Wolfgang von Kempelen (creator of the fake chess automaton known as the Turk) made a similar thing in the 18th century. [0] It had multiple reeds tuned to the same frequency - conceptually similar to the Voder. It might not be coincidence that Bell Labs developed this, given that Bell himself had also made attempts to improve the design, which is how he ended up inventing the telephone.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_von_Kempelen%27s_spea...