Whats happening in the middle of live versions of Cymbaline?”
During some live versions on “Cymbaline,” there’s a pause of several minutes in the middle of the song, where you can hear all sorts of strange noises. This was in fact the Floyd showing off their sound system — the famous Azimuth Co-ordinator. In addition to their normal quadraphonic setup, they would (location permitting) also set up speakers on multiple levels — on balconies and such. They would then, using a joystick control, send sounds up and down stairs, around the audience, and all about the concert hall. This is what you’re hearing.
The song “Cymbaline” started out as “Nightmare” in The Man and The Journey (see Q17). During the middle of the song, the nighmare would begin; the walking of ghostly footsteps across the floor, the opening of a creaking door, etc. All this presented a great opportunity for Floyd to show off their sound system, the famous Azimuth Co-ordinator. So even after they stopped playing The Man and The Journey, the would occassionaly still play the nightmare segment of the song. In addition to their normal quadraphonic setup, they would (location permitting) also set up speakers on multiple levels — on balconies and such. They would then, using a joystick control, send sounds up and down stairs, around the audience, and all about the concert hall.
