The Voder: 1939, the worlds first electronic voice synthesizer

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  • Опубліковано 23 гру 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 878

  • @dorianperry2297
    @dorianperry2297 5 років тому +790

    "We don't anticipate any commercial use for the Voder." Little did they know...

    • @ZuraTheCat
      @ZuraTheCat 4 роки тому +12

      Wait.. can I buy one?

    • @okunote5805
      @okunote5805 4 роки тому +60

      @@ZuraTheCat i think they're referring to vocaloid/voiceroid and similar products ^^

    • @manwhat4432
      @manwhat4432 4 роки тому +33

      @@ZuraTheCat well, there's a Voder voice in Chipspeech

    • @arianamarie8442
      @arianamarie8442 4 роки тому +11

      @@manwhat4432 did they manage to replicate this one? I've searched for examples of its voice everywhere, but I can't find any. I'm considering buying it, but without an example of his voice I'm pretty unsure.

    • @simpsonmom
      @simpsonmom 3 роки тому +8

      @@arianamarie8442 there's a demo you can try

  • @dalebaker9109
    @dalebaker9109 7 років тому +956

    brilliant, 78 years ago, we had a voice synthesizer. that is beyond amazing.

    • @acf2802
      @acf2802 5 років тому +83

      Considering its functionality as such is completely reliant on the skill of an operator requiring "a year of constant practice" I would say it qualifies more as a musical instrument.

    • @dvoraj20
      @dvoraj20 5 років тому +9

      @@acf2802 I believe that Dale was talking about Mrs Harper here, not just the machine.

    • @elirosenkim3659
      @elirosenkim3659 5 років тому +19

      @@acf2802 all synthesizers are musical instruments

    • @Alan_One1
      @Alan_One1 5 років тому +3

      Some Dieselpunk stuff right here.

    • @user2C47
      @user2C47 5 років тому +5

      It might be possible to make it automatic, but each word would have to be programmed manually.

  • @ConstantThrowing
    @ConstantThrowing 5 років тому +381

    This lady must know this machine to an extreme degree of detail. What a powerhouse.

    • @RogerTheil
      @RogerTheil 5 років тому +62

      Out of 300+ women training on this thing, she made the cut for the tech demo. That speaks for itself.

    • @bengelman2600
      @bengelman2600 5 місяців тому +3

      Reminds me of the theremin. Dude that made it was good, lady was amazing. Girls are no joke.

    • @justinfleming5119
      @justinfleming5119 2 місяці тому +1

      3:45

    • @TzOk
      @TzOk 2 місяці тому +3

      This was pretty typical for early machines, that the operator must know well the principles of their operation. Not different was with early cars, not to mention early computers.

    • @NuntiusLegis
      @NuntiusLegis Місяць тому

      It probably was a dreadful process to operate the machine, in partriarchy, usually the most dreadful work is done by women. That's why the first programmers, who neded to program directly in the binary system or even by rewiring, were all female. I guess to escape this, it was also a woman, Kathleen Booth, who inventend the first symbolic programming language, Assembler.

  • @inzane86
    @inzane86 7 років тому +1167

    10 years later it got it's wish to become a real boy, and founded Kraftwerk.

    • @cdibradshaw82
      @cdibradshaw82 6 років тому +57

      truly an operator of a pocket calculator

    • @Switcher1972
      @Switcher1972 5 років тому +18

      Truly a future man machine...

    • @ThomasNimmesgern
      @ThomasNimmesgern 5 років тому +16

      In their sparetime, they pretend to be robots driving on a German highway.
      Die Fahrbahn ist ein graues Band, mit weißen Streifen, grüner Rand.

    • @thiesenf
      @thiesenf 5 років тому +16

      And it also play music nonstop...

    • @littlebritain64
      @littlebritain64 5 років тому +12

      Uno, due, tre-quatro (quattro😄).

  • @HazeAnderson
    @HazeAnderson 6 років тому +739

    "Helen you are so silly. Let's her him recite:" INTERGALACTIC PLANETARY PLANETARY INTERGALACTIC

    • @JuniorJr...
      @JuniorJr... 6 років тому +34

      "Another dimension, another dimension"...

    • @michaelallen2418
      @michaelallen2418 6 років тому +2

      Zen Intergalactic "Planetary" Ninja. Silly stuff. Crash dummy test pilot.

    • @BubsCC
      @BubsCC 6 років тому +11

      DECEARING EGG

    • @darynvoss7883
      @darynvoss7883 6 років тому +3

      L I M P
      Spell it
      Discover

    • @YKW-YouKnowWhat
      @YKW-YouKnowWhat 5 років тому +2

      lol, nearly got heart attack

  • @TracksWithDax
    @TracksWithDax 6 років тому +304

    Man, hats off to Ms. Harper... this is actually way more complex than playing piano, even!

    • @niccster1061
      @niccster1061 5 років тому +19

      @MorbidManMusic I have played a large variety of instruments before and I can tell you that piano is very simple. Sure you can play very impressive things with it but it is very limited to only a few factors. Things like the vodor have an immensely difficult learning curve because of all of the factors you must control. The entry level difficulty for the vodor is much more difficult than with piano

    • @merendobereglidditz9304
      @merendobereglidditz9304 5 років тому +10

      True! Like piano, organ and steno
      machine at the same time.
      Throw in a foot operated loom, too.
      Wow.

