Research Paper On Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd “Dark Side of the Moon” Final Paper

Pink Floyd was an English psychedelic and progressive rock band that formed in London, England in 1965. The band was founded by guitarist Syd Barret, drummer Nick Mason, bassist Roger Waters, and Keyboardist Richard Wright. They began playing R&B-based material for schoolmates at London's Regent Street Polytechnic School under the name “Sigma 6”. The name “Pink Floyd” would later be coined by Barret after a favorite blues record by Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. The band began by playing the London underground (becoming a featured attraction at the UFO Club) characterized by their experimental light shows and instrumental feedback that was quite unheard of at the time. The band would perform

The loss of sanity of former front man Syd Barret’s would become a big influence on the writing of this album as well other Pink Floyd albums to come. The album is a cautionary tale in two parts, the first half describes living a life that goes unfulfilled, while the second half of the album consists of individual songs about different ideas and concepts that are detrimental to society and can lead to madness. The philosophical ideas in the second half of the album are a sort of madness in their own right. They are also the root causes to the problem mentioned in the first half of the album that focuses on living an unfulfilled life. The themes of insanity and other “dark” aspects of human psychology are expressed right in the title of the album. The “dark side of the moon” represents a countering force to the light that we all have within us, that is constantly trying to overshadow the brightness and positive emotions within us. Just as the light coming from the Moon is really an illusion as explained by modern science, the album argues that we all have a sense of darkness within us that is constantly trying to overpower the illusion of light within every human. In reflecting on the album, Waters is quoted saying “but that doesn’t mean that the potential for the sun to shine doesn’t exist, walk down the path

At the time of the recording, the often modified 1969 Fender Strat would have had a ’63 neck with a rosewood fingerboard, stock single-coils, and an extra mini switch for extra pickup combinations. In early ’73, a Gibson PAF humbucker was installed between the bridge and middle pickups, but it is doubtful that pickup is heard on the album. Gilmour also played a Fender 1000 pedal-steel guitar tuned in G6. He also used a custom guitar built in 1970 by Canadian luthier Bill Lewis for parts of the “Money” solo. It had a mahogany body, ebony fretboard, 24 frets, and custom humbuckers, and it may have been used for other tracks, as well. In regards to amplifiers, Gilmour used Hiwatt DR103 100-watt heads through 4x12 cabinets. Gilmour was also known for have a very innovative and savy guitar effect set up for the time. Among those used for Dark Side were a Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, a Binson Echorec II, a Colorsound Power Boost, a Univox Uni-Vibe, a Kepex tremolo, and an EMS Synthi