Live 1970-71 Cymbaline Sound EFX

[DillPickles_]

Do you happen to have your version still? I would love to hear it as I've been attempting my make my version of the nightmare sequence!

[buffalofloyd]

They never performed Cymbaline when they got the big screen. They started using that during 1974, they stopped playing Cymbaline after 1971.

Oh yes, I'm quite aware. My comment was more about when I first heard some of these songs live, very early on in my journey into live Floyd I had some of these same questions. The first time I heard Cymbaline and even more so The Embryo live from 1971-10-17, my first bootleg, I couldn't believe how different they were from More and Works respectively, pretty incredible stuff.

[buffalofloyd]

Hi BF, it's perhaps worth me saying that, in the period 1967 to 1972 when I was seeing the Floyd, I never saw any kind of visuals or projections being used. The only things I saw, in the shows I attended, were the liquid light show in 1967 then the use of house lights, spots and strobes in some of the subsequent shows. So, for instance, the lights might be low and the stage just bathed in red when Roger did Set The Controls but nothing more sophisticated than that. There were the odd things like a merman wandering around the audience during The Journey but no 'visuals' or projections on stage. A journalist, in preparation for a book he was writing (which never came out), asked me what they were projecting onto the disc at the show in 1967. In all the shows I went to, I never saw that disc - I don't know when they first started using it.

Very cool recollections, what you can recall anyway

[Blackstrat]

Hi BF, it's perhaps worth me saying that, in the period 1967 to 1972 when I was seeing the Floyd, I never saw any kind of visuals or projections being used. The only things I saw, in the shows I attended, were the liquid light show in 1967 then the use of house lights, spots and strobes in some of the subsequent shows. So, for instance, the lights might be low and the stage just bathed in red when Roger did Set The Controls but nothing more sophisticated than that. There were the odd things like a merman wandering around the audience during The Journey but no 'visuals' or projections on stage. A journalist, in preparation for a book he was writing (which never came out), asked me what they were projecting onto the disc at the show in 1967. In all the shows I went to, I never saw that disc - I don't know when they first started using it.

that's interesting...for a band that was so well known for it's visuals in the UFO days, and then later on, DSOTM onwards I've often wondered what they did in the intervening years I'm guessing they just had little bit of pyro in CWTAE and setting fire to the rope on the gong frame but not much else? I guess they had the occasional thing like an Octopus though.

The various 1969-1972 shows we have video for tend to show a fairly standard lightshow for the time and I must admit I assumed that they toned down the lighting for TV...didn't realise that this was the full show

[YASHA]

I have been interested for a long time in the question of what happened on stage during Cymbaline. Thank you all for the points of view and memories!

Perhaps during some shows, very weak, "ghostly" stage lighting was used. Maybe with some light and color effects. And all this is so that the audience can imagine for themselves (each in their own way) what is happening during footsteps, creaking doors, laughing girl, barking dog, etc.

[David S CA]

That's so cool that you were able to attend these shows! Thanks for sharing your recollections of the performances from these years.

[Simond]

But if I remember some press about the Man & The Journey; even during the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, as I heard on radio AM recording and the review of the concert, it seems that the members were on stage almost doing nothing whilst we can hear the saw and hammer sounds - from what I remember they were assembled a table on stage but it was sound effect

I saw the Man/Journey twice in 1969. The band were onstage wielding tools during that sequence.

Edit - see the MM review regarding the band on stage

[fatoldpig]

Check out the footsteps sequence from 1971-11-06. Based on the audience chatter, it seems something is happening on the stage. Someone saying something about a guy falling on the stage during woman laughing sound effect. All the Oct, Nov 1971 US shows seem to have woman laughing sound effect.

[Rupert Pupkin]

just a thought : here at KQED it's almost a daring nonchalance to see them waiting until the footsteps then the doors blam! big sound comes to play again.
But it was for TV.
I'm almost sure than on stage Roger (as we can see on footage) was way more demonstrative when he "sung" Careful With That Axe, Eugene.