    • @Guitcad1
      @Guitcad1 5 років тому +5

      I would compare it to playing pedal steel guitar.

    • @havokmusicinc
      @havokmusicinc 5 років тому +4

      More like a full organ with multiple manuals (keyboards), a pedal set, and stops (switches which change the timbre be engaging or disengaging sets of pipes).

    • @King_Flippy_Nips
      @King_Flippy_Nips 5 років тому +2

      what about homer dudley who invented it and also speech synthesis, didgtal compression and digital encryption/decryption, we wouldnt have modern computers or the internet or cell phones and satellite communication without his groundwork

  • @matrixate
    @matrixate 5 років тому +506

    This was profoundly advanced for the 1940s.

    • @TheMrPeteChannel
      @TheMrPeteChannel 4 роки тому +31

      1930s ;)

    • @mattdonmovies
      @mattdonmovies 3 роки тому +9

      @@TheMrPeteChannel it was almost the 40`s

    • @ff-qf1th
      @ff-qf1th 3 роки тому +12

      @@mattdonmovies then it would be the late 30's

    • @ImSumGuy
      @ImSumGuy 3 роки тому +17

      Take into account this was recorded in 1939, and the woman said they took about a year to learn, assuming they didn't all try to learning at the same time (a class of 300+ is practically impossible, especially for non-commercial equipment where production is limited), all things considered, the earliest I'd deduce this to be in active development with prototype would be 1937. Wikipedia validates this saying it was invented 1937-1938, indicating uncertainty to the exact date of first prototype, likely due to related work the inventor was doing.

    • @buddyguy4723
      @buddyguy4723 3 роки тому +1

      @@ImSumGuy they probably had one machine giving 1 hour lessons per day per girl over one year.

  • @MrLewooz
    @MrLewooz 5 років тому +170

    who thought about the HOURS the operator, this brilliant woman, spent on that bloody machine before extracting the sounds for this demonstration....

    • @Avetho
      @Avetho 4 роки тому +21

      She was skilled beyond measure compared to just about everyone today. Its too bad Helen Harper is probably no longer in the land of the living, she was certainly an adult in 1939, that assumes she was born in perhaps 1920 at the latest, more likely 1915 or so since in photos she appears to be mid-20s, so that's over 100 years ago. But wow, realtime speech synthesis, her skills were at the level of replying via machine-voice at the same speed that it would take her to reply with her own vocal cords! She basically rewired her own brain by sheer will and hours of practice to be capable of two individual modes of speech!

    • @MichaelWeaser
      @MichaelWeaser 4 роки тому +7

      @@Avetho Helen Harper was born in 1918 and passed away in 2010 : www.northcountrynow.com/obituaries/helen-harper-92-formerly-norwood

    • @mr_silver_eyes
      @mr_silver_eyes 5 місяців тому

      Seeing a woman working in a field like this was definitely rare in those days.

  • @Slarti
    @Slarti 5 років тому +175

    As a software developer what I find so amazing is that they developed something that had no real use, but the work in developing this probably yielded some very important technologies or understandings.
    It's s shame that nowadays so much of what we spend money on has to have a use or what we call in the software world a 'use case' .
    Sometimes discovery and play are good enough reasons in themselves.

    • @dockdrumming
      @dockdrumming 5 років тому +4

      Spot on.

    • @jeopardy60611
      @jeopardy60611 3 роки тому +6

      Like I said in another comment, the problem with the Voder was that it had to be operated by a person. Speech synthesis only became useful when it was built into computers. I actually find this video fascinating because I'm a computer programmer and do automated phone applications, one of which is a voice internet service that reads email and web pages with text-to-speech. I got interested in doing that because of discovering synthetic speech devices as a kid, such as arcade games like Berzerk and Gorf, a voice-enabled chess computer, and a Speak & Spell.

    • @eog1234
      @eog1234 2 роки тому +4

      It might have changed some mutes life at the time though

    • @jonp4846
      @jonp4846 5 місяців тому

      There was a lot of discovery and play going on at Bell Labs back then.

    • @lecapitaineisonyoutoob
      @lecapitaineisonyoutoob 2 місяці тому +1

      LEDs are another example. Basically useless for several decades outside of edge cases, then gradual breakthroughs in colour and efficiency left lightbulbs in the dust.

  • @joesmoe71
    @joesmoe71 5 років тому +246

    Still easier to understand than half the people I work with.

  • @wardrich
    @wardrich 5 років тому +89

    The person working the Voder is the real champ. That keyboard + FX chain must have taken forever to master.

    • @King_Flippy_Nips
      @King_Flippy_Nips 5 років тому +6

      yea i guess homer dudley who invented it was a chump he only invented speech synthesis, digital compression and digital encryption/decryption, we wouldnt have modern computers or the internet or cell phones and satellite communication without his groundwork

  • @佐助うちは
    @佐助うちは 7 років тому +1624

    The grandpa of Vocaloid.

