David Gilmour has always made a very precise use of delays, since the early eras, even combining two delays to create his textures.
Let’s see some of the units he used over time.
Digital delays
Gilmour used several digital delay units trough time, starting from the Wall in 1979.
He started using the MXR Delay System I which was the distinctive feature for the whole album.
In 1986 the legendary TC Electronic 2290 was released, so we can assume that he switched before recording A momentary lapse of reason. So it’s reasonable to thing that it was used for the recordings of The division bell, anyway we know for sure that this unit was featured in PULSE.
In more recent eras we also saw pedal units, such as the Providence Chrono Delay and the Free the tone Flight Time FT-1Y.
Other delays
Of course one of he most iconic delays David Gilmour is known for is the Binson Echorec, which he used for delay and reverbs.
During the OAI tours we were able to see a T-Rex Replica on top of the famous Cornish Pedalboard.
Last but not least during the Rattle that lock tour a Dawner Prince Boonar (which is a replica of the Binson Echorec II) was spotted on David’s rack.
Delay settings
I created a table to show original time settings for some of the most famous songs and the times I use to approximate those, since I was used to the Nova Delay, which has only 9 presets.
I will be adding more songs through time or by request, so remember to bookmark this page!
| Song | Time - Gilmour | Time - My Settings |
|---|---|---|
| A great day for freedom | 680ms | 700ms |
| Another brick in the wall part II | 440ms - Rhythms | 440ms - Intro + Rhythms 540ms - Solo |
| Any Colour You Like | 490ms - Live PULSE | 440ms |
| Astronomy Domine | 460ms - Live PULSE | 310ms - Echorec 440ms - Digital |
| Brain Damage | 350ms - Live PULSE | 440ms |
| Breathe | 930ms - Lap Steel | 440ms or 480ms - Rhythms |
| Coming back to life | 600ms - Studio 630ms - Live PULSE | 600ms or 780ms |
| Comfortably numb | 370ms - Studio 580ms - Live PULSE | 440ms or 600ms |
| Evrika / Wearing the inside out | 500ms | 500ms |
| Run like hell | 380ms | 380ms |
| Faces of Stone | 430ms | 440ms |
| Louder than words | 380ms - Studio | 440ms or 700ms |
| Marooned | 500ms - Live PULSE | 800ms |