Want to know the truth? Then do yourself a favour and read this article in it's entirety BEFORE listening to the MP3 files from the band.
The "sport" of synchronizing music CD's to movies is certainly being perfected these days into an alternative artform, but, contrary to popular thought, it's not something all that new. For as long as people have had access to recorded music and television, they've done this sort of thing. William Burroughs either wrote or spoke of taking random film footage and playing unrelated music to it in order to achieve audio/video synchronicities. When I was a teenager, quite often, my friends and I would watch the TV, the sound turned down on the set, and play our favourite records on the stereo. No one told us how to do it, or what it was that we were doing -- that it was called "syncing"-- it was just something we did. We were just getting a good laugh and saying "Wow!" at the results.
Today, most folks possess a TV, VCR and/or DVD player, along with some sort of musical output device (these days usually a CD player), so doing this sort of thing is both easier and much more repeatable than it was when I was a teenager goofing on Saturday morning cartoons and a vinyl LP of Alice Cooper's Billion Dollar Babies. However, back in the early 70s, when DSOTM (The Dark Side of the Moon) was being recorded, the availability of VCR tapes and players was close to nil. The players were outrageously priced into the thousands of dollars, and the tapes only ran about an hour. The visual quality was quite terrible and videotapes were only available to television professionals in black & white. The only thing that an audio/videophile might've owned would've been an 8mm movie projector without the luxury of sound or a SUPER-8mm projector with sound -- and if any of you remember how badly those things behaved back then (as I do) one wouldn't even begin to think that a precision band like Pink Floyd would waste their talents and energies with that sort of equipment, on a project which would only come out half-baked incurring a higher than normal aggravation ratio, rendering such an effort not worth the while. The Dark Side of the Moon is no half-baked album!
In those days, there was no such thing as a digital sampler, which is a device commonly used in recording studios today. Repetitive sounds and background noises for DSOTM were recorded on long strips of analogue tape, the tape loops of the repeating sounds in DSOTM sometimes were strung across portions of the studio during the recording. On the subject of the recording of the album, one may want to take a gander at the film Pink Floyd Live in Pompeii to get an idea of just how the album was put together. You'll find absolutely no references to, nor any paraphernalia of anything even remotely related to TWoOz (The Wizard of Oz) in the cramped little studios at Abbey Road. One will also notice the lack of any sort of movie or video screen.
The members of Pink Floyd are (or were) some of the world's finest contemporary musicians. If the band had done this sync on purpose, it would be consistent to believe that they would've done a much better job of it. Impressive as it is, there are too many places, even in the first play-through, that would've been comparatively easy to place at least a sound effect to correspond with the action in the film. There are so many "bald spots" in DSOTR that should have something, but in fact have nothing. A telling testimony indeed.
Roger Waters wrote all of the lyrics to the songs on DSOTM, and though he indeed framed the music, that is, he had major input as to what the general sound of the songs would be, what instruments play here or there, but it was especially the musical talents of David Gilmour which was pivotal in determining how the entire project actually sounded in the end. Roger, in fact, wanted the format of DSTOM to be a more traditional, clean-cut sounding album, with each track separate, while Dave wanted it "big, wet and swampy" -- one song melding into the other, the way in which we have enjoyed most Pink Floyd music to this day. Roger and Dave, as well as Nick and Rick argued over it (as usual) and then resigned to let an "outsider", Alan Parsons, the production engineer of DSOTM, to make the final vote on how it should sound. Alan preferred Dave's idea best, and that's how we have it . . . seamless and fabulous.
The mere fact that syncs continue to occur with the repeat mode of the CD player in gear, throughout the second and even third play-through should be a testimony to anyone looking at this objectively, of the impossibility of intent on the part of the band. It would certainly be difficult (if not impossible) to actually pull it off for the first go 'round, considering that each song is a consistent entity in itself, and while not necessarily hinging upon the accompanying and connected songs, all the while being part of a whole, and linking one song to the next in a quasi-gestalt music album. But to think one could purposefully make syncs to occur with MULTIPLE playbacks is insane -- no, indeed completely STUPID!
