A Faust-Built Mobile Vocoder Instrument

The growth of increasingly powerful mobiles devices and their ubiquity opens up more and more possibilities in the creation of New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIMEs). However, since smartphones were not conceived for musical purposes, they are affected by some limitations. This work aims to develop a mobile version of a vocoder using the Faust programming language, in order to test the limits and opportunities offered by smartphones in creating a portable version of such an old musical effect. Both a custom app and purpose-designed phone case prototype were developed. The vocoder app presents a clear reconstruction of the words, via the quite pleasant and well-known timbre. However, some difficulties were encountered in the development process. In particular, some mobile devices are not powerful enough to handle a high level of polyphony.