Event overview
As part of the Visual Cultures Guest Lecture Series, writer Dave Tompkins will be speaking on the history of the vocoder
'How To Wreck A Nice Beach' traces the history of the vocoder from speech compression to secret telephony instrument for the Allies during World War II and on to its role in pop culture. Invented by Bell Labs in 1928, this device scrambled the phone calls of Churchill and FDR, transforming echelons into Cylons. During the Cold War, Nixon's future science advisor, Ed David, wrote that the vocoder would bring us closer to the robot. During the 1970's and '80s, the vocoder would be repurposed as the freak voice of hip-hop and electronic music. Also discussed: artificial larynges, the Sonovox, Auto-Tune, the Talk Box, cell phones, and the frog in your throat. We are clear.
DAVE TOMPKINS was born in North Carolina and now lives in Brooklyn. He has written for The Wire, Village Voice and The Believer. His book How To Wreck A Nice Beach:The Vocoder From World War II to Hip-Hop was named "Entertainment Book of the Year" by Amazon and was included in Village Voice's Top Ten books of 2010. More vocoder crosstalk can be found at howtowreckanicebeach.com.
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 17 Feb 2011 | 5:00pm - 7:00pm |
Accessibility
If you are attending an event and need the College to help with any mobility requirements you may have, please contact the event organiser in advance to ensure we can accommodate your needs.
