Why has it become trendy again to use that bloody vocoder on vocals? It always reminds me of Cher's Believe - brilliant then but very 1997.

Check out the Tinchy Stryder hit.

An interesting point, although history has proven that on the Cher track it was not a vocoder.

This from Sound on Sound.

"Cher's 'Believe' (Dec 1998) was the first commercial recording to feature the audible side-effects of Antares Auto-tune software used as a deliberate creative effect. The (now) highly recognisable tonal mangling occurs when the pitch correction speed is set too fast for the audio that it is processing and it became one of the most over-used production effects of the following years.

In February 1999, when this (original) Sound On Sound article was published, the producers of this recording were apparently so keen to maintain their 'trade secret' process that they were willing to attribute the effect to the (then) recently-released Digitech Talker vocoder pedal. As most people are now all-too familiar with the 'Cher effect', as it became known, we have maintained the article in its original form as an interesting historical footnote."

As a record producer I would say that its used as a crutch to add something that is looked at as interesting to kids, by beat programmers that no little about arrangement, or even how to play an instrument.

The democratization of music by Digidesign and Antares, that allows less talented people to produce infinite amounts of crap, many times going to the top of he charts.

Now this may sound harsh but its true. Do you think Quincy or Phil Ramone or even younger guys like Guy Chambers etc from my generation (or indeed myself), would be using these programs as instruments.

Its a staple of Britney Spears as she can't sing. (ever hear her isolated vocal tracks?)

I might use it to correct a bad note, yes, but that's it.

There seems to be a backlash about it going on.

Loved the pseudo Kylie Heineken Robot advert though!

I don`t about you GG, but I scream and howl very loudly when I hear a sound that has been used from any piece of studio hardware that has been dumped on a track un-altered. But then , I guess the music is made for people that on the whole do not care, but many sections of interlude made for TV music , would be the final joke when linked together for the last dance of the End of Year Producers Ball if there was one, much like , back in the eighties we could have played a jaunty game of "Name That Sample"!.( Do you remember the Japanese Orchestra stabs that were very popular for a while after Trevor Horn used them?)

What, a famous vocoder thread? Are we on CompuServe or what? This will bring out the ageing rockers.

Kraftwerk, "wir fahrn, fahrn, fahrn auf der autobahn". Lots of Telex, "Moskow Diskow". "Baby Blue" (can't remember who "sang" it - Moroder?).

I suspect that the reason it is popular now is the same it was back then: it's cheap and cheerful.

It is quite ironic really, incredibly cheap to produce music with an almost "punk rock" type ethic, although no hint or rebellion change or aggression.

I still feel that Moroder`s finest work, was the (at the time) cliche ridden work "Number 1 in Heaven" for Sparks. Syn drum, sequencers, vocoder, the full works but oddly enough, it now sounds current again, the key being, the clever use of real drums.

Good piece about this topic...

blogs.telegraph.co.uk/neil_mccormick/blo...ous_rise_of_autotune

Strangely enough some of the younger vocalists are emulating the Autotune twang when they sing.

They have no or little idea what it is but they hear it and copy it.

For my ears it is a horrible thing.

I like vocoders and use them, being an own instrument to make vocals sound like spoken through a synthesizer.

Autotune, however, is a completely different matter, I do not like the classic Cher effect that you seem to hear in a couple of releases, it doesn´t even have retro electronicea charme (when you use Autotune as a hearable effect)

And what about the indie bands with their LOUDHAILERS !! Another great effect !!!

Posh Spice has to take the award for the most effected vocals though