    • @nolongeractive8257
      @nolongeractive8257 6 років тому +110

      more like great-great grandfather of ALL vocal synths

    • @feralferret
      @feralferret 5 років тому +52

      Vocaloid isn't a true voice synthesiser, it's more a mixing method of splicing pre-recorded snippets. A true synthesiser generates the sound without samples.

    • @MakkusuOtaku
      @MakkusuOtaku 5 років тому +26

      @@feralferret Not really, it does synthesis to a degree. Like in longer notes and such. Of course some of the newer ones are a bit more complicated

    • @romo2674
      @romo2674 5 років тому +15

      The father of Vocoder.

    • @jeopardy60611
      @jeopardy60611 5 років тому +4

      As I said in a previous comment, the only thing missing is the automated control of a computer. I suppose that if you talk about doing Vocaloid where you add a vocal electronically to a song, it would only work with a live performance with Helen having to produce the speech on the fly. She could probably "play" the voder to sing Auld Lang Syne with a band. But it takes a computer to lay the vocal down as a recorded track and keep it in sync with everything else recorded in a song.

  • @-lightswitch-2916
    @-lightswitch-2916 5 років тому +449

    “SHE saw me.”
    “She saw meee!”
    “She saaaw me!”

  • @buddyclem7328
    @buddyclem7328 5 років тому +394

    Helen, could you have him say, "Domo arigato Mister Roboto"?

    • @DARisse-ji1yw
      @DARisse-ji1yw 5 років тому +5

      Please don't.

    • @jeopardy60611
      @jeopardy60611 5 років тому +7

      The effect in the Styx song is done with a Vocoder, which takes an audio signal with speech and makes it sound like a robot. The Voder actually produces speech.

    • @buddyclem7328
      @buddyclem7328 5 років тому +5

      @@jeopardy60611 Yes. If you look deeper into how a vocoder works, you'll find that the voder is half of a vocoder. We use a version of the vocoder daily every time we use the telephone, and that's why phone calls sound funny. Vocoders are my favorite musical effect, since I grew up in the 1970s.

    • @jeopardy60611
      @jeopardy60611 5 років тому +1

      @@buddyclem7328 I'm very disappointed that cell phones, cable phones, and other VOIP phones sound inferior to a traditional landline, but even though I got a landline when I moved into my new place 2 years ago, everyone I call has a phone that sounds horrible, so I can't understand people on the phone. It's almost as bad as 100 years ago when phones weren't amplified and you could hardly hear on them, as I tried out an early phone in a museum once.

    • @buddyclem7328
      @buddyclem7328 5 років тому

      @@jeopardy60611 I think that land lines have also degraded in quality. Since there are so many phone companies, and so many types of phone service now, it could be caused by encoding and decoding the audio stream multiple times and using different methods of encoding. Lag is the hardest part for me to get used to, followed by the uncertainty that I can be heard. It also bothers me that I cannot disable Caller ID on incoming calls.

  • @AllUsernamesTaken
    @AllUsernamesTaken 7 років тому +485

    That takes hella talent to control.

    • @l3p3
      @l3p3 5 років тому +4

      No, just practise.

    • @niccster1061
      @niccster1061 5 років тому +45

      @@l3p3 no. Practice creates talent. So both of you are right

    • @Qui-9
      @Qui-9 5 років тому +28

      @@l3p3 if you listened to the video, you'd have understood that less than 10% of anyone could operate it sufficiently after an entire year of practice. So yes, talent was required.

    • @IPODsify
      @IPODsify 5 років тому +4

      It seems there aren't enough buttons on it for this to be a legitimate product. Unless the buttons are individual phonemes? Well there are like 30 phonemes in standard English so I'm curious

    • @TheSunshineGroup
      @TheSunshineGroup 5 років тому +3

      @@niccster1061 so does that explain the 6 year old piano prodigies?
      Do you not believe it born talent?

  • @AriaTheSongKeeper
    @AriaTheSongKeeper 4 роки тому +62

    At 1:18, when the Voder said "greetings, everybody," I think of KAITO's voice and how they sound somewhat similar.
    P.S. 1:28 makes me think of Gackupo.

    • @sasukes.6370
      @sasukes.6370 3 роки тому +6

      So I wasn’t the only one that thought this machine sounded like the Vocaloid guys xD

  • @rich1051414
    @rich1051414 5 років тому +70

    A musical ear, great hand eye coordination, and obsession was required to operate one of these. I wonder if anyone is left that can still puppet one of these.

    • @bountyhunter4885
      @bountyhunter4885 5 років тому +4

      Hold my beer, while I crack my phalanges...
      👋🎹👋 🎼🎶🔊

  • @FloppyDiskMaster
    @FloppyDiskMaster 6 років тому +409

    Still better than the speech synthesis in Tomodachi Life

    • @LuciferXFallen290
      @LuciferXFallen290 6 років тому +5

      Floppy Disk Master gotta agree on that one

    • @kotla333
      @kotla333 6 років тому +7

      Yo coming for the ATTACK

    • @hollyjohnson5420
      @hollyjohnson5420 6 років тому +14

      they may be less expressive but they sound WAY more like what youd expect to come out of a real persons mouth

    • @ruler_of_everything
      @ruler_of_everything 4 роки тому +4

      it actually sounds the same sorta

    • @MilesPrower1992
      @MilesPrower1992 4 роки тому +16

      "Here. I want you to have this."

