The Berkeley-based engineer Donald Buchla designed this analog, modular synthesizer at the request of pioneering composers Morton Subotnick and Ramòn Sender—who were looking for a new electronic instrument that could be used in live performances. A pioneer in electronic music technology – Buchla had several notable innovations including the touch plate keyboard, in which each key was capable of individual tuning, and the use of complex waveform generation in his oscillators. Along with Robert Moog, Buchla is credited with the development of the first voltage-controlled synthesizer.