Vocoders, for those of you not familiar, were first invented as an encryption device.  Basically, they take two audio sources and use the amplitude of one to control signal to control the amplitude of the other.  What that means in practical terms is the robot vocal sound you hear on Daft Punk's Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger and most of their other songs.  Yes, it's the singing synthesizer thing.

In this WTF stage of creating material, I will give anything a go.  I decided to muck around with vocoders one afternoon as I had been compulsively listening to Black Moth Super Rainbow's lovely album Dandelion Gum.  It's a wonderful psychedelic affair.  Every song on the album has the word "sun" or "sunshine" in it.  And every vocal part is pure vocoder, Daft Punk-stylee.

I'm not using the vocoder like that.  One thing you can do with them is mix them in with the dry vocal, so the "singing synth" effect is an addition to the vocal, not the whole vocal sound.  This has provided me with a great tool for adding harmonies to my vocals live, and giving my other hand something to do on the keyboard (see previous post).

These examples have got me playing a synth sound using an arpeggiator in my left hand, controlling the synth that feeds the vocoder with the right, all the while wailing nonsense like a drunken sailor that will one day be replaced by actual singing with lyrics.

feel_like_a_renegade.mp3 (1.6 MB)

i_am_not_a_ragdoll.mp3 (1.4 MB)

peace_in_our_time.mp3 (1.3 MB)

take_me_as_you_are.mp3 (1.2 MB)