Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2017 June 9

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June 9

A booth where you record your own record

I've seen them in movies. I just took a pic of this. It is a KTV recording booth. Any idea what that record booth thing is called so I can maybe add this KTV pic to it? Anna Frodesiak (talk) 02:49, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

Here's a recent Beijing Review article calling it "KTV booth" and/or "karaoke booth" (this karaoke allows customers to "record and share their performance with their smartphone"). The closest we have is the improvable article on Karaoke box. ---Sluzzelin talk 03:10, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

Hi Sluzzelin. Karaoke box, eh? Interesting. So, I've been looking here and at commons. We seem to have nothing on those booths that have been around for a hundred years. You know, you sing and it presses a record for you. I think we need an article on this with the KTV thingy as a variant. Anna Frodesiak (talk) 03:21, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

Convenience links(s):

• Demo (music)
• Recording studio
• Karaoke box
• Booth (nothing there, but if you say "booth" too many times, you go nuts)
• Sound recording and reproduction

So what would a search engine want to help find this? Maybe Library of Congress or the like might have an old pic. What were they called? Anna Frodesiak (talk) 03:29, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

I know exactly the type you mean, but wasn't sure that's what your picture showed. I found some mentionings at Production_of_gramophone_records#Home_recording, including the Voice-O-Graph (which is the one I think I once saw for sale at a specialty shop). Here are some more links on the Voice-O-Graph: BBC World Service, Museum Of Obsolete Media---Sluzzelin talk 03:45, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

Hi Sluzzelin. The pic above is some sort of booth. You go in. Pay. It plays a video. You sing. It records. It gives you your voice and their instrumental track as a recording to....a cloud where you can get it? A CD? Not sure how they give it to you.

Now, that Voice-O-Graph is great. Getting warmer. Not sure how it is "profitable!!!!" but the ad is a gem. I also learned something new. "It is a fundemental fact that no one can resist the chance to make personal recordings..." Who knew? :) Anna Frodesiak (talk) 04:02, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

(Wow, where have you been living? Everyone knows that fundamental fact!) As for pictures on Commons, I only found pictures of the records, not of the booth: File:Voice O Graph da 080904.jpg and File:Sprechender Brief -- 2015 -- 6008.jpg ("talking letter", another instance where German uses "sprechend", see three threads above) which led me to discover that Danish WP has a stub on the Voice-O-Graph. ---Sluzzelin talk 04:06, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

Hmmmm, yes, but that is not quite it. Anna Frodesiak (talk) 04:21, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

I wonder if we can steal that advert? It is pretty old. But how old? And it is hilarious. Ironically, "6'9", 400 lbs, and a thousand times more thrilling!" was exactly what the newspapers said after a performance by Luciano Pavarotti.

Seriously, if we can get a name rather than a brand name for those old singing demo record booths, then that would be great. We could have a shot at an old photo and google books ought to have content on it. It's not looking good at the moment, though. Anna Frodesiak (talk) 04:21, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

Now I remember, was there a movie about Loretta Lynn or someone with that Men in Black guy. They made such a recording, I think. I'll dig. Anna Frodesiak (talk) 04:23, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

Conclusion

I'm giving up. I'll get a better pic to upload for Karaoke box. Thanks for finding that for me.

I looked and looked and don't think there's anything out there for this old record-making booth. Thanks for the feedback, though. Anna Frodesiak (talk) 04:35, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

(after edit-conflicting with Anna's admission of defeat, and the film is Coal Miner's Daughter, but I don't remember that scene; which means nothing). "Automatic recording booths" doesn't get a lot of hits, but would disambiguate them from studio isolation booths which don't swallow coins. I guess they could then be categorized as vending machines (and mentioned in that article). ---Sluzzelin talk 04:43, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

Darn, blogspot is blocked here in China. Anyhow, we were close! And I realize now that in Coal Miner's Daughter, she recorded at a studio, I think. Anna Frodesiak (talk) 04:49, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

That is a shame. I guess I shouldn't post the entire text, but it mentions Amusement Equipment Company Ltd's "Voice Records" machines introduced at the 1935 Olympia radio show. ("Anyone could cut a 78 rpm disc for just 6d in department stores, at the end of piers and railway stations").

Later (1960s), the "Calibre" Auto Recording Machines by the British Automatic Company, with the slogan "make your own record in 3 minutes" on the booths. ("For half-a-crown (2s 6d) you could now make your own unique, one of a kind, 45 rpm disc.")

The blog also mentions the "Fono Post" service in the Netherlands of the 1950s, using the same or similar booths as the Voice Records machines imported from the UK. ("The idea was that the user would purchase a special token, and could 'Step Up To The Mike' and record a personal message at their local participating Post Office. Judging by the scarcity of the Dutch 5" aluminium discs, the service was neither successful nor long lasting.") Our article on Fonopost is about a similar service in Argentina where they used "special mobile recording vans". ---Sluzzelin talk 05:15, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

Hmmmm, do you think this worth a stub? Links to *Demo (music), Recording studio, Vending machine, Photo booth, Karaoke box, Sound recording and reproduction would send visitors to it. It is old enough that a photo could be found. Thoughts? Anna Frodesiak (talk) 05:23, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

I definitely think it's worth a whole colorful article! (and thank you for bringing this fascinating yet neglected topic to our attention) but we'd need reliable sources covering the variety and history. Unfortunately I suck at photos and copyright and all that. ---Sluzzelin talk 05:27, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

Okay, well let's give this post a few days and maybe others will find some good google books sources and content. As for pics, I'll look. If they're old enough, they may be fair game. Anna Frodesiak (talk) 05:36, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

Thanks! I forgot to mention that the blog post was written by BBC Radio 4's Alan Dein, so it might count as a reliable source. ---Sluzzelin talk 05:46, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

I'm late to the party, but Neil Young recently recorded an album using this 1940s technology. See [1] and A Letter Home. The first link has a picture of the device. --Xuxl (talk) 12:57, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

More of a sidebar than any real help; but in searching for stuff about this, I happened on a newspaper review of Voices (1979 film), according to which the film's opening scene features the Michael Ontkean character making a recording at a coin-operated booth of the sort in question. Deor (talk) 16:47, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

One of these machines also plays an important role in Graham Greene's Brighton Rock, and in a watered-down version, the 1947 film of the novel. --Viennese Waltz 09:44, 13 June 2017 (UTC)

Batman vs. Superman

Out of which animation(s) did they create the entitled movie form? 116.58.205.46 (talk) 05:28, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice doesn't mention animation, but comic book storylines from The Dark Knight Returns and The Death of Superman as sources of inspiration. (But maybe I misunderstood your question). ---Sluzzelin talk 05:33, 9 June 2017 (UTC)