1. an electronic device that analyzes and synthesizes speech by breaking it down into frequency components
Usage: technical; telecommunications
2. a musical instrument or effect that modifies vocal sounds by combining them with synthesized tones
Usage: music production

Examples

• The military used vocoders to transmit secure voice communications.
• Early vocoders were developed in the 1930s for telephone systems.
• The band used a vocoder to create robotic-sounding vocals.
• Daft Punk popularized the use of vocoders in electronic music.
• The vocoder compressed the speech signal for efficient transmission.
• She sang into the vocoder to achieve that distinctive electronic effect.