  • @rinv9431
    @rinv9431 2 роки тому +18

    interesting how in the past ten year vocal synthesizers have completely boomed and sky rocketed in popularity. it has developed faster than ever and it’s sounding more human than these people would’ve imagined. Cool to see where it all started in 1939

  • @dan4lau
    @dan4lau 4 роки тому +20

    As someone who relies on speech synthersis every day, and who oft takes it for granted, this is kind of humbling. Created simply to prove a principle... or just to wow folk with what Bell labs could do, its inventors had no way of knowing they had created the dinosaur ancestor of Hal and Jaws and Window Eyes. Totally amazing stuff! Someone needs to create a screen reader voice that sounds like the voder!

  • @thejay8963
    @thejay8963 6 років тому +127

    2:12
    And there you have it folks, one of the most popular audio effects in YTPs done in 1939!

    • @fartyperson
      @fartyperson 5 років тому

      ha yeah

    • @RetroPlus
      @RetroPlus 5 років тому +1

      Incredible.

    • @derrrtee
      @derrrtee 5 років тому +8

      Vibrato existed long before even this machine

  • @owenwilliams1222
    @owenwilliams1222 7 років тому +379

    I feeel fantaaaaastiiic

  • @MonoLith2049
    @MonoLith2049 5 років тому +375

    Voder: I am your father
    Daft Punk: Noooooooo...
    Daft Voder :-/

    • @layoutgames-boris3481
      @layoutgames-boris3481 5 років тому +4

      Daft Punk made the voice synths using talkbox

    • @harukatakahashi8822
      @harukatakahashi8822 5 років тому +2

      @@layoutgames-boris3481 when was the talk of invented

    • @harukatakahashi8822
      @harukatakahashi8822 5 років тому

      xD lol?!?!?

    • @robinok3
      @robinok3 4 роки тому +2

      the best part is I came here after watching 2001, and I feel like I've come full circle

    • @macadamianut824
      @macadamianut824 4 роки тому +2

      Layout Games no they didn’t. They used the vocoder.

  • @da4127
    @da4127 5 років тому +80

    That “mooo” was the creepiest thing of the whole video

  • @Guitcad1
    @Guitcad1 5 років тому +53

    Thing probably had a bazillion vacuum tubes and could heat the room in winter by itself.

    • @hunteradcock8023
      @hunteradcock8023 5 років тому +1

      In a number of seconds no less

    • @MrSpacelyy
      @MrSpacelyy 5 років тому +7

      It actually is more like an electronic organ. Not a computer. It would just be as warm as an organ

  • @JuniorJr...
    @JuniorJr... 6 років тому +254

    It's great to listen 1939's voices without that weird accent, isn't?

    • @PawnshopmikeATL
      @PawnshopmikeATL 6 років тому +51

      Junior ...they say you learn something new everyday ... I saw a video of a lady that is an expert in American English accents & that weird accent you speak of is called “transatlantic” is not real !!!! It was created by Hollywood with the sole purpose of being more exciting
      Isn’t that crazy .....

    • @malfattio2894
      @malfattio2894 6 років тому +1

      ua-cam.com/video/e0qzIZaiPFs/v-deo.html

    • @bandombeviews6035
      @bandombeviews6035 5 років тому +6

      PawnShopMike - So it was to make it more interesting as opposed to modern news stations that are trying to sound as generic and region free as possible

    • @clevoloki55
      @clevoloki55 5 років тому +19

      It was an attempt to sound affluent more than anything - speaking with a transatlantic accent was supposed to make you sound like you came from “better” blood

    • @ronaldwilliamson4762
      @ronaldwilliamson4762 5 років тому

      A huge number of American movie stars were english. 3 of the top stars in Gone With the Wind were English.

  • @REDACT3D
    @REDACT3D 5 років тому +61

    more impressed with the skill of the operator then the machine - and that's are rare thing

    • @REDACT3D
      @REDACT3D 5 років тому +1

      yeah I suppose, it took me years before I built my first vocoder @Gackt Sama

    • @King_Flippy_Nips
      @King_Flippy_Nips 5 років тому

      @Gackt Sama homer dudley invented it and also speech synthesis, didgtal compression and digital encryption/decryption, we wouldnt have modern computers or the internet or cell phones and satellite communication without his groundwork

  • @press8704
    @press8704 4 роки тому +11

    This lady is an absolute BEAST

  • @georgetempest9627
    @georgetempest9627 5 років тому +10

    from a synth freak's point of view - bloody amazing!

  • @RetroPlus
    @RetroPlus 5 років тому +20

    That's incredible, truly impressive for 1939! It's crazy how you basically play it like an instrument, it's really facing.

  • @k1tcaliber
    @k1tcaliber Рік тому +4

    this is insanely cool i love old tech and the history of stuff like this

  • @LucasIsHereYT
    @LucasIsHereYT 4 роки тому +12

    To put this in perspective, the first automobile was only around 50 years old at this time.

