what were the 24 parts of Nothing?

[J Ed]

supposedly Echoes was composed by recording hours of jams and experiments and stray bits, and editing 24 fragments together
I can't hear this, though, cuz its much more cohesive than say AHM or DarkSide
the only bit I'm really sure about is the scary section, cuz that came from Embryo,
otherwise it progresses with a singular logic from first ping to final fade with no unexpected digressions
listening to an mp3 of Cosmic Music, the only thing that differs from the recorded version is lyrics of the 1st verse,
so it didnt go through any onstage evolution like all their other largescale concept pieces

so what do you reckon were the 24 parts?

J Ed

[drafsack]

Nothing parts 1-24 was the early title of the piece of music that became Echoes. It was developed wholey in the studio from around 36 short bits of music that were recorded during the meddle sessions - if you like the bits that were left over from what became the tracks on side one.

[mosespa]

Think about it this way...

SOYCD part one is Rick Wright's keyboard intro
SOYCD part two is Gilmour's first solo
part three is the main riff motif
part four is another guitar solo from Gilmour

et cetera, et cetera.

With this in mind, it's not too hard to imagine that part one was the ping, part two was the first musical movement where all the other instruments start coming together, part three must be what follows Nick's drum fill and establishes the theme of the piece.

Just think about it that way and see if it adds up.

[my breakfast.]

I guess the 24 parts are more like cues for various instruments, or versus/choruses.

[TDSOTM]

It was called Nothing Parts 1-24
Then it was called son of nothing(it was taking shape)
Then the return of the son of nothing.
Even had other names....
Like you said J ED from Embryo the baby was born ,the son from nothing and developed into a baby who started to Breathe in the air later on....
The concept of all concepts...

You can read more about what i'm on about here...
http://www.ric323.com/pf-forum/viewtopic.php?t=1603
It got me thinkng.

[JoeBlow]

Roger likes to give things "parts" because he gets to use the same tune more then once and gets multiple songwriting royalties for it. I believe the 24 parts were almost a joke type thing. It was probably based on cues for the musicians but I'm sure a big part of the "joke" was that they could receive multiple paychecks based on one long song, much like they would do w/Shine On. (9 parts = multiple royalties) I think he learned about this after the making of Atom Heart Mother, where they each only got 1 songwriting credit for a whole side of an LP. Other bands would have 5 or 6 songs on a side of an LP and (obviously) get multiple royalties from it. It's a thing that Roger continues to do to this day:

Perfect Sense 1 & 2 (does anyone think that was necessary?)
What God Wants pts. 1-3

etc....

[J Ed]

You can read more about what i'm on about here...
http://www.ric323.com/pf-forum/viewtopic.php?t=1603
It got me thinkng.

what an excellent essay
I think hes stretching a bit in some places, but is mostly quite persuasive
(I like his secret meaning of "Looking Through the Knotholes in Grannys Wooden Leg"!)

the scary section that the two songs share, I think I learned something about
in Embryo there is the line "all around I hear strange sounds...", which are presumably evidence of a world beyond the womb
and then in the middle theres some VERY strange sounds, which some folks claim invoke primordial fears
and I remember that in CNE Exhibition Stadium 1987, during the middle section of Echoes Gilmours guitar was azimuthing all around

anyway I read Echoes as being about the evolutionary impulse, a bit like 2001, preparing to take that next step
but needing to overcome ego first, thats why ancestral memories and empathy with the stranger in the street are important

interesting also the connection to Dark Side, which I read as being about losing a sense of oneness with the universe

anyway the 24 parts (or 36), I suspect may have been a joke, they may have simply meant they did LOTS of overdubs
I think the most obvious sections that we might be identify as a part are so long, there would be at most maybe ten
but some bits theres many things going on at once, eg the long climb to the final verse could contain ten more parts, if you count certain guitar effects as being a part in themselves

J Ed

[TDSOTM]

It was all about them taking the next trip after Syd left.
Where would they go? A new born child growing up.
What better way them express such feelings in their songs.
Maybe it just came out the way it did,but as we know Floyd are a very deep band with high intelligence ,which in my mind seperates them from other bands.
Take the verse-
Strangers passing in the street
By chance two separate glances meet
And I am you and what I see is me.
And do I take you by the hand
And lead you through the land
And help me understand
The best I can.
One who needs to be shown the way and to understand the ways...

The scary sections as you say can be found in many Floyd song,it's Floyd taking us to a place where we can open up are minds and let the music take over.Like you say 2001,where you play Echoes along with the film.Mind alerting music without the drugs.

It's a known fact that Echoes was the birth of the new Floyd after Syd,Just like a new born child being born.Which in reality they were...

About the sons of nothing 24 odd parts thats just Floyd jamming,seeing what they can come up with.When they have something it just flows ..
Like SOYCD Daves haunting guitar sound,inspired Roger ..

[theaussiefloydian]

I've actually been thinking about the 24 "Nothing" tapes that they did a bit recently, given the release of "Nothing, Pt. 14" as part of The Early Years set. Now I might be alone in this, but I would love to hear the other 23 parts, see which parts of "Nothing" they did use and which ones they didn't, because I know that not all 24 "Nothings" were used for "Echoes".