If you've listened to pop music in the past 40 years, you've probably heard more than a few songs with a robotic sound. That's thanks to the vocoder, a device invented by Bell Labs, the research ...

The vocoder was never intended to change the music scene. In fact, it wasn’t meant for music at all. Its origins trace back a century, when engineer Homer Dudley at Bell Labs sought a more efficient ...

On Version History: how to play your voice like an instrument, with a little help from Chromeo. If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement. is ...

From Stevie Wonder and Queen to Vangelis and Dua Lipa, we bring you a short musical history of this influential vocoder When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission ...

Next up in our guide to making music with the internet's most capable freeware, we decode the mysteries of the vocoder When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.