About this episode
This episode explores the history and impact of the vocoder on music and technology.
The vocoder was never meant to change the music business – it wasn’t meant for music at all. But the research that started a century ago as a way to cheaply move voices over telephone wires took on a life of its own: It turned into a crucial bit of secret military technology, and then inspired generations of musicians to play their own voices like an instrument. On this episode, with the help of Switched on Pop’s Charlie Harding and the electro-funk duo Chromeo, we tell the full story of the vocoder and all that it made possible. Check out this episode's companion playlist on Spotify! We’re also on video! Check us out on YouTube. Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed. We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
People in this episode
Host: The Verge
Guests: Charlie Harding, Chromeo
Topics covered
- vocoder
- music technology
- military technology
- history of music
- electro-funk
Keywords
- vocoder
- music business
- telephone technology
- military technology
- electro-funk
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The Verge
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