Interesting backmasking article....

[Jonathan]

http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_2618040 is the link...

Backmasking: Old theory, new spin
'Backmasking,' the idea that recordings have hidden messages when played in reverse, gathers new momentum in the digital age
By Bob Mims
The Salt Lake Tribune

It is one of our most enduring conspiracy theories: Rock 'n' roll albums often contain intentionally reverse-recorded messages from the dark side.

Now nearly four decades old, the debate over so-called "backmasking" has been resurrected thanks to the advent of digital music and easy-to-use editing software. No more spinning that vinyl record backward on a turntable: Satan, apparently, has gone binary.

Enter "backmasking" into the Google search engine and nearly 9,000 sites pop up. One of them is "Stairway to Heaven: Backwards" (http://jeffmilner.com/backmasking.htm), a site established by Jeff Milner, a 25-year-old student, part-time lifeguard and bed salesman.

"As a kid, a cousin of mine told me he took his 'Stairway to Heaven' record and played it backwards hearing some kind of satanic message," Milner says. "I never had a chance to hear it myself. . . . Then when the technology came along to do it on the computer, I jumped at the chance."

He copied the song from the 1971 Led Zeppelin al- bum onto his hard drive, then used the Windows Sound Recorder application to reverse it. He found what sounded like lines about the devil. Well, sort of.

At first listen, the clip, among many on his site, does seem to have someone muttering about "my sweet Satan." Play it again, with the supposed reverse lyrics on-screen, and it seems a clearer, more complete ode to ol' Beelzebub.

"The response I received was amazing," says Milner, who nonetheless remains skeptical that the message is more than coincidental or a chance combination of backward syllables sounding like speech. "Within a month or so, my e-mail was being flooded."

In the little more than a year, Milner has logged nearly 2.5 million unique visitors just on the "Stairway to Heaven" clip.

There are other examples, but you will need to strain to make out "Paul is a dead man . . ." from a backward portion of "I'm So Tired" off the 1969 Beatles album, "Abbey Road." And while there might be a secretive "It's fun to smoke marijuana" in Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust," it takes a sensitive ear, indeed, to catch "I love Satan" secreted beneath the "Pokemon Rap."

Milner finds the backmasking phenomenon fascinating, but has concluded it's "nothing more than the power of suggestion."

Experts tend to agree. In their 1985 study, collegiate psychologists John Vokey and Don Read played Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" and the 23rd Psalm backwards; subjects typically did not hear hidden phrases untilVokey and Read suggested them.

"The short answer is that delivering subliminal messages via backward masking is totally and ridiculously impossible," says Mark D. Allen, a psychology professor at Brigham Young University.

"The brain just doesn't work that way," he notes.

Adds Don Sinex, a Utah State University colleague: "Speech played backwards is unintelligible, even in the absence of a competing sound. It's simply not plausible to think that backward speech could be understandable when embedded in music."

Well, unless the messages are intentionally dubbed in by musicians as either an artistic statement, or a gibe at particularly obsessive fans.

Pink Floyd's song "Empty Spaces," for example, hides a "gotcha" comment: "Congratulations! You have just discovered the secret message."

Music parodist Weird Al Yankovic hid "Satan eats Cheez Whiz" in his song, "Nature Trail to Hell." And even the Christian rock group Petra got into the act with its hit, "Judas Kiss," reverse-recording the message: "What are you looking for the devil for, when you ought to be looking for the Lord?"

Still, for a segment of conservative Christian America - even some Muslims - backmasking remains a spiritual threat.

On his Web site http://rossolson.org, Christian commentator Ross Olson allows that some bands - think Marilyn Manson, or Ozzy Osbourne in his early, crazy days - created intentionally dark imagery "as a publicity stunt, but many have gotten deeply into occult symbols . . .

"Their music appeals to youth and their beliefs and lifestyle are imitated," he warns.

[brent]

I did my senior thesis on the subject of subliminals and backword masking.

Backward masking, in the sense that it effects your subconscious when it is being played forward, is a farce! BUT. That is not to say that some artists who are heavily influenced by Satan do not have it, or something else embedded into their lyrics. It would have to be sought out and highlighted to be noticed. It was never realized until pot-heads and acid droppers started spinning records backwards. Not one minute beforehand.

