Secrets Of Kraftwerk’s Vocoder, Sennheiser VSM201
German synthesist Hainbach – in his latest video – takes a look at the Sennheiser VSM201 Vocoder, a very rare ’70s audio effect.
While the number of VSM201 Vocoders sold is thought to be in the very low double-digits, it was notably used by bands like Kraftwerk, Daft Punk and Herbie Hancock.
Hainbach talks with Sennheiser Archivist Gritta Gramm, who shares the history of this device. Then demos the original prototype for the VSM201.
Here’s what he has to say about the video:
Ever since jumping around to “Wir Sind Die Roboter” by Kraftwerk I wondered how to sound like them. The VSM201 Vocoder is by all accounts responsible, and I finally got to play with it at the Sennheiser factory a few weeks back. Since their production unit had been salvaged for parts, they let me work with a prototype. After some struggle I managed to coax “We are the robots” out of it. My 8 year old self smiled upon me that day.
It is truly a fantastic instrument, but maybe even more interesting is its secret service history. It was developed from speech encryption technology used to disguise voices for diplomatic messages. Funny to imagine that the classic movie trope “Is this line secure?” would have sounded like a robot in the 1960s.
In the video I go into detail on its function, try recommended patches from the manual, tell the historic background and finally, against all odds (there was a big hum I had to noise cancel) make a track with it.
