4-5 repeats -- delay level: 25% -- delay type: analog, Comfortably Numb - 1980-81 live version: For the muted rhythm part in Echoes, Program 3 is the closest, but almost any program position works as long as the delay time is set for 300-310ms. The third delay is probably in 3/4 time, but I can barely hear it. BKB Tube Driver, Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress, TC Nova delay. You could get some wonderful delay effects that aren't attainable on anything that's been made since. ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL PART I - This one is very similar to Run Like Hell, played in D, with a 450ms delay, around 7 repeats, with the repeat volume equal to the signal volume. Reverb was also added at the mixing desk when recording or mixing. Gilmour delay: '60s-'70s: Binson Echorec II. The Echorec was an old school mechanical delay that utilized a spinning drum disk wrapped in magnetic recording wire rather than magnetic tape. He came up with that basic riff that we all worked on and turned into One of these Days. Guitar stuff, gear stuff, soundclips, videos, Gilmour/Pink Floyd stuff, photos and other goodies. How to Nail Gilmour's "Comfortably Numb" Solo | Reverb News Its more modern than the MXR, but it sounds just as good. Head 2 = 150ms (or 75ms x 2)..Head 2 = 190ms (or 95ms x 2) Heavy reverb. David Gilmour was the guitarist for English rock band Pink Floyd. When using both the mono and stereo outputs together (each running to a separate amp) the DD-2 produces a very defined stereo field, with one channel being the dry signal only, and one being the delayed signal only. Below is a breakdown switching between the various tracks of all three solos. Adjust the tone to suit your amp/speaker tone. David primarily used the Binson Echorec delay/echo unit for his early work with Pink Floyd. It also stems from the fact that analog equipment is frequently much more expensive than it is worth. David usually sets his delays in time with the song tempo, which helps hide the echo repeats. All of the settings for this tone can be found in this PDF download below. Unless otherwise noted, all delay times are shown in quarter notes Money solo - studio version - multiple guitar tracks were recorded with different delay times (Binson Echorec 2 and Binson PE603): This is the primary delay time you hear in the song. When he played Shine on You Crazy Diamond in his 2015 live performances he used three delays to replicate the old Echorec sound, two Flight Time delays and an MXR Delay. When I'm recording I'll often set them in tempo to the track, so although they are just acting as an echo, the echo is rhythmic in away and has a triplet and the 4/4 beat in it. I'm not saying David sounds nothing like this live, but you are hearing the natural hall or stadium reverb of the venue in these recordings and in many cases, studio reverb added in the mixing stage. 650ms delay first, with 2 repeats, and 1400ms delay second with 1 repeat. He has a 2.2 second delay on the guitar so he can play over his repeats, building up layer upon layer of guitar repeats. For the wet 1st and 3rd solos from Money I use basically the same settings, but I dial the mix knob up a bit for the third section after the dry solo. The Boss LS-2 Line Selector, Xotic Effects X-Blender, Lehle Parallel, and Badger Schism are a few that do the job. 2nd delay 94ms. Some of the most used digital delays in his live rigs were the MXR 113 Digital Delay (1977-1986), the MXR 151 Digital Delay System II (1983-2016), the Boss DD-2 (1983-1986, 2006), the TC2290 Dynamic Digital Delay (1987-1994), and the Free The Tone Flight Time FT-1Y Digital Delay (2015-2017). But delay is not the only effect that Gilmour tends to use. If you are playing at home on your amp with delay, the delay sound will be much more apparent than when you are playing with a full band, where the delay repeats will blend in the band mix much better. The 4/4 delay can barely be heard on the studio recording and is really not necessary, but it is fun to experiment with two delays. If you want to use a noise gate put it right before the delay/reverb. David and Roger Waters each had one of these amps but I think the only other recorded example of it being used was for the BBC performance of Embryo in 1968. The fill patterns played in the verse section sound dry, with almost no delay. Warm for an anlog delay