MATRIXSYNTH: Synthetic Soundlabs Pays a Rare Visit to Bell Lab's VODER Speech Synthesizer From 1939


Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Synthetic Soundlabs Pays a Rare Visit to Bell Lab's VODER Speech Synthesizer From 1939


Update: via Doug: "The console I’m playing is a recreation that was commissioned to me by current Bell Labs President Marcus Weldon. I’m seen here playing it prior to a BL event. Photo by Larry Fast. Also in attendance was Wally DeBacker (Gotye). you can see and hear me play it live on the PBS series 'Breakthrough: History of the Smart Phone' episode [might not be available in your area though]. Narrated by Patrick Stewart, and hosted by former editor of Popular Mechanics, Jim Meigs."

via Synthetic Sound Labs, click through for additional pics.

"For the first time in nearly 80 years, the VODER has been found – well at least some of it. Unfortunately, none of the operator consoles are known to have survived the various archive moves over the years.

On December 15, 2015, SSL’s President Doug Slocum was treated to unprecedented access to the AT&T Archives & History Center in Warren New Jersey to view and record the uncovering of two of the original equipment racks used to train VODER operators in preparation for the Bell System’s 1939 Worlds Fair exhibit."

Check out this post for an old black and white video demo of the VODER when working. You can find a handful of additional posts mentioning the VODER here.

This one was spotted and sent in via M Me.

No comments:

Post a Comment

To reduce spam, comments for posts older than one week are not displayed until approved, usually same day. Do not insult people. For items for sale, do not ask if it is still available. Check the auction link and search for the item. Auctions are from various sellers and expire over time. Posts remain for the pics and historical purposes. This site is meant to be a daily snapshot of some of what was out there in the world of synths.

PREVIOUS PAGE NEXT PAGE HOME


Patch n Tweak
Switched On Make Synthesizer Evolution Vintage Synthesizers Creating Sound Fundlementals of Synthesizer Programming Kraftwerk

© Matrixsynth - All posts are presented here for informative, historical and educative purposes as applicable within fair use.
MATRIXSYNTH is supported by affiliate links that use cookies to track clickthroughs and sales. See the privacy policy for details.
MATRIXSYNTH - EVERYTHING SYNTH