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.

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Half art book, half music nerd bathroom reading, Dave Tompkins' long-in-the-works history of the vocoder, "How to Wreck a Nice Beach," chronicles the sound synthesizing system's ...

Get more of a good thing! Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

There are few sounds that encapsulate electronic music like the sound of the vocoder. That sound of the robots singing: that’s a vocoder! The only problem is, they can be a tad tricky to use, but ...