Replica of The Voder

In this video, I showcase my recently completed replica of the Voder, the world's first electronic speech synthesizer, created by Bell Labs for the 1939 New York World's Fair.

[@zoey9168]

Everybody's gangster until Voder talks by itself at 12AM

[@mcw0530]

For the last decade I thought I was the only one interested in the Voder. This is amazing work to preserve some interesting history! Next step: a vacuum tube model.

[@KernelPanic0]

This is the first video I could find with anything about the Voder in the 21st century! Very nice to know that some forms of it exist today, even if replicas.

[@buddyguy4723]

i have a feeling they only built one

[@LanceCampeau]

Really excited that you've tackled this and built a working replica. I find the voder to be so compelling.

[@GoatyForever]

thanks for sharing, vaughn! really cool, the voder has always fascinated me, so it's cool to see a little breakdown of how you built your own. have you been practicing with it more since at all?

[@Gallersatz]

So impressive to build something with so little record!! Hope you learn to play some new phrases too. I'm fascinated by the Voder's unique sound and would love to hear more examples than the classic "she saw me"

[@allanegleston4931]

by your command. the 1970s mini series battle star galactica cylon robots voice was produced by vocoder.

[@user-kt1jy4jz7p]

This is fantastic Vaughn! We think we are living in modern times now but can you imagine hearing those robotic-like sounds back then. It's like something out of Buck Rogers. Great Job!

[@pantsstyle]

Oh dude PLEASE make more videos with this thing! It sounds awesome and you play it pretty damn good too, you clearly put too much work into making and learning this to only produce one video out of it!

[@jeffsheldon]

Excellent job with the construction, explanation, and historic account. Thanks for sharing this!

[@os5573]

Incredible engineering and craftsmanship. Nice to see this unique invention reconstructed.

[@youtubkeeper]

Well done on this project! Fantastic work and really interesting!

[@therealchayd]

That was freakin' awesome! Excellent job!

[@riskscratch]

This is really interesting! The reconstruction is extremely impressive. I can hardly articulate just how much this fascinates me. Thank you for sharing!!!!

[@andrejwalilko634]

This is more professional and better planned than 99% of most KZbin content. Excellent work and awesome console!

[@83Philip]

Fantastic Job and demonstration. I have always been fascinated by the voder. Really well done and congrats! hope to see more videos in the future 🙂

[@fer_fdi]

Fabulous! Excellent work!!!

[@Xsiondu]

Found out about this device today. Your replica was really cool.

[@darigab7241]

Thank you very, very much for making this video!

[@duedl]

Dude, brilliant demonstration!

[@Blueskies2513]

this is such a great showcase of your creation

[@envisionelectronics]

WOW! Very well done!

[@0800338833]

Flipping heck mate!! Fantastic stuff! 🍻

[@SirGollahon]

Wow, awesome project. Well done!

[@Lukehis]

Hey man this is awesome, was so hopeful someone would go thru the effort of making replicas!! Amazing work!!!

[@MJanovicable]

Great work, great demonstration.

[@sakamotosan1887]

marvelous work. すばらしいです

[@adventurizing8994]

Excellent work sir!

[@theallknowingsause8940]

Very neto, this deserves more attention!

[@goldenaxe1986]

Very Informative & a Joy To Listen & Learn. Great Presentation. Aces’

[@imlxh7126]

Holy crap?? MAD props to you for actually reconstructing the HARDWARE. I tried making a version myself with Max/MSP but had no clue what to do with it lol

[@Gabrielanb7]

This is really cool!

[@Snobdude]

Genius at work.

[@malmanification]

Excellent Video, you’ve given me hope that building a replica myself is possible

[@HaloAdmiral]

This is awesome!!!

[@martinlorincz7242]

I´m not an electrical specialist or fan. I didn´t know about Voder untill the last week(I heared some broadcasting), so I am very surprised about this technology! It´s very surpraising for me that this technology is from 30ties! It´s amazing! and I think, your work is amazing too! Thank you!

[@CP200S]

Man... You're a Legend!

[@the-birbo]

this is awesome.

[@3footcatheter]

incredible! so awesome to know Voders can be replicated. would you ever consider making your plans open-source?

[@VaughnRhinehart]

I have considered it, but there would be a lot of work to do to get them ready for other people to read. Besides that, I'm not a very good electronics designer. I wouldn't build the voder the same way again, and I don't think anyone else should either.

[@asdfjkl227]

That's awesome!!

[@zagyex]

Thank you, I learned something today. Great job.

[@mcpherson244]

Hey man, great job, very interesting

[@hamansutra]

Well Dun Homie. Great Job. The Voder film from 1939 is behind amazing.

[@KarryUndercover7]

How cool! You’re so smart!

[@gansta4hiren84]

This is amazing

[@ingussilins6330]

Interesting device :) Voder back to life.

[@vicallday3325]

This is great

[@rysiakaczmar5414]

This is such amazing work, Vaughn! I'm fascinated with the process, hope someday you can talk more about the components used or schematics. Would you happen to have any documentation? Thanks for sharing!

[@thomaso.scarborough6934]

This is great! Very interesting.

[@buddyroach]

nice work!

[@fdiasvieira]

Great! Greetings from Brazil!

[@psycheopera]

Amazing! Subbed! 🔥🔥

[@brooksieboiii]

So cool

[@Pandangus]

Awesome!

[@StellarSaturn7440]

I found out about the voder about a year ago when I was twelve and it still really fascinates me! I'd love to use one some day, how did you build it?

