The vocoder—part military technology, part musical instrument—has had quite a history. In our new Object of Interest video, we explore the vocoder in settings ranging from the Second World War ...

Dave Tompkins is an acclaimed music journalist. His new book, How To Wreck A Nice Beach, is a history of the vocoder from its military applications to its musical ones.

Development was at first concentrated in this field, but when a successful Voder became assured, attention was shifted back to the broader and parent system and it was called the 'vocoder', since ...