For broader coverage of this topic, see Reverse tape effects.
Backmasking is a recording technique in which a message is recorded backward onto a track that is meant to be played forward.[1] It is a deliberate process, whereas a message found through phonetic reversal may be unintentional.
Artists have used backmasking for artistic, comedic and satiric effect, on both analogue and digital recordings. It has also been used to censor words or phrases for "clean" releases of explicit songs.
In 1969, rumors of a backmasked message in the Beatles song "Revolution 9" fueled the Paul is dead urban legend.[2] Since at least the early 1980s, Christian groups in the United States alleged that backmasking was being used by prominent rock musicians for Satanic purposes,[3][need quotation to verify] leading to record-burning protests and proposed anti-backmasking legislation by state and federal governments during the 1980s, as part of the Satanic panic movement of the time.
Many popular musicians were accused of including backmasked messages in their music. However, apparent backmasked messages may in fact be examples of pareidolia (the brain's tendency to recognize patterns in meaningless data), coincidental phonetic reversal,[2] or as deliberate responses to the allegations themselves.[4]
^backmasking, Merriam-Webster, retrieved February 3, 2022
^ abErik, Davis (2005). [Led Zeppelin IV]. New York, NY: Continuum. ISBN 0-8264-1658-6. OCLC 57452450. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
^Billiter, Bill (April 28, 1982). "Satanic Messages Played Back for Assembly Panel". The Los Angeles Times. p. B3.
^Macdonald, Fiona (October 21, 2014). "The hidden messages in songs". BBC. After Christian fundamentalists claimed that a line in the title track of their 1974 album Eldorado sounded like 'He is the nasty one – Christ you're infernal' when reversed, the Electric Light Orchestra inserted a deliberately backmasked segment into their next album.
Backmasking is a recording technique in which a message is recorded backward onto a track that is meant to be played forward. It is a deliberate process...
legitimate examples of hidden messages created with techniques such as backmasking and steganography, many so-called hidden messages are merely fanciful...
Retrieved 2007-04-07. Backmask Online — clips and analysis of various alleged and actual backmasked messages Jeff Milner's Backmasking Page — a Flash player...
containing backmasking. In April 1982, the Consumer Protection and Toxic Materials Committee of the California State Assembly held a hearing on backmasking in...
of the Year Other Album era Album-equivalent unit A-side and B-side Backmasking Bootleg recording Christian music industry Environmental impact Hidden...
of the Year Other Album era Album-equivalent unit A-side and B-side Backmasking Bootleg recording Christian music industry Environmental impact Hidden...
where noted This album included the use of the backmasking technique. According to many people, backmasking was being used in rock music to include hidden...
of the Year Other Album era Album-equivalent unit A-side and B-side Backmasking Bootleg recording Christian music industry Environmental impact Hidden...
REVERSE art gallery, in Brooklyn, NY, US Reverse tape effects including backmasking, the recording of sound in reverse Reversing: Secrets of Reverse Engineering...
back! Turn back! Turn back!" Ostensibly, this was Jeff Lynne's shot at backmasking hysteria, after satanic allegations were made against their song "Eldorado"...
of the Year Other Album era Album-equivalent unit A-side and B-side Backmasking Bootleg recording Christian music industry Environmental impact Hidden...
audiences in this period, such as guitar feedback, the Indian sitar and backmasking sound effects. Psychedelic rock particularly took off in California's...
backed by vocal harmonies, and included a reverse tape guitar solo (backmasking) by Campbell. "Reflections of My Life" has produced sales of over two...
subliminal satanic messages, some of which were said to be contained in backmasking; these claims were generally dismissed by the band and music critics...
of the Year Other Album era Album-equivalent unit A-side and B-side Backmasking Bootleg recording Christian music industry Environmental impact Hidden...
supernaturalism and archaic tradition-based superstitions. Believers in backmasking think they can hear "Hail Satan" and other similar messages in some songs...
2001 through Man's Ruin Records. The album contains an experiment in backmasking ("Shit Storm"), three covers and four reworked versions of old Melvins...
of the Year Other Album era Album-equivalent unit A-side and B-side Backmasking Bootleg recording Christian music industry Environmental impact Hidden...
of the Year Other Album era Album-equivalent unit A-side and B-side Backmasking Bootleg recording Christian music industry Environmental impact Hidden...
of the Year Other Album era Album-equivalent unit A-side and B-side Backmasking Bootleg recording Christian music industry Environmental impact Hidden...
technique of backmasking is used in several places on the album; some segments are more audibly apparent than others. In particular, backmasking during the...
of the Year Other Album era Album-equivalent unit A-side and B-side Backmasking Bootleg recording Christian music industry Environmental impact Hidden...
of the Year Other Album era Album-equivalent unit A-side and B-side Backmasking Bootleg recording Christian music industry Environmental impact Hidden...
of the Year Other Album era Album-equivalent unit A-side and B-side Backmasking Bootleg recording Christian music industry Environmental impact Hidden...
of the Year Other Album era Album-equivalent unit A-side and B-side Backmasking Bootleg recording Christian music industry Environmental impact Hidden...
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