usually refers to the high end roll-off decay, and warm for a digital delay usually means the repeats are not brighter or harsher than the original guitar signal, but are the same or have slightly less high end. To sound like David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, start with the following amp settings: Gain: 3-4. Getting an original Binson Echorec these days is nearly impossible. intro: 440ms The second is around 94ms, which is 1/5 of 470 (470/5=94). delay 1 time: 90ms 3rd solo: delay 1 = 240ms / delay 2 = 435ms, Mother solo - 1980-81 live version: Make David Gilmour's Shimmering Sustained Delay in Live. The delays are set in series like this: The delay was such an integral part of their sound, then almost any Pink Floyd song wouldnt sound complete without Davids signature delay sounds. When you play across it, it helps you to double-track yourself. Guitar stuff, gear stuff, soundclips, videos, Gilmour/Pink Floyd stuff, photos and other goodies. SLAPBACK / ADT DELAY - It is not often, but ocassionally there is what sounds like a short slapback delay in Gilmour's guitar recordings, like the "dry" solo in Dogs from the Animals album. solo: 380ms -- feedback: 5-6 repeats, Marooned - 1994 live version: You must remember this, Those settings are used for a stadium show, set to produce for a huge arena, not your 8 x 10 bedroom, and not your 100 x 100 bar. Digital Delays tend to be avoided by many guitarists, but the belief that analog is always better than digital stems from when digital gear wasnt very good. Another option is to run two delay pedals simultaneously. Listen to some of the 5.1 live tracks separately and you can clearly hear this. What is interesting about this performance is that it is probably the only time David is known to have used a tape delay. To add some modulation and a spacious feel to the delay tone on the studio recording David used either a Yamaha RA-200 rotary speaker cabinet or an Electric Mistress flanger. For most of his 2016 tour he used multiple delays for those parts, but switched to using a Boonar Multi-Head Drum Echo digital delay from Dawner Prince Electronics for the last few concerts. One of the smoothest guitarists in rock, Pink Floyd's David Gilmour has built a reputation for great melodic control and an expressive soloing approach that has influenced millions. How to Set Two Delays for Run Like Hell - one in 380ms and one in 507ms, in series so the 380ms delay is repeated by the 507ms delay (actual DD-2 settings shown above), Example of Two Delays Run In Stereo - parallel delays, 380ms (both channels) and 507ms (right channel only), going to separate amps, Example of Two Delays Run In Stereo - prallel delays, 380ms (left channel) and 507ms (right channel), going to separate amps. For Run Like Hell, David's using what he refers to as "triplets".. VISIT MY SWORDS, KNIVES and FANTASY ART WEBSITE www.kitrae.net, This website is frequently updated. It was surrounded by a record head and four playback heads that gave it a wide range of double-tapped delay sounds. The mode should always be set at 800ms, unless you want a short slapback delay for something like the dry solo in, Kits Secret Guitar, Gear, and Music Page. fourth solo: 40-50-ms slapback delay -- feedback: 1 repeat, Echoes If you have a good sound in the room or hall you are playing in, there is no need to add reverb, but in small or dead sounding rooms, adding a small amount of reverb in your effects rig can really enhance the sound. solos: 440ms -- feedback: 7-8 repeats - delay level: 15% -- delay type: analog The specific delays he used were as I said the Binson Echorec, the MXR M-113 Digital Delay, and the TC Electronic 2290. David Gilmour Delay / Echo - Kit Rae second solo: 750ms -- feedback: 4-5 repeats, Comfortably Numb - MLOR tour: The third and final (that we know of) delay he usd was the TC Electronic 2290 rack unit. Using spring or digital reverb does not even get close, but some people struggle getting a delay pedal to sound right. middle keyboard section: 340ms -- feedback: 8-9 repeats In the studio recording the 4/4 delay is not very obvious, so it was low in the mix, possibly only in one channel, or both. a`Its very reliable, just like the MXR, but its much more versatile and teachable. Unfortunately the Catalinbread Swell control cannot be set as high as it needs to be for the Time intro, but it gets close.