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 ...

On his 1982 album Trans, Young used the vocoder to empathize with his son's struggles with communication, a result of his cerebral palsy. Neil Young was then sued by Geffen for not sounding like Neil ...

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 ...

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.