Regarding Cymbaline there is also the Abbey The Royaumont amazing footage.

I can't remember which exact gig it was (but it was famous) of a girl in stop-top laughing when the footsteps, running and doors effects are played.

My only guess is that perhaps during this sequence, on stage, in order to improve the "experience" for the audience the light were perhaps down/low or even off. That could emphasize the azimuth effect.
But if I remember some press about the Man & The Journey; even during the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, as I heard on radio AM recording and the review of the concert, it seems that the members were on stage almost doing nothing whilst we can hear the saw and hammer sounds - from what I remember they were assembled a table on stage but it was sound effect.

This is IMHO a kind of Jacques Tati - good old Harold Loyd or Buster Keaton - silence gag in order to make it funny for the audience.
Perhaps it was kind of daring, this kind of nonchalance but that would explain the audience reaction.
Like the band would stay immobile whilst we can hear someone (who doesn't exist) running around the audience thanks to the Azimuth Coordinator effect.

This would be the opposite approach vs The Wall the 1977 tour or Dark Side Of The Moon, but the Floyd was smart and I can imagine something like that.
Just as if Roger would have played a fly bzzz effect and miming catching a fly which does not exist.
After all David Bowie did some mime sequences when he was Ziggy.

[rontoon]

I can't believe the "nothing happened" thing. The audience doing multiple different reactions, even one recorder saying "look over there!" means SOMETHING weird happened during at least some shows. It just doesn't add up.

Maybe if footage or photos of a 70-71 show pop up, it could finally show what exactly happened. Keep in mind, stranger things have happened and there are no photos of it circulating, like the sea monster during The Man and Journey shows.

Believe it or not, there were no visuals during this sequence. And audience reactions like, "Look over there," were in regards to the placement of certain sounds being manipulated by the Azimuth Coordinator.

And there IS footage of Cymbaline from KQED.

https://youtu.be/h28xyuM0cTg?si=x5RyEWIsZIPCtJy8

And SimonD gave a first hand account of the shows so I'm not sure what else you need as proof?

[fatoldpig]

Some of the shows have a girl laughing which seems to be part of the sound effect and audience also laughing at that part. Wondering what's happening then?

[gorilla1973]

I can't believe the "nothing happened" thing. The audience doing multiple different reactions, even one recorder saying "look over there!" means SOMETHING weird happened during at least some shows. It just doesn't add up.

Maybe if footage or photos of a 70-71 show pop up, it could finally show what exactly happened. Keep in mind, stranger things have happened and there are no photos of it circulating, like the sea monster during The Man and Journey shows.

[NuffM]

Great question and good responses! I've often pondered this very same question as well, in fact every time I hear Cymbaline I wondered if anything was happening on stage or some sort of visuals were being projected. I came to the conclusion it was always just audio moving around the room and the audience left to their imagination, which IMO is way cooler, that way everybody has their own interpretation of what's going on.

They never performed Cymbaline when they got the big screen. They started using that during 1974, they stopped playing Cymbaline after 1971.

[Simond]

Hi BF, it's perhaps worth me saying that, in the period 1967 to 1972 when I was seeing the Floyd, I never saw any kind of visuals or projections being used. The only things I saw, in the shows I attended, were the liquid light show in 1967 then the use of house lights, spots and strobes in some of the subsequent shows. So, for instance, the lights might be low and the stage just bathed in red when Roger did Set The Controls but nothing more sophisticated than that. There were the odd things like a merman wandering around the audience during The Journey but no 'visuals' or projections on stage. A journalist, in preparation for a book he was writing (which never came out), asked me what they were projecting onto the disc at the show in 1967. In all the shows I went to, I never saw that disc - I don't know when they first started using it.

[buffalofloyd]

Great question and good responses! I've often pondered this very same question as well, in fact every time I hear Cymbaline I wondered if anything was happening on stage or some sort of visuals were being projected. I came to the conclusion it was always just audio moving around the room and the audience left to their imagination, which IMO is way cooler, that way everybody has their own interpretation of what's going on.