The vocoder has been truly instrumental in the progression of electronic music, pun intended. The application of this device is now common place in music today from Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek" to Out of the Blue's "Mr. Blue Sky" the application of the vocoder can be heard in many sonic locations. The vocoder also lead to such innovations as Peter Frampton's talkbox.
The first musical application of the vocoder may have been in Siemens Studio for Electronic music in 1959. Then along came Dr. Robert Moog developing the first solid state vocoder making the musical use far more practical. Then just a year later, Bruce Haack built a prototype vocoder and featured it on his album "The Electric Lucifer" later that year.
I personally think the vocoder is a wonderful instrument. It allows the user to create and shape a certain emphasis that could not otherwise be portrayed with out the use of multiple vocalists. For this same reason the vocoder is equally astounding from an engineering stand point. Though the timbre is portrayed in a different manner, more control over the expressiveness is available.
No comments:
Post a Comment