David Gilmour's "Swell" Secret: How the Guitar Legend Creates His Iconic Emotive Sound

David Gilmour, renowned for his masterful use of delay effects, has revealed further details about his signature "swell" technique – a multi-delay effect that evokes the sound of a synth pad.

"It's a sound I call 'swell', because it's a swelling sort of sound," Gilmour explains in a recent video outlining his guitar techniques. "A sound I've used many times on all sorts of tracks going back years and years and years."

He describes the sound as "slightly orchestral," noting that it's achieved through delays, but the initial note isn't distinctly audible.

While Gilmour doesn't explicitly name the specific delay pedals he uses to craft the swell, the demonstration in the video employs the tremolo arm on his Strat for an amplified effect, paired with an Ernie Ball volume/expression pedal. For this particular example, Gilmour uses a Fender Strat reminiscent of his iconic Black Strat.

In a 1993 interview with *Guitar World*, Gilmour discussed the Binson Echorec machine as his preferred delay unit until 1977, during the *Animals

era. "The Binson was an Italian-made delay unit," he recalled. "It was strange, because it didn't utilise tape loops. Instead, it used a metal recording wheel."

This unique design allowed for "wonderful delay effects that aren't attainable on anything that's been made since," he revealed. The iconic sound of "One of these Days" from 1971's *Meddle

stemmed from Gilmour's experimentation with the Binson, as did "Echoes," also from *Meddle*.

"One day, Roger decided to take some of the techniques that I was developing and try them out himself on bass," Gilmour shared. "And he came up with that basic riff that we all worked on and turned into *One of these Days*."

In the recent video interview, Gilmour discloses that the swell technique features prominently in his new album, *Luck and Strange*, specifically on the tracks "Scattered" and "Black Cat".

*Luck and Strange*, Gilmour's first new material in nine years, is set for release on 6 September via Sony Music. This highly anticipated album marks a departure from the norm, featuring a new producer who challenges established conventions.