A musical artist could certainly sit and watch a movie such as TWoOz and make an album to sync up with it to some degree. This is done with movie soundtracks everyday! But soundtrack artists are in the business of making generally instrumental music that is indicative of the action being performed on the screen. The music becomes a necessary ingredient to the enjoyment, mood and understanding of the film. Indeed if such a musical artist were to attempt such a feat as is suggested by the unwitting, he wouldn't be able to keep away from "talking about" or representing the film or the concept of the film when doing it. The artist would also be able to make sure that his work lined up exactly and did not have unnecessary "bald spots" (unlike the results we find quite often in DSOTR). Most of the syncs are not exact. I know this from first-hand experience in working with Evening Star Gifts for the timing of the Definitive Version of DSOTR on DVD.
Although this is going from the opposite direction, it would be much in the way that the folks at Walt Disney studios made synchronistic movies from classical tunes in Fantasia. Every move of the characters in the film are accentuated by the sounds of the music. This is what the kind results one would expect Pink Floyd to have rendered if they'd done this sync on purpose.
When we're talking about Pink Floyd music, especially something like DSOTM, we aren't talking about average music -- no, we're talking about one of the most influential music recordings in contemporary musical history! We're talking hour upon hour of painstaking writing and refining of lyrics and music, recording and re-recording, splicing, editing, etc.
What artist ever makes a work -- a great work (and who in their right mind and with any taste would deny that DSOTM is a great work of art?) and not only doesn't attach his name to it (as every artist signs his painting) but does the unthinkable and hides it? An artist, when he is done with his work, and is proud of it, puts it out for all the world to see, hoping that someone will appreciate it ... and even buy it!
While every egotist is not necessarily an artist, every artist is necessarily an egotist, to some extent. When he or she has put their life-force into a creation, they sign it with their name. It's a form of immortality (that is, if it's really a work worthy of being called a classic). Leonardo DaVinci is long dead, but not forgotten, and he will not be forgotten 20,000 years from now either. His work (as well as Michelangelo, et al) is classic, and inspires other artists to this day. Any work of art that has the time and effort, the life-force of the artist, is created in order to receive recognition on many levels. Recognition of the artwork itself, and recognition of its creator. And if every artist is an egotist, there are few more egotistical than Roger Waters. Why did Pink Floyd break up? Mainly because of Rogers enlarged conception of himself. His being a jerk and an egotist doesn't detract from his being a fine artist, but it does speak quite loudly at how impossible it would be for Roger to make a "secret" work of art, and to keep it hidden, and then IF it were ever discovered, to deny it and continue denying it to this day. There is no good reason for an artist to refrain from signing his own creation.
In my experience, most people who make the claim of intent on the part of the band are:
1) honest folks who just got a little awe-struck shocked in their introduction to DSOTR and who've not stopped to really think about the ramifications of intentional synchronicity (which is one reason why I made this particular portion of this website)
2) folks who have little or no artistic ability (though some indeed call themselves artists of one sort or another, but when asked for examples of their abilities, the evidence is compelling for the justification of the statement previously made)
3) those who are fairly new or previously unfamiliar (even oblivious) to Pink Floyd music and/or including those that think Pink Floyd is just one of many other bands, that they feel are of equal status. Floydians of course, know better than that, and are full aware that Pink Floyd (and The Beatles for that matter) stand on a shelf of their own and have no peers! Led Zeppelin would be another of this type of unique and "peerless" band.
I realize these categorizations "paint with a broad brush", but again, these are my usual observations of such individuals. No harm is intended to the psyches of any of the above -- this is just a statement of the facts as I've understood them through email conversations on the never-ending topic called "Oh I think Pink Floyd did it on purpose and here's why".
In an interview for the 25th anniversary of The Dark Side of the Moon with David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Alan Parsons, it was mentioned several times that it was only later that the band decided to make DSOTM into a concept album from the originally, disjointed and unrelated songs. Each member contributed in different ways. For instance, Rick Wright was given free reign in the "religious section" (so dubbed by the band members) which finally became titled The Great Gig in the Sky (TGGITS), so that track would certainly be void of any dictatorial influence from Roger, if he were to try and secretly orchestrate an alternative soundtrack to TWoOz. In fact, Rick Wright has outright denied having any knowledge of DSOTR in a radio interview with George Taylor Morris, former DJ of WZLX (100.7 - Boston's Classic Rock Station) .
