The Manifattura Tabacchi recording booth, unique in Italy, is a place that was created to give a voice to musical projects and unconventional messages.
Set up in an old cargo lift in B9, MANIFATTURA TABACCHI Via delle Cascine 33 in Florence, it’s a modern version of the recording booths built in the United States from the 1940s until the 1970s. The most popular model at the time was the Voice-o-Graph®, similar in style to photobooths, where you could record thoughts or music and then send them all over the world.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frTClemja4Y
Jack White, the ex-frontman of the White Stripes and music producer, recorded an entire single, featuring the track Lazzaretto and a cover of Elvis Presley’s Power of My Love, using a recording booth from 1947 which had been perfectly preserved and was able to press the recordings directly to vinyl. This device was then installed at Third Man Records where musicians such as Neil Young, Richard Thompson and Brendan Benson have used it to record music.
Recording booths represented a real revolution in the world of recording – at the time, studios needed a considerable amount of equipment in order to press to vinyl – and they were used to send messages of love and hope to troops serving in World War II.
Created under the artistic direction of Matteo Gioli, LoudLift takes its inspiration directly from the Voice-o-Graph® and is able to record, after the purchase of a ‘token’, a 4-minute-long track onto a USB key.
For those who favour analogue over digital and would prefer to have their track on vinyl, all you have to do is leave the key in the letterbox outside the old cargo lift and in a couple of weeks you will receive your very own 45rpm, sent directly to a given address.
He took it aw fi me gon’ feeding aff ma soul
Oh he took it aw fi thee gon’ feeding aff yer soul
Gon’ take it back and mairHe took it aw fi me gon’ feeding aff ma soul
Oh he took it aw fi thee gon’ feeding aff yer soul
Gon’ take it back and mairHe took it aw fi me gon’ feeding aff ma soul
Oh he took it aw fi thee gon’ feeding aff yer soul
Gon’ take it back and mairBad blood, bad blood, bad blood, bad blood
John, you’ve got a weakness
You got a rival (bad blood)
John, you got a pistol
I got a rifle (bad blood)
I wasn’t born to be wicked (you got a rifle) (bad blood)
But John, John, John, I got a rifle (bad blood)He took it aw fi me gon’ feeding aff ma soul (bad blood)
Aw he took it aw fi me gon’ feeding aff ma soul (bad blood)
Aw he took it aw fi me gon’ feeding aff ma soul (bad blood)
Aw he took it aw fi me gon’ feeding aff ma soul (bad blood)
LoudLift is open every day from 10am to midnight. B9- MANIFATTURA TABACCHI Via delle Cascine 33 – Florence