Talk:Backmasking

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	Backmasking is a former featured article. Please see the links under Article milestones below for its original nomination page (for older articles, check the nomination archive) and why it was removed.
	This article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on August 11, 2007.
Article milestones Date Process Result May 16, 2007 Peer review Reviewed July 16, 2007 Featured article candidate Promoted August 11, 2007 Today's featured article Main Page November 20, 2016 Featured article review Demoted Current status: Former featured article

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Two issues here that could be confused.

On the one hand, a sound track or portion of one can be reversed and inserted into (or substiuted for) all or a portion of a recording deliberately for various reasons (e.g. as a promotional gimmick [if you think rock muscians capable of such a ploy]) for desired effects, which is, as I understand it, called "backmasking", a word whose meaning, BTW, is unclear to the uninitiated and which, seems to me, to suggest something more than the simple prosaic truth of the matter. Apparently the idea of playing a recording backwards occured to Thomas Edison; so much for later generations claims to innovation and discovery.

On the other hand, some sounds in some recordings when played backwards, sound, or seem to sound, like something meaningful, i.e. as word fragments, words, or short phrases, which might then be misconstrued as, or wrongly imputed to be, examples of backmasking. The one effect is deliberate, the other, accident combined with wishful thinking, a little imagination, or expectation.

When I was growing up, I heard the usual scuttlebutt (popular rumors and urban legends) about both effects, and never took any of it to be of any real significance; although, I can imagine members of the illiterate general public getting quite worked-up about this, and for that matter some, even, who ought to know better , e.g. our legislatures folks (we sure can pick 'em).

example in a movie

please include it somewhere in the article if appropriate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJxSP3LC9BA then remove my topic from here (i'm inexperienced in editing/talk) 86.101.36.203 (talk) 06:29, 23 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Frank Zappa, Ya Hozna

Frank Zappa composed a tune, "Ya Hozna", of which the lyrics consist entirely of back masked vocals sung by at least six vocalists. This song is an elevation of backmasking and deserves mention in this article. Them or Us

http://www.donlope.net/fz/notes/Them_Or_Us.html#Hozna Optic Del (talk) 14:50, 18 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]