[@MirlitronOne]

Nice work. I would like to know more about the filter architecture.

[@dakotahrickard]

I bet there's a niche but thriving market for something like this. I also wonder if the original had a filter to distinguish between the "s" and the "sh" phonemes.

[@wutzerface77]

Great video! I always wanted a more in depth description of what all the keys and switches do- not sure if you could fit that into your itinerary!

[@1secondarysmile]

nice job dude 👍

[@matty6598]

Just found out about it today but it looks so cool

[@lovieuru]

Very Nice

[@OntologicalQuandry]

Superb reconstruction. But more detail, please. As an Englishman, I'd have to say the Voder works best as an American voice synthesizer since it elongates the vowels. A British version would struggle to clip those vowels adequately.

[@discbomber]

yeahhh. i love this machine!!!!!

[@seth5394]

Genius

[@austinmurphy3933]

very cool

[@NicksBikes]

That was pretty awesome! I've always been fascinated by the Voder. Have you since tried to learn any new phrases?

[@reenactor_1052]

Pretty cool

[@adampowell3133]

Hey! A year or so ago I was looking into doing the same! Really glad to see someone take this on! really impressive project. I was wondering if you had any more details about the stop circuits. when I was reading the patent and "the carrier nature of speech" and couldn't find any details. Did you reconstruct them from another source or design your own circuits to perform that function?

[@VaughnRhinehart]

The stop consonants are by far the worst documented part of the Voder, at least in my experience. I never did really get them right. In the article "A Synthetic Speaker" from the June 1939 issue of the Journal of the Franklin Institute, they explain the stop keys, but they don't give any real figures regarding frequencies and timings. The gist of it is that each key goes through a series of stages as it is depressed, including a pop from a capacitor and resonant circuit, a silent interval, and a hiss put through one or more of they key filters. The exact frequencies of the filters and timing of the steps determine the sound that is perceived. Stop consonant perception is also quite complex, since the exact sound of the consonant varies depending on the word that comes after it. Because of this, it's not technically possible to make a single circuit that functions as the same consonant in all cases. The Voder made up for this, in part, by pressing the keys with different speeds depending on the exact syllable they wanted.

[@jacobsteel]

wow! amazing work! thank you so much. most impressive. have you published any schematics for this?

[@zerro3172]

Good evening, radio audience.

[@r-i-ch]

Great job. Do you have a schematic posted anywhere?

[@hurricanefury439]

i really wish i could find a TTS voice that sounded like the Voder

[@paulusvanhorne3596]

what do the other switches on your voder do? Is there one for gender? The schematic I found in a 1940 Popular Science article on the voder shows a gender knob to pre-set between male and female voices.

[@matthiaswilhelm9813]

Good speech Synthesis example...matthias

[@ARF_average]

absolute chad

[@RazorFoxDV]

Bravo on putting so much work into this, though it'd be a shame to have spent so much time and effort on it just to have it say the same three words over and over again. How about another video with more examples? We want to hear what it can really do!

[@asdfjkl227]

Do you have schematics? It'd be interesting to bring this back.

[@weldous]

say sheeeeesh with the voder

[@jaumeferretevazquez2696]

Dear Vaughn, congratulations on your successs on replicating the VODER. I'd like to ask, are your main keys on/off switches or perhaps more like potentiometers ? Thanks

[@chuuni6924]

See 2:30

[@vanguard1427]

Cool replica I'd love to figure out how to make it a desktop app lol using number keys from 1 to 10 and space bar and enter as pitch and tone

[@VaughnRhinehart]

Someone has actually already done something very similar to that, although I don't think it's a very accurate representation of the original operating technique: github.com/gmoe/voder

[@melodypope8231]

Ok call me a nerd but this was cool as fuck, my dude

[@jokijarvi2]

this is so cool!

[@Sordooozzzz]

She saw me

[@nidgithm]

very cool, the video's kind of quiet though

[@NerdSnipingBatman]

I would love to make one myself. Do you have plans ? I have a 3d printer

[@VaughnRhinehart]

Hi! I don't really have any plans that are prepared to be sent to someone. Besides, my electrical design could really use some work. If you really want to make one, have a look at "A Synthetic Speaker" from Vol. 227 of the Journal of the the Franklin Institute from June 1939. It's by far the most detailed resource I have.

[@MoustiluigiRandom]

C'était for intéressant.

[@segads]

Hello There, is analog right, completely analog?

[@c61music68]

Yes

[@Typical.Anomaly]

It appears to be. The ICs are likely timers (for oscillation) and op-amps. I want one of these! It'd be fun to add a digital-analog converter and control with MIDI signals!

[@VaughnRhinehart]

Yes, it is entirely analog. The ICs are all opamps. The buzz oscillator is a relaxation oscillator based on a capacitor.

[@IndieLambda]

All 3 are replicas? What happened to the originals?

[@Koridai011]

Who saw you?

[@buddycomehere]

5:22

[@vanguard1427]

*Revised comment* could probably do a new modern take on it by using more newer synthesis of voice

[@okiuto]

shi so mi?

[@Duvmasta]

Why aren't you looking directly at the camera?

[@botolshampo8956]

Sure it's interesting

[@krecikowi]

I doesn't sound like speaking AT ALL.

[@Typical.Anomaly]

Yes, you doesnt. Appreciate art more!

[@iliketrains.8651]

TALK LOUDER