In Moscow, a major convergence of synth makers and lovers

One of the year’s biggest events on the synthesizer calendar isn’t in the US or Germany or the UK. It’s an event called Synthposium, in Moscow next week.

And where better? The city is dotted with monuments to cosmonauts; the country gave birth to Theremin and Polivoks, to ANS and optical synthesis, and spun fantastic science fiction tales that inspired the invention of the laser and dreamed of futuristic utopias.

Now, a younger, post-Communist generation is taking up the task of generating new futuristic musical energies. They’re mixing an enthusiasm for the avant-garde of the past and its heroes with a the latest technologies, patching connections between their countries and the world.

Well, the world seems to be taking notice. Synthposium, a packed art festival cum expo/conference next week, balances Russia’s own industrious community of artists and builders with counterparts from around the world. Alongside Berlin’s SuperBooth and Anaheim’s NAMM show, it might just be one of the big events on this year’s calendar in adventurous music technology.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cTMEybT9oY

The annual event hits next week, 24-27 August, at WINZAVOD Contemporary Art Center and Moscow Film School.

East coast and west coast synthesis? Try Eastern Bloc. On the hardware side, you get makers like the reborn Polivoks, the former brand reborn as a coveted 21st century brand, one that retains its original character but can be breathed in the same sentence with Moog and Buchla. But you also get an introduction to other makes, like Sputnik Modular, SSSR Labs, or Latvia’s Erica Synths (which inherits some of Polivoks’ former Riga legacy). There’s America’s TipTop Audio, too, plus MDR.modular, VG-Line, L-1 Synthesizer, Pribore Electronics, DNGR:TECH, Svarog Audio, and Uoki-Toki. Experimentalists and educators Playtronica join in, too.

Engineer Roman Filippov of Sputnik Modular will premiere his “Deckard’s Dream,” a Blade Runner-esque 8-voice polyphonic analog synth. Talks and workshops from the likes of BBC’s Matthew Sweet and Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe (Lichens) and former KORG analog maven Tatsuya Takahashi will add to the discussion.

There are also a whole lot of artists, mixing local and international personalities. The lineup looks like headliners from a major electronic festival, if that electronic festival were, well, sort of hyper-nerdy. Ulrich Schnauss and Thomas P. Heckmann join Max Cooper and Richard Devine and many others. (Yes, that also includes me – and of course expect plenty of CDM coverage of the event.)

See the full list below, plus some images of what’s coming.

Music — Expo — Conference — Interactive — Art — Festival
Tickets — https://goo.gl/0aLc9M

Line-up:

101 — LT
Alden Tyrell — NL
Ave Eva aka Ghostape — CH
Barker — DE
Baseck — US
Biodread — FIN
Conforce — NL
Denis Kaznacheev & Fake Electronics — RU/DE
Denny Kay — UK
Ekke Västrik — EST
Frank Muller aka Beroshima — DE
Felix K — DE
Interval — US
Jacek Sienkiewicz — PL
Kadaver — CZ
Karsten Pflum — DK
Konakov — UA
London Modular — UK
Max Cooper — UK
Mehmet Aslan — CH
Morgan Fisher — JP/UK
Morphology — FIN
Mustelide — BLR
Opuswerk — CH
OGJ — CZ
Peter Kirn — DE
Plast — CZ
PRCDRL aka Procedural — DE
Richard Devine — US
Richard Fearless of Death in Vegas — UK
Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe — US
Solar X — UK
Synxron — UA
Taeji Sawai — JP
Thomas P Heckmann — DE
Throwing Shade — UK
Todd Sines — US
Ulrich Schnauss — DE
Vertical Silence — US