Contrary to popular belief, TGGITS was not done with Clare Torry standing in front of a movie screen belting out the funeral sobs to the tornado scene in TWoOz as some folks have suggested. The truth is, that the singing portions done by Torry were done in about 20 or so different takes with plenty of outtakes. Then bits and pieces of those takes were painstakingly spliced together by sound engineer Alan Parsons, until finally a seamless piece of musical art was made into the cohesive whole we know and love as TGGITS. This is further evidenced by comments made below, in the MP3 files.
Again from the aforementioned 25th Anniversary of DSOTM Interview, David Gilmour was asked of any knowledge of the alleged synchronicity with TWoOz. His response was, "Some guy with too much time on his hands had come up with this idea of combining Wizard of Oz with Dark Side of the Moon "(This too can be heard in the MP3 files below). Yeah, so it's "some guy" instead of "we", and it's not just some guy, but some guy "with too much time on his hands" -- a clear sign of verbal dismissal if ever there was one.
Alan Parsons, after hearing about the synchronicity and seeing the possibility of a lucrative opportunity adds, "I was very much keen on promoting an idea that perhaps some of the other records were tied in with other films and I was looking for a sort of possible deal with some of the other big movies ... maybe something like The Magnificent Seven with Meddle" indicating Parson's surprise and lack of indication that there was any intent on the part of the band. With statements like that, it's obvious that Mr. Parsons, at least at the time, was clueless about how audio/video syncs work.
Several folks have written me attempting to defend the intent position, claiming that PF, in order to avoid legal problems with copyrights, kept the sync a secret. All the while Alan Parsons' comments above indicate no trepidation with MGM (or any movie company for that matter) in the making of an actual and official sync. It is of course an absurd argument because there is no such thing as copyright infringement for making an album sync to a movie. It is not illegal to play a movie with the sound down and substitute the original soundtrack for a new one, as a form of entertainment. Even if they pasted on the album cover in big white letters "Works as an alternate soundtrack to The Wizard of Oz", there could be no legal ramifications.
On the official website for the Alan Parsons Project, Mr. Parsons (engineer of DSOTM) is quoted as saying , "We didn't talk at all about The Wizard of Oz, during the recording of the album." And in another quote from Parsons in an MTV interview, he said " There simply wasn't mechanics to do it. We had no means of playing videotapes in the room at all. I don't think VHS had come along by '72, had it?". So Alan had to even remind himself as to whether or not VHS even existed at the time. Can it be any clearer? A link to that interview as well as the interview reprinted in its entirety may be found a little bit beneath the audio clips which are below this article.
A true synchronicity (as DSOTR is) consists of two separate and unrelated things coming together to form a whole new thing. This is precisely what happens with DSOTM & TWoOz. It forms a whole new viewing and listening experience, causing both media to convey new meaning that neither originally intended.
Audio/video syncing isn't something new, but it is growing into something bigger than just "accidental art." It is indeed being moulded and perfected these days by sync artists who've found a cloister in places like THE SYNCHRONICITY ARKIVE. With new synchronistic discoveries occurring such as my own CONTACT/ECHOES and DARKEST CITY, the several very good ones such as SID'S 1st OZ, and SOPHIE'S NO.9 by Baker of THE ULTIMATE PINK FLOYD SYNCHRONICITIES, the 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY - JABTI/ECHOES sync promoted by Mike Johnston (webmaster of The Synchronicity Arkive), BEING GEDDY LEE by Bytor, community projects such as SHARED FANTASIA, and individual discoveries by many other syncers, gives even greater credence to coincidence rather than intent. The fact that the album is able to work even somewhat with other movies also proves that it is not necessary for it to be intentional. TWoOz just happens to be the one movie that DSOTM works with best -- that's all. To suggest anything more is to make a mockery of logic and to rob both film and music of their respective values.
If that wasn't enough for you, I've only recently discovered another fellow who has even more things to think about which debunk the notion of intent. I only wish there were an e-mail address associated with the page so I could thank the webmaster. To read his (or her) article, click here.