  • @alecfleming373
    @alecfleming373 5 років тому +15

    This is such an under appreciated tool... Imagine what a professional musician would do with it today?

    • @pygmalion8952
      @pygmalion8952 5 років тому +1

      Maybe mumble rap?

    • @alecfleming373
      @alecfleming373 5 років тому +1

      @@pygmalion8952 Right, but ok while totally not practical, if there was more options (as many as this has) on the digital versions then I feel my own work on Punk Computer would of been better and more expressive. Note though I wrote that set many years ago. Moved away from the idea because of limits...

    • @gizmo4192
      @gizmo4192 Рік тому +5

      Check out modern voice synths like Vocaloid, Utau, and SynthV. They havw been used to make music for the past two decades

  • @David35687
    @David35687 5 років тому +9

    This was done with live keyboard and foot pedal input by the operator to produce ANY words or sentences instantly. Without a voice tube or mic input, I don’t think anyone could do this LIVE today with any modern synth.

    • @jeopardy60611
      @jeopardy60611 3 роки тому

      You're thinking of a "vocoder," "talkbox," or "squeezebox." Some of the electronics may be similar, but the vocoder actually provides the electronics to make the vocal sound, rather than someone's voice going through it.

  • @huhrawz
    @huhrawz 4 роки тому +15

    "So, what instrument do you play?"
    "Well, about that..."

  • @olecranonrebellion9976
    @olecranonrebellion9976 5 років тому +74

    Miss Harper is a bad ass.

    • @Avetho
      @Avetho 4 роки тому

      Oh yeah she was. An absolute total badass.
      Btw, I was gonna make a joke about how she's actually quite the charming looking lady in response to the presence of a space in the word "badass" in your comment, but eh, I'm just in a spazzy mood today XD

  • @larva5606
    @larva5606 5 років тому +29

    Nestled right in the middle of uncanny valley 👌🏼

  • @F-Man
    @F-Man 5 років тому +42

    Ya know, those unvoiced consonants sound really damned good.

  • @ZatsuneMikuWorld
    @ZatsuneMikuWorld 6 років тому +305

    *VOCALOID 0.0 VERSION*
    *MIKU'S FATHER WAS BORN IN 1939 AND HE IS ALMOST 90 YEARS OLD!*

    • @nolongeractive8257
      @nolongeractive8257 6 років тому +18

      nope... great great grandfather

    • @johneygd
      @johneygd 5 років тому +9

      This year the voder will be 80 years old,let’s celibrate it.

    • @Magestig
      @Magestig 5 років тому +4

      _That's not how math works_

    • @kdigiacomo
      @kdigiacomo 5 років тому +1

      Yelling in bold caps, need attention?

    • @bLackmarketRadio
      @bLackmarketRadio 5 років тому +1

      Anime is garbage for garbage people.
      Two bombs weren't enough.

  • @PODEPOM
    @PODEPOM 5 років тому +38

    Amazing. And part of the 1939 world's fair.

  • @a2STRAY
    @a2STRAY 7 років тому +189

    Microsoft Sam's great grandfather

    • @couchcamperTM
      @couchcamperTM 5 років тому +2

      @cgwworldministries sad but true. like if development stalled there... and went back a bit.

    • @buddyclem7328
      @buddyclem7328 5 років тому

      *_"I COULD ALWAYS DO LOTS OF AMAZING THINGS!"_*

    • @dsma2023
      @dsma2023 5 років тому +1

      soi soi soi soi soi soi soi soi

    • @10MANOEL
      @10MANOEL 5 років тому +3

      You have selected Microsoft's Sam as the computer default voice.

    • @williamsmith6921
      @williamsmith6921 4 роки тому

      @@couchcamperTM The difference is that one is automatic and the other has to be manually adjusted

  • @TheDuchessWellington
    @TheDuchessWellington 5 років тому +16

    78 years ahead of it's time

  • @dudebuzzoff2965
    @dudebuzzoff2965 7 років тому +195

    I honestly think it's kind of cute

  • @steverman2312
    @steverman2312 5 років тому +14

    guy: who saw you?
    machine: "sheee saaaw meeee"

  • @jeopardy60611
    @jeopardy60611 5 років тому +6

    I was always fascinated with computerized speech. I discovered a Fidelity voice chess computer, Speak & Spell, a Radio Shack TRS-80 Voice Synthesizer, and video games such as Gorf and Wizard of War, and that paved the way for what I'm doing now, a system that reads email and web pages over the phone. I had no idea that there was a speech synthesizer so long ago that had to be operated manually.

  • @lepwis
    @lepwis 7 років тому +19

    It'd be great to have a working version.

  • @jeopardy60611
    @jeopardy60611 5 років тому +5

    I just thought of something. At the end of the video, they say that the Voder has no commercial applications. Since the Voder can only perform live and can't be automated in any way, the one thing it can do is be used in a science fiction movie that depicts a talking computer or robot. Since the speech just needs to be recorded for the movie, it can be produced in real time, and it doesn't matter that there is not yet a computerized process to do it automatically.

