gobbel@cogsci.EDU (Randy Gobbel) (05/04/91)
[warning: only tangentially related to KT matters]
There's a song on the new Motorhead album ("Nightmare/The Dreamtime") in
which about half the lyrics are recorded backwards. I know that there are
readers of this list who've figured out how to listen to some of Kate's music
backwards. If you could tell me how to do that, like what equipment is
required and how it has to be set up, I'd really appreciate it. Actually,
while I'm at it, I'll probably want to go back and listen to some of Kate's
backwards lyrics, so I can hear for myself what she's really saying....
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help with this.
-Randy
--
Internet: gobbel@ucsd.edu
Sugar hiccup your Cheeriosjondr@sco.COM ("Jonathan S. Drukman") (05/07/91)
In article <GOBBEL.91May3125129@cogsci.edu> jgobbel@UCSD.EDU writes: >There's a song on the new Motorhead album ("Nightmare/The Dreamtime") in >which about half the lyrics are recorded backwards. I know that there are >readers of this list who've figured out how to listen to some of Kate's music >backwards. If you could tell me how to do that, like what equipment is >required and how it has to be set up, I'd really appreciate it. Four ways of playing sounds backwards: 1. If it's on a record and you've got a turntable that can stay on but put the motor in neutral, you can just drop the needle and spin the record backwards. It's kind of tricky to get the speed right, and the temptation to start doing rap-style scratching can become overwhelming (put a layer of wax paper between the record and the turntable platter if you want to scratch)... 2. If it's on cassette, swap the plus and minus sides of the DC power going to the motor and your tape deck will play backwards, I think. Never tried this one, but theoretically it's sound enough. Try it on a cheap Walkman first. 3. Get a 4-track cassette deck. They use all four tracks of a standard audio cassette going the same direction, so if you put the tape in wrong side up (that is, if what you want to hear is on side two, you put side one facing up) and listen to tracks one and two, you'll hear the backwards stuff. This is my favorite method because it's fast and the speed control is automatically taken care of. Unfortunately, most people don't own 4-track cassettes. 4. Digital sampling. Almost every sampler in the world can reverse the sound. It's one of the most basic algorithms in the world. Of course, in order to hear a long section of sound, you'll need a lot of memory. And if you lower the sampling rate to increase recording time, the sound quality will deteriorate. >Actually, >while I'm at it, I'll probably want to go back and listen to some of Kate's >backwards lyrics, so I can hear for myself what she's really saying.... I can't think of any places in the KT oeuvre where she's actually using backwards messages. Most of the "weird" stuff is done by listening to the backwards tape and then approximating the sounds heard. You record the approximations in reverse. When you finally flip the tape around to hear the finished product, the sound is very strange indeed, due to the human voice's inability to exactly mimic the reversed sound. On the other hand, here are some famous examples of backwards stuff that sounds quite cool when deciphered: 1. The Beatles - "Rain" -- doesn't say anything too exciting, but it's generally accepted as the first use of reversed tape in pop music. 2. Pink Floyd - "Empty Spaces" -- the secret message! (it's hiding on one channel, mixed really low...) 3. The B-52's - "Detour Thru Your Mind" -- I don't want to spoil the surprise, but this one will have you in stitches. 4. Prince - "Darling Nikki" -- Weird shit in that little "postlude" 5. The Beatles - "Revolution 9" -- Play the whole thing backwards. Gave me nightmares for a week. Turn me on dead man... -- jon drukman jondr@sco.com always note the sequencer: sco docland wage slave uunet!sco!jondr this will never let us down
GRF101@psuvm.psu.EDU (05/07/91)
Here is an easier(?) way to play cassette tapes backwards. The explana- tion may not be totally clear when reading it, but I think it should be clear enough if you do it with the tape in front of you. 1. Record the music on a cassette you don't care too much about, since this process may cause the tape to be slightly misaligned when finished, resulting in balance problems. Use a cassette that is held together by screws, not the really cheap ones that are held together by glue. 2. Rewind the tape so it is all on one reel. 3. With a small screwdriver (the kind used for eyeglass screws), remove the five screws that hold the cassette shell together. 4. With the cassette shell on a flat surface, top half up (i.e. the half with the screw holes in it), carefully remove the top half. The tape reels are now exposed; observe how the tape is threaded through the lower part of the cassette shell. 5. Pick up the reel that has all the tape on it, being careful to hold it at its edge so the tape doesn't unwind from it. Flip this reel over and replace it on the same hub. Now the tape feeds off the inner side of the reel instead of the outer side. 6. Re-thread the tape so that it is not twisted, and is properly seated in the cassette shell. Now the tape looks exactly as before, except the full reel is feeding from inner side. 7. Replace the top cassette shell and replace the screws. 8. Put the cassette in a player and wind all the tape from the full reel onto the empty one. (The capstans will be turning in opposite directions during this process.) 9. Now the tape is reversed and can be played normally as many times as you wish. You cannot record on this tape, since the oxide is on the wrong side and the erase head of the player is not strong enough to erase through the thickness of the tape. Also, the sound when playing is somewhat muffled, but it's good enough to make out backwards words. To restore the tape to normal, repeat the same process; however, there may be a slight, lingering alignment problem as noted above. --------------------------------------------------------------- ..Glenn Frantz.. grf101@psuvm.psu.edu frantz@endor.cs.psu.edu
donley@milton.u.washington.EDU (Erik Olson) (05/08/91)
jondr@sco.COM ("Jonathan S. Drukman") writes: >Four ways of playing sounds backwards: >2. If it's on cassette, swap the plus and minus sides of the DC power >going to the motor and your tape deck will play backwards, I think. >Never tried this one, but theoretically it's sound enough. Try it on >a cheap Walkman first. NO NO NO NO!!! Think about this for a second.... What you will do is unwind the tape on the takeup reel, causing it to spew out all over the pinch roller and possibly jam the tape. Remember kids, cassette decks only have one reel connected to the motor at a time. When you press play, it is the takeup reel that's "in gear". Always. However, with that said, here's a couple of ways I managed to play cassettes backwards: A. Open up the cassette and give the tape a half twist. B. If it's an autoreverse deck, switch the leads on the forward and reverse heads. Much better, of course, is to use an open reel deck, or as Jon said, a 4-tracker. -- Erik D. Olson donley@milton.u.washington.edu Quoth the raven... "Eat my shorts!" "BART!!!"
gobbel@cogsci.EDU (Randy Gobbel) (05/08/91)
Thanks for the suggestions, it turned out that I had the perfect tool right on my desk - a Macintosh. I borrowed a friend's MacRecorder, and it was really easy to turn the backward bits around. The reversed speech seems to be a message to the people who look for satanic messages recorded backwards in heavy metal music. Here's part of it: "Now, tell me about your miserable little life. I do not subscribe to your superstition, your narrow-minded paranoia. You will never stifle free speech in any country of the world..." I thought it was pretty cute. -Randy -- Internet: gobbel@ucsd.edu Sugar hiccup your Cheerios