Here are some links to MP3 audio clips taken from the CD of the 25th Anniversary of The Dark Side of the Moon Interview with the band and Alan Parsons who engineered the album so you can hear for yourself the things which I have typed above straight from the horse's mouth and they ought to know since they were there:
David Gilmour's view on the DSOTR sync -- not too encouraging for proponents for the
"intent" theory
Nick Mason and Alan Parsons make some valuable comments
Dave G saying that the album went through
many changes -- even On The Run started out as a live jam
Dave
G commenting on the WEIGHT and IMPORTANCE of the words and the meanings of the
words to Roger and the musical aspect which was more important to Dave One
would hope that this would make any thoughtful person ashamed to think that the
words and music of DSOTM were designed merely as some backdrop music for a movie
... one that people wouldn't be able to appreciate for YEARS to come and one
which the band members would receive no credit for ... when the words and music
are in fact, an audio movie themselves!
Nick M -- quite often no one even knew
what the words to a song would be or what sounds would go between the songs .
Certainly not the kind of talk you would
expect from a group who were planning a soundtrack.
A portion of a radio interview with
Playboy deputy editor Steve Russell, from his article "Straight Dope",
on the subject of rock urban legends, tackles the issue of intent and reiterates
information
that he received from Alan Parsons.
Below is reproduced, in it's entirety, an M-TV interview concerning the Dark Side of the Rainbow with comments from George Taylor Morris, Mike Johnston, Alan Parsons, and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason. For as long as it is kept on the Internet officially, here is a link to the actual page for verification: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1433194/19970530/story.jhtml
Anyone familiar with the work
of beat writer William Burroughs will recall his interest in combining random
film footage with a totally unrelated soundtrack, and sometimes discovering an
unexpected, and startling synchronicity.
For the past couple of years, the Internet has been
buzzing with stories of just such a mysterioso linkage between Hollywood's 1939
munchkin classic, "The Wizard Of Oz," and -- this is the mysterioso
part -- Pink Floyd's 1973 art-rock monument, "The Dark Side Of The
Moon." This may sound like pure bong-wash, but the story went mainstream
this week, and well, it really is kind of strange. GEORGE TAYLOR MORRIS,
Disc-Jockey, WZLX-FM: The weird thing about the Wizard of Oz/Dark Side of the
Moon phenomenon that's been going around is that it's been going around for
quite a while. MICHAEL JOHNSTON,
Synchronicity Arkive Website: I heard from another source that it's been known
about on the Pink Floyd newsgroup since 1994. MORRIS: I did get a call
of a girl who said, 18 years ago I went to a party where some guy tried this and
it worked. MTV: Who first discovered
this phenomenon, and when, remains a mystery. But Boston disc jockey, George
Taylor Morris, touched off a national frenzy recently when he mentioned, on air,
the bizarre correlation between Pink Floyd's 1973 album, "Dark Side Of The
Moon," and the 1939 movie classic, "The Wizard Of Oz." MORRIS: I just mentioned
it, just briefly on the air. If you play the "Dark Side of the Moon"
against "The Wizard of Oz" as a soundtrack, all of these amazing
coincidences happen. MTV: Here's how it works:
play "The Wizard Of Oz" from the top and wait for the MGM lion to
appear. Immediately following the lion's third roar, start "Dark Side Of
The Moon." Turn the stereo up and the TV down. You'll know you're in sync
if producer Mervyn Leroy's credit hits on the musical transition. Now simply
kick back and judge for yourself both the lyrical and musical synchronicity. MORRIS: I'll tell you the
thing that totally blew me away, of all the coincidences that seemed to happen,
is when "Great Gig in the Sky" is on and the tornado is whirling. The
movie took on a completely different feel for me there. JOHNSTON: And coming up we
have actually one of the best transitions here. As it goes to color,
"Money" comes up which is the next song. As near as I've been able to
determine, it's pretty much a cosmic coincidence. ALAN PARSONS, Engineer,
Dark Side of the Moon: There simply wasn't mechanics to do it. We had no means
of playing videotapes in the room at all. I don't think VHS had come along by
'72, had it? JOHNSTON: It doesn't seem
like there's a lot of evidence to support that it's intentional. But that
certainly doesn't undermine how cool it is to sit and watch it. So far, the only comment from the Floyd camp has come
from drummer Nick Mason,
who says "It's absolute nonsense, it has nothing to do with "The
Wizard Of Oz." It was all based on "The Sound Of Music." Goodness! Will the evidence AGAINST INTENT ever cease to come
in? In an interview with Q Magazine, David Gilmour
had this to say: Q: Is there any truth in the story that Dark Side Of
The Moon doubles as a soundtrack to the Wizard Of Oz? DG: If it does, then Roger (Waters, Floyd
bassist/song-writer) never let me in on it. It seemed to bear no relation when I
tried it. I mean, it can only last for the first forty minutes. What's supposed
to happen for the rest of it? Was that supposed to match Wish You Were Here and
um... (pause Note the words "It seemed to bear no relation when I
tried it." Hmmm. So this person who supposedly is standing in front of a
movie screen while playing his guitar solos has to "try" the sync
himself. Why? Because he'd never heard of it until some dip-shit told him about
it! To read the entire article (as it is an
amusing one) click here For the sake of posterity, should this
article ever be removed from the Internet, it is archived in it's entirety here.
