vocoders today

When we first discussed vocoders in Elektor, a few years ago, they were still relatively unknown. Since then, interest in this type of sound-effect system has grown at an astonishing rate. Especially where the popular music vocoder is concerned, the number of different manufacturers and types seems to be increasing exponentially and the end is nowhere near in sight. There is every reason, therefore, to take another look at the vocoder phenomenon -especially since we have now reached the point where we can describe a vocoder circuit specifically designed for the home constructor! More on that next month; first, we will recap the back-ground and basic principles of vocoders briefly, so that everyone knows what we`re talking about.