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Minus-One recordings
Multitrack mixes with muted lead vocal tracks From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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In the Philippines, the Minus-One (commonly, albeit improperly, spelled "minus one"[1] without the hyphen) is a variant mix of a multi-track recording, wherein the lead vocal track of a song is muted for further use. In the Philippine recording industry of the 1980s, during the heyday of vinyl records, this variant was released as the "flip side"[2][3] of a commercial song's 7-inch single, but generally never a part of the Long Playing album containing the full-featured song. Succinctly, a B-side selection became referred to as "minus-one" because the lead vocal track is subtracted from the A-Side song's original mix.
The Minus-One is the patented name of the "Sing-Along System" karaoke machine invented by Filipino business executive Roberto del Rosario in 1975.[4] The term and the idea of records without vocals can be traced back to the Music Minus One company in the 1950s.[5]
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Record production genre
As a genre of record production in the Philippines,[6] the inclusion of a 'minus-one' Side-B reduced the production cost of a 45 RPM 7-inch "single" by foregoing the need for yet another song to occupy the 7-inch record's flip side.[7] It also encouraged buyers to "sing along" with the bonus accompaniment of the "hit single".
A "minus-one mix" would not necessarily be wholly instrumental, as backing vocals of the song's original mix may be retained. The concept of instrumental B-sides to complement their full versions became a production trend of the Philippine record industry of the 1980s, which was replicated overseas.[8] In the ensuing years, tracks from minus-one flip sides were assembled by production houses for their inclusion in compilations.[9][10]
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Examples of minus-one sides
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The following table illustrates early B-sides of Zsa Zsa Padilla's 45-RPM 7" Vinyl singles released by Blackgold Records. Many such vinyl sides have since been ported to other platforms, including VCD, videoke and free video sharing websites.
Other examples
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Minus-one is content, not equipment
The wave of "Minus-One" vinyl B-sides brought about a genre in the Philippine record industry, harvested by the cousins Vic del Rosario and Orly Ilacad,[12] co-owners and executive producers of Vicor Music Corporation and its offshoot record labels. They released the seminal 7-inch B-sides of minus-one recordings, later grouped together as minus-one compilations on cassette tape format, Compact Disks and later as online material.[13]
As sheer musical content, the instrumentals were a precursor to widespread recreational crooning at home and outside, its provenance[14] effectively traced to the Music Minus One products of the mid-1950s. In 1975, Filipino executive Roberto del Rosario patented his sing-along invention as Minus-One, popularly known as the karaoke machine, an interactive entertainment system without vocals.[4] As a Filipino trait[15] for festivity,[16] the allure for minus-one recordings crossed cultural barriers in the Philippines.[17][18][19]
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