Farad: The Electric Voice

Adventures with the Vocoder

By Hua Hsu, eMusic Contributor

There is a primordial glee that comes with donning a mask and pretending like you're Frederick Douglass, or a flapper, or Spider-Man - anyone but yourself. But to alter one's voice - this is a more subtle delight. You probably recognize the sound of the vocoder, even if you've never heard the name. The vocoder is a speech synthesis system that changes the human voice into a robotic purr, allowing users to disguise themselves behind… more »