Name: How to Wreck a Nice Beach
ISBN: 9781933633886

Dave Tompkins

Presents the history of the vocoder, from its invention by Bell Labs in 1928 as a speech-scrambling weapon to guard telephones from eavesdroppers during World War II through its use as a voice-altering tool in popular music.

The Vocoder from World War II to Hip-hop: the Machine Speaks

How to Wreck a Nice Beach

Patrick Book

Tompkins has an astounding depth of knowledge on display here, and this is clearly the product of a life-long love/obsession. But his writing is so constantly veering into metaphor it's astoundingly confusing at times. Maybe he's trying to replicate the disorientation one felt when hearing vocoders for the first time?

How to Wreck a Nice Beach The Vocoder from World War II to Hip-hop: the Machine Speaks