On the Run (instrumental)

"On the Run"
Instrumental by Pink Floyd from the album The Dark Side of the Moon
Published	World Copyrights Ltd
Released	1 March 1973
Recorded	January 1973
Genre	Electronic
Length	3:36
Label	Harvest
Writer(s)	David Gilmour Roger Waters
Producer(s)	Pink Floyd

"On the Run" is the third track from British progressive rock band Pink Floyd's 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon. It is an instrumental piece performed on an EMS synthesizer (Synthi AKS). It deals with the pressures of travel, which, according to Richard Wright, would often bring fear of death.

This piece was created by entering an 8-note sequence into a Synthi AKS synthesiser made by the British synthesiser manufacturer EMS and speeding it up, with an added white noise generator creating the hi-hat sound. The band then added backwards guitar parts, created by dragging a microphone stand down the fretboard, reversing the tape, and panning left to right. There are also other Synthi and VCS 3 synthesizer parts, made to sound like a vehicle passing, giving a Doppler effect. The 8 sixteenth notes sequence (E2 G2 A2 G2 D3 C3 D3 E3) is played at a tempo of 165 BPM, while both filter frequency and resonance are modulated. Near the end, the only guitar part is heard: a chord over the explosion of the presumed aircraft, which gradually fades, segueing into the chiming clocks introduction of the following track "Time".

When The Dark Side of the Moon was performed in 1972 (before the album was released), it went under the title "The Travel Sequence" and was, instead of a complex electronic instrumental, a more simple guitar jam, without the use of synthesizers and other electronic instruments. A short clip of this is played on the DVD Classic Albums: Pink Floyd – The Making of The Dark Side of the Moon and can also be heard on all performances of Pink Floyd playing the album live in that year.

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