Getting zapped!
The ever-secretive Roger Troutman: “You talkin’ to me?”
Raymond Boyd/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
One of the most prolific artists who made extensive use of the talkbox sound was singer and keyboard player Roger Troutman. During his tenure as the frontman for the American band Zapp, he became known as one of the world’s finest exponents of the art of the talkbox. Though his innate musical talent brought much to his playing, the technology behind his talkbox was a closely guarded secret. It was reported by many artists who booked him to play on their tracks that he would keep his talkbox tech away from prying eyes, almost to protect the idea of it. Even so, what we do know is that he originally used a Minimoog with his talkbox, which was later replaced by one of the cheapest synthesisers from the mid-’80s Yamaha lineup. The DX-100, with its mini keys and reduced synthesis capabilities, became his weapon of choice, now copied by the current talkbox generation. Even the patch that Troutman used and designed to act as the carrier signal for his sound was a secret at the time, but it’s now one that can now be discovered easily enough thanks to the internet…