©2013-2023 Vito Biliti @vbiliti
Pocket Talkbox is a musical instrument app for iPhone and Android devices. The program emulates a Talkbox, a.k.a. the instrument that makes guitars / keyboards sound like they are talking. It has a similar sound to Auto-Tune, but it has been commonly used in pop music for the last 50 years, made popular by artists such as Stevie Wonder and Peter Frampton. Today, bands like Chromeo and Daft Punk bring it to the mainstream.
The application interface is a virtual keyboard, divided into eight buttons. The layout of notes is designed to be simple to play and easy to figure out with minimal keyboard experience. The talking effect is achieved via the speaker being held directly up to the users mouth. The YouTube trailer demonstrates this.
Pocket Talkbox was developed during the summer of 2013 by Vito Biliti, a music teacher and composer from the Detroit area. Follow @vbiliti for regular updates, and find more of the author's work here.
In late 2021, Pocket Talkbox 2.0 was released, featuring many improvements and new features, such as Pitch Bend and Custom Scales. See the user's guide for a detailed explanation.