  • @karenholmes5850
    @karenholmes5850 5 років тому +6

    I love this so much! If only someone could make an online version of it. I would love to try it!

  • @Larry
    @Larry 5 років тому +41

    What was the purpose of this device though?

    • @PseudoPseudoDionysius
      @PseudoPseudoDionysius 5 років тому +29

      I’m guessing at the time it was probably just R&D for research’s own sake, plus demonstrating the engineering capabilities of the company to future contractors and investors.
      (I love your video game history videos btw!! :D)

    • @crazyhyena1406
      @crazyhyena1406 4 роки тому +28

      So miku could walk sir

    • @jarls5890
      @jarls5890 4 роки тому +11

      Actually...when you make a phone call today - your voice is deconstructed and then reconstructed using much of this technology in order to save bandwidth. Same with the voice you hear.
      The cell phone line is not transmitting a "recording" as such of your, or anybody elses, voice.

    • @Yadobler
      @Yadobler 4 роки тому +4

      Yup like ^ said, bell was messing with trying to break down analogue sound into "signals" that controlled which frequencies to "turn the volume down" to get back the same
      This essentially became long-distant voice communication (as opposed to just morse-code telegraph) between allied governments in the world wars, and then eventually land-line (ie it wasn't just raw analogue signal of your voice in electric form being transmitted over cable, which back then grandma's would eavesdrop on their neighbours since a neighbourhood shared a line, but now it was rapid analogue signals of how much each frequency had to be filtered to recreate the voice.)
      This is why voice over telephone up till the mid 2010s had a distinct telephone-effect filter, since it was not 1-to-1 voice transmission like from a microphone to amp speakers, but more like a few dozen frequencies blasted together at equal strength and then limited by relevant filters. Think of like a sensitive high-speed music equaliser.
      The transmitting end was just having a dozen filters tuned only to pass specific frequency ranges, and the receiving end was taking a full-band sound and filtering it accordingly for each frequency band and then adding all up.
      The vocoder was just a trial to demonstrate the capabilities, by having a person manually activate switches instead of having a transmitter automatically making the relevant signals.
      Pretty cool tho. It's like instead of hooking the TV to the cable outlet, you had a system that allowed someone to manually recreate the signals that will draw on the screen

    • @rfmerrill
      @rfmerrill 3 роки тому +1

      ​@@jarls5890 Kinda brings up the question of just what is a "recording" anyway?
      The phone system codec you're describing is basically just lossy audio compression very tuned for voice. The most common one is known as AMR, and uses Linear Predictive Coding to very efficiently compress voice (down to 7-12 kilobits/sec total for the whole data stream). However it's a hybrid codec--because just using the LPC data on its own would produce a kind of unnatural-sounding voice, it also transmits a specially compressed stream of the error between the real signal and the LPC-modeled signal. Theoretically there's no limit to the fidelity if that residual stream is allowed to increase in bitrate so it would approach an exact recording of your voice (but in practice it is very low bitrate).

  • @legendofthephasor9648
    @legendofthephasor9648 5 років тому +83

    Helen the original synthlord queen. All hail helen synthlord queen!

  • @merendobereglidditz9304
    @merendobereglidditz9304 5 років тому +21

    Amazing. But all that choreography between
    keys and pedals makes it easy
    to understand why it didn't
    catch on.
    That's not criticism, btw.
    Is there a working example
    anywhere, the Smithsonian or
    the like? Or a recent video?

    • @beatsbeercigarettes
      @beatsbeercigarettes 5 років тому +3

      Right in the video it stated it was created for an exhibit at the worlds fair, for educational purposes and was never meant to be marketed at all.

    • @K.D.Meyers
      @K.D.Meyers 5 років тому

      @White Rice Then why did you answer?! 😐 😅😅

    • @jesuschrist8904
      @jesuschrist8904 5 років тому +4

      @@K.D.Meyers Subhumans who use emojis in lieu of language should be shot behind a shed.

  • @DeadKoby
    @DeadKoby 4 роки тому +5

    I wonder if this machine still exists, or if it became parts. It'd be really cool to see one work... or maybe see the schematics and build a clone.

    • @toomanyaccounts
      @toomanyaccounts 3 роки тому +3

      there is a youtube recommendation on the right side of the screen listing a channel that would be nine months before you commented about a replica

  • @Nova_Pancak
    @Nova_Pancak 5 років тому +6

    I have a feeling that this kind of speech synthesis technology might pop back up in the future.

  • @Awesome1980s
    @Awesome1980s 5 років тому +3

    Truly amazing given the time and resources! Such innovation that ended up being "commercial"!

  • @thomasdupont7186
    @thomasdupont7186 5 років тому +15

    5'00" As a french man i has to say, i always loved listening to a robot speaking french with an american accent lol ^^

  • @indycraft7657
    @indycraft7657 4 роки тому +7

    Damn I was expecting the end to include “and now for our western listeners, say good afternoon radio audience”

  • @josephcote6120
    @josephcote6120 5 років тому +10

    In a very real sense, that was the core of the early computer speech cards. Instead of fingers controlling switches, it was done with computer bits.

