One might be forgiven for thinking that the application of special effects to vocals is something that started in the last century. Not so! As early as 1874 one Dr Christian Montgomery was experimenting with adding reverb, and by 1878 his work had progressed far enough that he was able to unveil his masterpiece, the "Incredible Vocalising Engine" or "Vocalizer" as it became commonly known.
Dr Montgomery could have taught modern sound engineers a thing or two - not only did the Vocalizer boast quite passable delay and flange effects, but, more uniquely, it was able to take a spoken or sung piece and convert it to any accent or voice required. Imagine if we had a machine like that today. One would be able to listen to pieces of American Rock sung perfectly clearly in the Queen's English. What a relief that would be!
Below is one of the original flyers (distributed at the 1879 Ideal Home Exhibition) for Dr Montgomery's device:
So what happened to the Vocalizer? Why aren't there any around today?
Unfortunately Dr Christian Montgomery was as temperamental as he was innovative. When it became apparent that the majority of customers were only purchasing the Vocalizer so that they could make Queen Victoria's voice say "Bum!" he recalled his product in a fit of pique, tore up the plans and moved to Torquay, where he lived out his days doing the sound in a sea-front Karaoke bar. A sad end for a forgotten pioneer.