The reason why I know backward masking in the sense that preachers and parents of suicidal nutcasses freak out about it is this:

1. It was made up by a preacher.
2. The auditory system (ear/brain) doesn't process masked sounds. It masks any sound that is 10dB lower than the loudest sound. This is called the HAAS effect. HAAS was a German scientist that figured this out. If we heard all sounds equally, we would be VERY confused and out of balance (physically). To hear backward masking, you must negate this rule.
3. The auditory system does not decipher reversed sounds, because it would have to hear the reversed section from end to beginning to understand it. Then it would be backwards anymore would it?
4. No two listeners can hear the same thing, and come up with the same answer. It is never plain. It is ALWAYS SUGGESTED (and that forces you to hear it subconsciously) what you should be hearing. If no two listeners can pick out the exact same message when heavily concentrating on it being played backwards, then how can you get it the first time at full volume, fully aware of what it says going forward, with the ear masking anything else, and only able to hear and process what is coming at it analog style?
5. It is a crock of big old smelly crapola, good for marketing. The Beatles started it with Number 9. They started the whole progressive rock thing, breaking all of the traditional rules. It was at a time when sales were slipping. They had gimmicks to keep the Beatles name elevated. Another song was made to say that "Paul is dead". On the album cover they have Paul without shoes walking across Abby Road. That was a sign that he was dead. There are tons of bands that did this intentionally. Let's not give the devil too much credit. SATAN IS NOT THE DEMONIC EQUAL TO GOD! Satan is a created being. He was equal to Michael the Arch Angel. A cherub, not a choir director, not a praise leader. That is NOT in scripture ANYWHERE! He did not create anything. He causes man to act. He can't do anything but morph himself to APPEAR like an angel of light, seek and destroy.

Check out Michael Sweet's website. He used to have a link to some spooky backward masking that praises God in Stryper songs.

[SkyCaptain]

That's some really interesting stuff. Thanks for both of your posts.

Mark

[epdc]

interesting, thanks jon for posting it.

some people says that the music you hear on the supermarkets (at least here) have subliminal messages like "buy more" and stuff like that. I don`t think so because we are not that sophisticated in mexico hahahahahahaha.

[Shell]

I wondered why I suddenly wanted that lobster from the seafood section, LOL.

[brent]

Yes, it is true that some people maketed anti-theft and "buy this" subliminal tapes to grocery store chains in the 70's and 80's. These were not backward masking, but ultra-high frequency, fast-forwarded messages. But they turned out to be of no effect, because the brain doesn't process them either, and cassette tape does not allow for the extended frequency response to even record, much less play it back. Combine that with the crappo quality of the average tape player and paging system in the stores....Somebody got rich by selling a box of rocks.

Toyota had subliminal frames in their "Oh what a feeling, Toyota!" commercials, when people were jumping in the air. They were busted by the US government.

Movie theaters have used the same thing, slipping in images of coke and popcorn into trailers, messages, etc. Some used to use an air ventilation system to put the smell of pop corn into the theaters. This is a form of subliminals.

[SkyCaptain]

With the ridiculous cost of popcorn and other snacks at theaters (not to mention soaring ticket prices), it doesn't surprise me that they'd pull something like that.

[epdc]

skycaptain: GIVE ME 5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Shell: HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! maybe some people like YOU DO process those subliminal messages lol.

[johntheumfreak]

.gniksam drawkcab fo aedi eht yb dezama syawla saw i ,em rof gintseretni yrev yrev si elcitra sihT

[epdc]

it took me almost a minute to read that

[brent]

dorL eht rof gnikool eb attuo ay nehw rof lived eht rof gnikool ay era tahw

[johntheumfreak]

dorL eht rof gnikool eb attuo ay nehw rof lived eht rof gnikool ay era tahw

erut erut

[Michael]

Ow-nay eye-may ed-hay urts-hay.

[SkyCaptain]

epdc: You got 5!

[epdc]

i hate you all!!!!!!!!