  • @godouttathemachine
    @godouttathemachine 4 роки тому +13

    oh my god this is adorable, i love how they refer to the voder as he-
    i would die for him

  • @kjamison5951
    @kjamison5951 5 років тому +9

    “Helen, what else can he say?”
    “I want your clothes, your boots and your motor-cycle…”

  • @silhouettoofaman2935
    @silhouettoofaman2935 6 років тому +58

    I think we've found the inspiration for the speech in Tomodachi Life, everybody!

    • @PawnshopmikeATL
      @PawnshopmikeATL 6 років тому +1

      The Shadowman they say you learn something new everyday ... I saw a video of a lady that is an expert in American English accents & that weird accent you speak of is called “transatlantic” is not real !!!! It was created by Hollywood with the sole purpose of being more exciting
      Isn’t that crazy .....

  • @judebrill23
    @judebrill23 7 років тому +240

    Hey Miku, Is this your grandpa? He seems nice..

    • @LuciferXFallen290
      @LuciferXFallen290 6 років тому +19

      Jude Norell you mean great great grandfather

    • @joannamysluk8623
      @joannamysluk8623 4 роки тому +5

      Now that I think of it, he sounds like Kaito English when he's used for Talkloids.

    • @tabbnabber8755
      @tabbnabber8755 4 роки тому +4

      Family Tree by generation:
      Voder -> Vocoder-> IBM 7094 -> Vocaloid
      This is a light hearted joke btw :)

  • @goodun6081
    @goodun6081 5 років тому +10

    "requiring ten fingers, two foot paddles, a knee lever....." sounds like the manual operation of a pedal steel guitar!

  • @RedSkyHorizon
    @RedSkyHorizon 6 років тому +75

    Daisy, Daisy give me your answer do. I'm half crazy....

    • @Pladderkasse
      @Pladderkasse 5 років тому +3

      Open the pod bay doors, Hal!

    • @sopitacui
      @sopitacui 3 роки тому +1

      All for the love of youuu

  • @Minong_Manitou_Mishepeshu
    @Minong_Manitou_Mishepeshu 5 років тому +6

    Looks to be at the RCA exhibit at 1939 NYWF. The first TV was across the floor being displayed for the first time, ever. I would head to the Westinghouse Exhibit and check out Elecktro the first robot and check out the worlds first official "Time Capsule" after the RCA Exhibit. 1939 NYWF will be a huge destination for time travelers one day. Too many world changing inventions debuted that year there for it not to be.

  • @kaleastudiosofficial
    @kaleastudiosofficial 6 місяців тому +4

    1:19
    “Greetings, everybody!”
    “greetings, everybody! :3”
    “ *ĞŘĘĘŤĮÑĞŠ ÉVĒŘŸBØÐÝ* 👹”
    2:01 “ *ĦÆĦÆHÆĄĦĦHÆÂÂ* 👺”
    2:13 “YeAhHh, i FeElL vErYyY oLdDdD”

  • @junkstewy6990
    @junkstewy6990 2 роки тому +2

    this is a lot better than what i thought it would be

  • @ff_crafter
    @ff_crafter 7 років тому +57

    better than text to speech

  • @djsoulfilter
    @djsoulfilter 5 років тому +41

    "Shall we play a game? How about global thermonuclear warfare?"

  • @realcygnus
    @realcygnus 5 років тому

    Great post ! Tube synth circuits with such ability, I had no Idea. The evolution of technology is almost as interesting as the technology itself. Electronics is thE single most useful & amazing thing we've discovered/invented imo.

  • @moistcriticalstan876
    @moistcriticalstan876 4 роки тому +3

    4:16
    A: "How many girls can play the Voder?"
    B: "Out of 320 girls, 28 girls finally became experts at it."
    A: "I see. Now, how many boys can play it?"
    B: "None, sir. My vagina operates the volume knob."

  • @TalenGryphon
    @TalenGryphon 5 років тому +8

    This is like the sort of invention my younger self would (and did and still sometimes does) come up with: A prostetic voice. While competely ignoring practical considerations like size, portability, and the staggering musical *talent* needed for use
    Maybe not a mad scientist, but more of a rouge engineer. Another time another life, yeah?

  • @JOELwindows7
    @JOELwindows7 5 років тому +58

    Recommended by 8 bit guy
    How to get inspiration of Vocaloid

  • @hakonsoreide
    @hakonsoreide 5 років тому +4

    Sounds far better than most current speech synthesizers.

  • @JoeBetro
    @JoeBetro 4 роки тому +6

    0:55 so cute!

  • @fieromist3167
    @fieromist3167 6 років тому +1

    Thank you Homer Dudley. I recently read How to wreck a nice beach and can't believe I am watching a video of the first vocoder.

  • @jeopardy60611
    @jeopardy60611 4 роки тому +3

    I just thought of something. Although there was no computer technology around to automate the speech, there were pianos and organs that used paper rolls punched with holes to play them automatically. Perhaps the Voder could have been automated by recording the control movements on paper in a similar fashion, so a speech could have been recorded and played back that way.