(N.F.- Cardiff)
This
is a letter I got from a fellow named Sean Hebert (herbie747@hotmail) in the
United Kingdom. According to him, the UK version of TWoOz is not the same as the
US version. It has parts missing! Pink Floyd are a UK band. IF they had
attempted to do this thing on purpose, then there would be some serious timing
problems with the US version. I don't know why I keep adding stuff to this page,
when no one listens anyway.
Well, here it is ... do what you will with it:
Sean wrote:
Hey. Do you know offhand, of
missing clips from the European Version of the Wizard of Oz? I tried to sync
it up and by the time the film turned to colour, it was about 80secs away from
the start of "Money". When I bought a copy from the US on eBay it
synced up fine. Any reasons? There appear to be missing clips all the way
through. The album is about 2mins off the heartbeat where it is supposed to
finish the first time!
I responded:
Hiya
Sean!
Would
you be able to tell me what the publication date of the Euro version VHS is?
I'm not even sure if they put publication dates on USA tapes for that matter. But,
if you wouldn't mind, I'd appreciate it.
Thanks!
Shawn
Sean responded:
I
don't know, because I only rented it. The DVD was just released over here a few
months ago and it has the exact same bits cut as the video. The only copy I have
at the moment is the American version which I bought on eBay. Here's the link to
the VHS on amazon UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004CKBB/o/qid=1011093889/sr=8-1/ref=sr_aps_v_3_1/026-9381741-4150036
Other than that, all I now is that I rented it once, and it was cut to bits,
then I rented the DVD thinking it might be the full version since it was only
released last year, but it was the same deal. Thanks. Later.
Just a little extra info on the timing issues with different versions of DSOTR, knowing that every second counts ...
Hi Stegokitty!
As you may know already, I studied the difference between 89s&+ (w/sepia toned Kansas) and pre-89s (w/black&white Kansas) by running one video on one TV and the other on a directly proximate TV, most of the time a smaller TV sitting on top of a larger TV. If a difference arose--and it would always be a cut in the pre-89 in relation to the 89s&+--I'd re-cue the two movies right after the cut. Here's the 4 differences I noted: 1) 1 1/2 second cut in pre-89s right before beginning of Munchkinland scenes; 2) 3 second cut in pre-89s immediately before *ending* of Munchkinland scenes (odd symmetry huh); 3) the line "I'm just a bad Wizard" is deleted from pre-89s, another 3 second cut or so; 4) a split second cut in pre-89s when house falls and Dorothy returns to Kansas at end of film.
Hope this answers your question!
Keep in touch,
Baker from Ultimate Pink Floyd Synchronicities
OK, now with all that said, here's some big-time total techno information on the timing differences between the European and American versions of the video. Click here if you think you can handle it.
MY "SYNCHRONICITY" DISCLAIMER: I do not
subscribe to the philosophies of "Synchronicity" in the true sense of
those who "practice" it as a lifestyle or "spiritual" belief
system. I say "synchronicity" in purely the
entertainment/observational sense, of seeing two or more unrelated things or
ideas, which, when unintentionally brought together, form a whole new
thing or idea. For personal reasons also, I find it amusing that
people can look at a phenomenon like this, and insist that it must have been planned
. . . that it could never have "just happen" (something as unimportant as
a movie and music synchronicity) and yet . . . at the same time, these
people can look at this planet, and all the wonders within (especially a
creature as complex as a human being) and say that it "just happened"
. . . without a Creator . . . like the TV, and sadly even the text books tell
us.
You think about that. Amen
