Pink Floyd's Dogs: An Interesting Discovery

Dogs is nothing short of epic. it contains some of Gilmour's most unique playing, it sets an incredible mood, and it's incredibly resilient to replays.

Now I've always suspected that the lead guitar harmony part in "Dogs" was ~flown in~ (copied and pasted) to the second half - not only because they sounded identical, but because there is a seemingly unintended sound (like wooden blocks falling down) that happens in both instances at 4:41 and 15:07 in the right ear. (Time references are for the 32DP pressing)

So I decided to finally put my theory to the test tonight, and I'd like to share the two parts synced up. Now the interesting thing about putting these together is for the second one, the tape was running slower (perhaps for the bounce? ideas?) and so it slowly evolves from a "flange" near the start to a slight echo by the end of it. One thing I want to say about this is that it again reinforces to me what is great about analog recording: musical imperfection. The uncontrollable minutiae that gives the recording an intangible (and sometimes tangible) sense of life not found in much of the digital realm.

This in no way for me diminishes the greatness of this track, this record, or this band. I'm very familiar with the whole canon of The Floyd, and I think this is the only instance of a part of a song being reused in an identical way later in the song. i could be wrong though - anyone else know of any?

Have a listen (it's only 2.4mb): I hope you guys find it as interesting as I do.

Pink Floyd - Dogs (Harmony Solo Synced)

 

Wasn't there an instance of the original version of the solo being wiped? Perhaps rather than try to record it twice (again?), the decision was made to drop the same performance in again.

 

You know what, that does ring a bell. Is that confirmed?

 

Not sure; I *think* it could also have been a story from the WYWH sessions...

 

from the book Echoes, The Stories behind every Pink Floyd song.

"The solo is doubled, and the result of two passes Gilmour did on the track. Unfortunately, Waters unfamiliar with the exact configuration of the new studio, left the tape machine in 'record' mode when Gilmour came to do his second pass at the solo, and the original take was accidentally wiped. Gilmour maintains that the version on the final album, though good, never quite managed to eclipse the transcendent original. The solo was Gilmour's attempt to recreate the snapping and gnashing of a dog, and was the combination of the two remaining passes he did. The strange sounds of the dog barking, in the middle section, were achieved using a Vocoder, a device that creates synthesized chords from a single sound source such as a voice. A tape recording of a barking dog was processed through the Vocoder then amplified through a Leslie rotating speaker."

 

right story, wrong solo. i always felt they were just a bit different but that could be due to the analog recording as you said. either way, it's their best album and maybe their best song.

 

Exactly.

but to my ears it sounds the exact same.
my reasoning is it was sped up during the 2nd time around probably because they Played the multitrack tape on DIFFERENT machine that ran slightly faster, and dumped THAT onto a secondary, "mix" or comp reel - and this reel was on the main deck. or even vice versa.


...and I know Floyd inside and out. I had wondered this same thing for many years. this song is also one of the best songs to describe REALLY what made Floyd work. Dogs, Echoes, Shine On You Crazy Diamond - and even In The Flesh.

 

Did you listen to the mp3 I posted? They're identical.

That makes perfect sense to me.

 

That's my favorite Pink Floyd song ever, no contest. What you said about the same part being used more than once in a song, though, that's very common in the era of digital editing.

 

hello - i'm late to the party here, but i absolutely believe that it's the same piece used twice, due to the very noticeable edits at both 14:10 (the start) and particularly at 15:14 (the end).
they're not BAD edits, just noticeable. i've heard those slices since the first time i listened to this song and always thought that they were just the same section flown in twice, which, as mentioned above, was completely common all the way back to the beatles and before.