  • @highdollaslimjim1509
    @highdollaslimjim1509 4 роки тому +4

    Bell Laboratories: We have a voice synthesizer that speaks.
    Kraftwerk: Hold my robot.......

  • @Carzlover-pancake
    @Carzlover-pancake 8 місяців тому

    That’s actually so cool!! It sounds better than most voice synthesizers these days tbh-

  • @jeopardy60611
    @jeopardy60611 5 років тому +2

    There was a "Danny Dunn" book that made reference to a "voder." If I remember correctly, it was a remote control that unlocked a door by a voice saying "open."

  • @WM_Nonsense
    @WM_Nonsense 5 місяців тому +2

    2:02 that announcer guy was fucking freaked out by that

  • @ewkalt4770
    @ewkalt4770 5 років тому +6

    still amazing to me in 2019

  • @MostlyPennyCat
    @MostlyPennyCat 5 років тому +7

    This is actually better than 95% of synthetic voices.

    • @gizmo4192
      @gizmo4192 4 роки тому +3

      Nope, you should check out vocaloid. You can get almost human vocals.

    • @OttoOG3
      @OttoOG3 Рік тому +1

      ​@@gizmo4192 Nope, SynthV has better vocals.

    • @gizmo4192
      @gizmo4192 Рік тому +1

      @@OttoOG3 True but I never said vocaloid was the best, I just offered a widely known example of modern voice synthesis

  • @MeatEatingVegan777
    @MeatEatingVegan777 2 роки тому +2

    That is extremely impressive!

  • @RWBHere
    @RWBHere 7 років тому +68

    Darth Voder!

  • @eyecomeinpeace2707
    @eyecomeinpeace2707 6 років тому +24

    Why did everyone have a Brooklyn accent back then?

    • @jeopardy60611
      @jeopardy60611 5 років тому +2

      I saw a video on UA-cam that explains the Brooklyn accent thing. There was a period of time that a lot of people talked like that because of the nature of the American population, and many actors made movies at the time where they talked like that.

  • @bendito999
    @bendito999 5 років тому +5

    Are there any recreations of this this is so cool!

  • @fatbigfish
    @fatbigfish 5 місяців тому +3

    1:46 My friend trying to make a deep voice the second a women joins the party

  • @annacatton5929
    @annacatton5929 5 років тому +20

    Dave, stop.
    Stop, will you?
    Stop, Dave.
    Will you stop, Dave?
    Stop, Dave.
    I'm afraid.
    I'm afraid, Dave.
    Dave, my mind is going.
    I can feel it.

  • @bassgasmask
    @bassgasmask 4 роки тому +2

    i remember hearing about a voice synth before 1939, that looked like a traveling pipe organ and supposedly it had some sort of artificial head

  • @TheOwenstube
    @TheOwenstube 5 років тому +1

    Interesting because of a subplot in Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. The title character’s father is trying to develop a speech synthesizer for Bell Labs, but in the late 1950s, some 15-20 years after this machine debuted.

  • @theprotagonist1235
    @theprotagonist1235 5 років тому +3

    The "higher voice" (~1:25) sounds like the Len English voicebank.

  • @nomenomenomen301
    @nomenomenomen301 5 років тому +4

    2:50 lavender town? O.o

  • @seanathans103
    @seanathans103 4 роки тому +1

    i know i've heard the "good evening radio audience" bit at the end used as a sample somewhere but i can't place the memory. darn. fascinating bit of history

    • @LIsForLex
      @LIsForLex 3 роки тому +1

      I think the good evening radio audience thing is from Geocities by Lemon Demon

    • @seanathans103
      @seanathans103 3 роки тому +1

      @@LIsForLex thanks, that'd be it. not sure why i didn't place it as something of neil's

  • @hammercanttouchthis
    @hammercanttouchthis 5 років тому +17

    Only 'a year of constant practice' to get it to do what you want. Sheesh. 😬

  • @thetaaaa
    @thetaaaa 3 роки тому +2

    Why does everyone claim that Daisy Bell was the first automated singing? This was over a decade earlier...

    • @kiwigaming09
      @kiwigaming09 6 днів тому

      Because this isn't automated, there's still a human sitting behind it giving it inputs

  • @jaredf6205
    @jaredf6205 4 роки тому +2

    1939!? Wow! If you told me they had something doing this in 1969, I'd still be super impressed. I thought I knew a good amount about synthesizer history m

    • @toomanyaccounts
      @toomanyaccounts 3 роки тому +1

      do you not know where HAL singing came from? it was because Clark saw a demonstration in 1962 of the IBM computer signing.

  • @christoroppolo8742
    @christoroppolo8742 5 років тому +1

    So wonderful. Peace Christo

  • @danielperry2846
    @danielperry2846 2 роки тому +1

    At 1:19 and 1:28 it sounds exactly like Joshua, the computer in the film War Games

  • @gustavoceballos5327
    @gustavoceballos5327 2 роки тому +1

    0:45: “She saw me” without expression
    0:56: “She saw me” with “She” expression
    0:59: “She saw me” with “Me” expression
    1:03: “She saw me” with “Saw” expression

  • @oliverispissed
    @oliverispissed Рік тому +2

    There go my favorite vocaloid