http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ljFaKRTrI (Still Alive – Portal End credits song).

But the thousands of voice samples through the game really made it.

... has anyone here ever worn a hand-knitted jumper with a keyboard design on it? Anyone?

My Mum knitted me a jumper with a stave with notes on it to my own design. It was about the nerdiest thing I have EVER worn.

And I still have a Squeeze-era Jools…

And you…

Something else to deconstruct for your Thursday, courtesy of the Dim-Post.

Someone's not been taking their medication.

I had the impression that the Trans era was widely hated by critics, fans, etc but there was this very informed write up in Rolling Stone...

That Neil Young was quite something!

The internet is a boon for re-examining the past, examining the documents directly rather than reviving memories of…

Let's just say I had a misguided youth.

You're only young once. Over and over again.

http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/neilyoung/albums/album/268168/review/5941290

Oops fucked that up. Not sure about this embedding thing. Meant to be Neil in his vocoder stage.

No worries — I fixed it. You don't need the embed code here — just paste in the URL.

Some great Vocoder etc moments? Hope these qualify:

"In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country", Boards of Canada
"O Superman", Laurie Anderson
"Sexy Boy", Air

Oh, yes indeed. How could I forget "O Superman"?! And I'd add "Kelly Watch the Stars" by Air.

"Hamburger Lady", Throbbing Gristle — but…

Okay, so who's game for a list of "Best Vocoder/Autotune Moments ever?" Here's a start:

Not to mention this gem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OU7Hka_--U

Speaking of threads, has anyone here ever worn a hand-knitted jumper with a keyboard design on it? Anyone?

No, but am ever tempted by this: Kraftwerk sweater

I'm on a boat! I'm on a boat!

Heh, great minds.

I tried to think of another great vocoder/autotune moment and all I could think of was Eiffel 65, which is about as far from great as you can get...

"In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country", Boards of Canada
"O Superman", Laurie Anderson
"Sexy Boy", Air
"Hamburger Lady", Throbbing Gristle — but was that vocoder or some cut-up device they invented themselves?

Is Autotune going to be integrated into Singstar in the future?

I find with Singstar that the tune is almost irrelevant, because timing is everything. You tend to get marked down for getting carried away. Hrmph!

... but some caution should be exercised when blending guitar bands and electronic music. That's a path that can lead to frustration, disaster, and ultimately Jesus Jones.

it's been my own experience that such frustrations largely come from the self-conscious blending of the tropes of electronic and guitar music rather…

Okay, so who's game for a list of "Best Vocoder/Autotune Moments ever?"

I'm on a boat! I'm on a boat!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un3ZGzbltkU

Also, I see another application in auto-karaoke where the real vocals are detuned and distorted automatically, saving people who can't sing the trouble.

Walter-slash-Wendy Carlos: Beethoven's 9th (from A Clockwork Orange)
Kraftwerk: Autobahn, The Robots, Europe Endless, Ohm Sweet Ohm...
New Order: Bizarre Love Triangle and The Beach
Daft Punk: Around the World
Herbie Hancock: Rockit
Beastie Boys:…

I still pretty much refuse to listen to anything that doesn't have a 303, sampler, Moog modular, turntable, vocoder, FX-502P or a nerd with a laptop running Audiomulch. Preferably all at the same time.

and the universe is (i think!) big enough for you and my Dad... and probably the…

Speaking of threads, has anyone here ever worn a hand-knitted jumper with a keyboard design on it? Anyone?

*cough*

he still won't listen to anything that doesn't have a blues riff buried under there somewhere.

I still pretty much refuse to listen to anything that doesn't have a 303, sampler,…

I officially declare 'Blue Monday' The Worst Possible Song To Listen to While on Acid.

It is, however, the best song on Hottest Dance Party Ever! and has the easiest dance moves.

Speaking of threads, has anyone here ever worn a hand-knitted jumper with a keyboard design on it? Anyone?

actually yes!! i had one as a kid... my grandmother knitted it for me, "because you like music, dear"... it got stolen soon afterward, but i still think of it fondly...

... the average person listening to just one pop song on the radio will have a hard time hearing Auto-Tune's impact; it's effectively deceptive. But when…

Speaking of threads, has anyone here ever worn a hand-knitted jumper with a keyboard design on it? Anyone?

takes me back to the days when synths and drum machines were the undertakers of popular culture... ahhh, good times... i remember my Dad used to work himself into quite a state over my adolescent record collection... he still won't listen to anything that doesn't…

(It is a top choon, generally. Just not in those circs. Um, so they tell me.)

"hell, i'd embed it myself"

Agreed.

Ah, the '88 version. The original didn't have vocoder, but its B-side/remix "The Beach" did. I remember when my brother first got the 12" and put the flip-side on, I said "It's just the same song slowed down! I told you that you're not…

Deconstruct that

Hey, that's nothing – just ask Danielle.

Robbery is now taking issue with Jake's commentary on his argument style by using the same masterfully annoying tactics Jake just analysed. Is this now called... MetaDeathSpiralNui?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RQPeoyqyP4

hell, i'd embed it myself

Agreed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3duUzBbBmmc&feature=PlayList&p=E5D51C46CC5C1225&index=6

A vocoder just makes the voice sounds robotic. Auto-tune changes the pitch, which is why the newscasters speech has become tuneful (as well as robitic) in the video.

[muso geek stuff]
IMHO better than both of these is a Harmonizer which can sound truly awesome. I have very happy memories…

No one wants me to embed Frampton Comes Alive up in here, do they? DO THEY?

go on....... embed the Frampton!... Frampton haters (including myself) can step off... nobody's going to force them to click that link... hell, i'd embed it myself, but things like that have got to come…

A vocoder just makes the voice sounds robotic. Auto-tune changes the pitch

Actually, the vocoder does both, as it imposes a pitch or chord upon a voice. Or strictly speaking, it's the other way around: it takes a sound source then alters the dynamics of the each frequency band in…

our expectations of singers

Like for example how I expect my ears to come our in a rash every time I hear a hip hop song these days.

Awesome mashups, but for listening I prefer to hear humans singing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZNsEsKRqUs

No one wants me to embed Frampton Comes Alive up in here, do they? DO THEY?

Nobody wants me to get out of the wardrobe my "I survived the twelve guitars concert", do they? DO THEY?

A vocoder just makes the voice sound robotic.

No one wants me to embed Frampton Comes Alive up in here, do they? DO THEY?

Strictly speaking, it's not a vocoder but the Auto-tune, as employed by Cher, T-Pain, Kanye, etc ...

A vocoder just makes the voice sounds robotic. Auto-tune changes the pitch, which is why the newscasters speech has become tuneful (as well as robitic) in the video.

Man, I hope all news programmes start using the vocoder, bad news never sounded so good.

Strictly speaking, it's not a vocoder but the Auto-tune, as employed by Cher, T-Pain, Kanye, etc ...

The creator is nerdcore "star" Michael Gregory, who has a channel fulla auto-tune mash-ups.

He also auditioned…