Abjective
ADIL
Alex Pleninger
Alexander Ivanov
Alexey Yepishev
Algo
Ambidextrous
Amnfx
Analog Sound
Andrei Orlov
Anton Lanski
Art Crime
Artemiy
Bad Zu
Black Lenin
BMB Spacekid
Boorane aka Boora & Krane
Boris Belenki aka C-Rob
Caprithy
Celebrine
Chizh
Compass-Vrubell
Corell
Dasha Redkina
DBaldokhin
Defaultman
Dessin & Peterkan
dHET
Dmitri Mazurov
Dyad and the Sleepers Club
DZA
Egor Sukharev aka Khz
Eldar
Eye Que
Estafet
Fedor Vetkalov
Fizzarum
Fung Bui Lao
Gamayun
Gestalt
Grisha Nelyubin
HMOT
Hombao
Honealome
Id303 & FMSAO
Igor Starshinov
Iiilljj
Indeepend
Interchain
Jekka
Karina Ratiani
Karolina Bnv
Kovyazin D
Kubrakov
Kurvenschreiber
Laiva
Lapti
Lazyfish
Leafage
Linja
Lubish
Magnetic Poetry
Maria Teriaeva
Maksim Panfilov
Meow Moon
Midimode aka MDMD
Misha Alexeev
Mr. Pepper
Nairi Simonian
Nevospitanii
Nord City
Normality Restored
Odopt
OID
OL
OTRO
Operator Uno
Perfect Human
Phayah
Pinkshinyultrablast
Places and Stuff
Playtronica
Prisheletz
PTU
Rewired
Redeuce
Rhizome aka Nikita Zabelin
Roma Zuckerman
Roman Filippov aka Filq
Rozet
Saburov
Sasha Prana
SCSI-9
Secrets of the Third Planet
Sestrica
Shadowax aka Ishome
Sickdisco aka Cross
Sil
Sirius C
Slow Life Program
Sofist
Suokas
Symphocat
Timur Omar
Tripmastaz
Unbalance
Unbroken Dub
Valya Kan
Vanya Limb
Vlad Dobrovolski
Vladislav Interesniy
Vtgnike
Wolfstream
Yu

Expo — music tech interactive exhibition and showcase:

ПРИБОР
Alex Nadzharov
Alexey Taber
AllforDJ
ASD — Analog Sound Devices
Bastl Instruments — CZ
Compositor Software
Deckard’s Dream
DNGR:TECH
Erica Synths — LV
Eternal Engine EMI
Eugene Yakshin
Evgeny Yakshin
ezhi&aka
Gieskes — NL
Igor Varshavets
Keen Association Moscow
L-1 Synthesizer — BLR
Leonid Vasilyev
Logich Synth Service
MDR.modular
Motovilo Audio Lab
Peter Kirn
Pioneer DJ
Playtronica
Polivoks
Popobawa Sound
Pribore Electronics
Roland
SOMA Laboratory
Sputnik Modular
SSSR Labs
Steampunk WSG synth
Stone Voices
Sur Modular
Svarog Audio
Synthfox
Synthman
SYNTHMECHANIC
Synthstrom Audible — NZ
Uoki-Toki
VG Line
Zll Modular
Zvukofor Sound Labs

On Air — lectures, workshops, public talks, various educational events:

Alex Pleninger
Alexander Grigoriev (Pribore Electronics)
Alexander Serechenko (Solo Operator)
Andrey Orlov
Andrey Smirnov
Baseck
Beroshima (Frank Muller)
Biodred
Danila Plee
Dmitry Churikov
Dmitry Morozov (::vtol::)
Ekke Västrik
Gijs Gieskes
Gleb Glonti
Ildar Yakubov
London Modular
Matthew Sweet
Maxim Zaharchenko (Svarog Audio)
Misha Alekseev
Morphology
Nick Zavriev (Ambidextrous)
Oleg Makarov
Opuswerk
Peter Kirn
Philipp Alexandrov (Bad Zu)
Richard Devine
Richard Fearless
Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe
Roman Filippov
Sergey Kasich
SILA SVETA
Stain
Stanislav Charifoulline (HMOT)
Taeji Sawai
Tatsuya Takahashi
Thomas P Heckmann
Ulrich Schnauss
Vadim Epstein
Valentin Zvukofor Victorovich (Zvukofor Sound Labs)
Vladimir Kuzmin

Art — installations, a/v performances & experiments, objects:

√1
Abram Rebrov
Alexey Rudenko aka arhew0
Anastasya Alekhina
Andrey Guryanov
Ekaterina Danilova
Formic Acid
Ildar Yakubov
Galina Leonova
Grigoriev Misha
Misak Samokatyan
Noa Ivanova
Pasha Seldemirov
Stain
Vahram Akimyan — ARM
XYZ

Venues:

Winzavod Contemporary Art Center
Moscow Film School
— more TBA

Initiative – Main In Main