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 original Battlestar Galactica and the Transformers animated series both used the same effect to create a distinct voice.

A few weeks ago, the music writer Dave Tompkins took a podium in one of NYU’s many windowless annexes to promote his upcoming book, How To Wreck a Nice Beach: The Vocoder From World War II To Hip-Hop.

Minimal Audio is the Minnesota-based software developer behind popular plugins like Current and Rift, tools that balance user-friendly playability with creative firepower and sonic experimentation.