In a  second part of the epic Pink Floyd song Echoes from their 1971 album Meddle there is an awkward psychodelic three minute part that creates a strange mood and reminds of a seagull flying above your head. This part lasts from around 11th minute until 15th minute of the song (the song itself lasts for 23 and a half minutes). I was always heavilly into Pink Floyd and for a long time this was one of my favourites as I always thought that it represents a true spirit of Pink Floyd (along with Shine On, Animals album, Dark Side etc). At first I didnt even think that this sound was produced by guitar or guitar sound effects at all. I thought that it was some external effect turned on and off via mixing console or whatever (I never gave it much thougtht back then anyway)

The first time I figured out what was actually going on in this part of the Echoes was when I accidentaly plugged my Crybaby wah pedal the wrong way – guitar to wah output , and wah input to an amp (this was years ago when I didnt know that much about the effects and what happens when you connect the wah in reverse). Stepping on the wah, a loud scream came out of my amp, which sounded totally different than a feedback and anything else that you could play on the guitar. I remember my drummer saying to me “Stop Gilmouring yourself !”, and thats when it clicked to me.

The sound of course is totally unplayable, but the trick here is in NOT PLAYING. To get this sound you shouldnt touch the strings at all. It all comes from manipulating the wah, toggle switch and a tone knob.

Later on I did some research of  how David Gilmour created that sound, and it appears that he discovered it as a result of a mistake as well . His roadie had plugged the wah in the wrong way, David stomped on it and got the incredible screaming noise.  The event itself is not much of a story (I know many guitarists experienced this kind of mistake themselves). But what is astoning is that while most guitarists would turn the pedal off and mimic ear pain, David didnt. He explored the sound instead and even incorporated it into a song. Of course there are all kinds of sounds incorporated in music today, but let me remind you that this was back in 1969 or 1970, when there were no digital samples, loops etc. Taking such unusual sound (or a scream), making a three minute piece ot of it, even making it sound musical and all that in 1970 is really something to be admired at. Employing the unusable sound to such a great effect makes Gilmour the pioneer of sound effects as this was something never used or exploited in music before. It is this kind of the approach (among other things too) that makes David Gilmour such a genius.

There are few more tricks of how to make this sound even more interesting. So here is step by step of creating the seagull effect the way mr.Gilmour does it:

For this effect you need a Stratocaster or a Strat type guitar with vintage style pickups (the effect won’t work with some modern actve pickups). You also need a vintage style wah pedal like a Vox or Cry Baby. Some newer models will not work. The point is that it must be a potz type, not a sensor type wah. You can also use an echo for greater effect.

Follow these steps to create a seagull effect:
1. Reverse the connections on your wah pedal. Plug the guitar into the output of the wah and the cable that goes into the next effect or the amp into the input.
2. Set up for a clean tone with lots of echo/delay (aprox. 300ms) with long feedback.

3. Set the guitar volume at 10, the upper tone control at 10 and the lower tone control all the way off. Set the pickup selector in the fourth position, combining the middle and bridge pickups

4. Turn on the wah and let it stay with the heel all the way down. Slowly turn the lower tone knob up towards 10. You should now hear the feedback.
5. Adjust the pitch of the feedback by carefully turning up and down the lower tone knob. Somewhere between 3-2 the tone fades and by making a really slow fadeout you can achieve the “laughing” effect.
6. Combine these techniques with switching the pickup switch up and down from position 1-5 and by adjusting the pitch on the wah wah.

Well thats about it. Enjoy yourself with seagulls. So long.

P.S. For more refference on the seagull effect check www.gilmourish.com

Guitar Player (January 09) – www.guitarplayer.com