InRussia

Music

Synthposium: Alexander Pleninger

Synthesizer-guru combines obsolete technology with an advanced knowledge of electronic music.

Alexander Pleninger is an academically trained composer and self-taught engineer currently working in Moscow. His fascination with electronics and computers prompted him to acquire  a Buchla synthesizer.

Now a member of the synthesizer design team Keen Association, Pleninger devotes his time to developing Buchla format synthesiser modules with Dmitry Shtatnov of SSSR Labs and sound artist Sergey Kalygin. Their first invention was a universal touch keyboard, the Polyphonic Touch'N'Run Voltage Array. Like with all of Pleninger’s work, the assembly of advanced electronic musical instruments is fuelled by a rejection of compromise and a relentless desire to innovate.

In addition to designing and manufacturing synths, Alexander gives lectures and master classes at the Moscow-based SA studio, which is dedicated to experimental research and appliance of sound. 

The documentary short above was screened at this summer's Synthposium 2017 festival, where Pleninger also gave a talk on his innovative and unconventional approaches in discovering alternative electronic music instruments.