PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Alexander Lerch

Alexander Lerch is a music technology researcher whose work applies machine learning and signal processing to help computers analyze and generate music. He co-founded zplane with Martin Schwerdtfeger and Tim Flohrer, whom he met while they studied electrical engineering in Berlin; he completed a PhD in Audio Communications in 2008 and published An Introduction to Audio Content Analysis in 2012. He co-chaired the 2021 ISMIR conference and added code examples and visualizations to his textbook in 2023. Georgia Tech promoted him to Professor in 2025; as of October 2026, he is also Associate Dean for Research and Creative Practice at the College of Design and leads the Music Informatics Group.

Badges
Links
Website, LinkedIn and GitHub

Timeline

  1. By 2001

    Co-founding zplane

    By 2001, Lerch is a co-founder of zplane with Martin Schwerdtfeger and Tim Flohrer; the three meet while studying electrical engineering at the Technical University of Berlin.

  2. 2008

    A doctorate in audio communications

    He completes a PhD in Audio Communications at the Berlin Institute of Technology in 2008, after studying electrical engineering there and Tonmeister (music production) at the University of Arts, Berlin.

  3. 2012

    An audio analysis textbook

    He publishes An Introduction to Audio Content Analysis in 2012, a book about how computers can extract musical content from raw audio.

  4. 2013

    Joining Georgia Tech

    He joins Georgia Tech's School of Music in 2013 and teaches music signal processing, computational music analysis, audio technology, and audio software engineering.

  5. 2021

    Co-chairing ISMIR

    In 2021, he co-chairs the 22nd International Society for Music Information Retrieval Conference (ISMIR).

  6. February 2023

    Updating the textbook

    In February 2023, he expands An Introduction to Audio Content Analysis with code examples and visualizations of contemporary problems in the field.

  7. March 2025

    Promotion to professor

    Georgia Tech promotes him to Professor in the School of Music in March 2025. He also serves as Associate Dean for Research and Creative Practice at the College of Design.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor and group leader

    In Fall 2026, he leads the Music Informatics Group, which develops computational methods for machines to analyze, process, understand, and generate music. His research applies machine learning and signal processing to music and audio. He is a Professor at Georgia Tech's School of Music and Associate Dean for Research and Creative Practice at the College of Design.

Career

  1. Since 2013Georgia Institute of TechnologyProfessor, Group leader
  2. zplaneCo-founder

Education

  1. 2008Technische Universität BerlinPhD in Audio Communications
  2. Berlin University of the ArtsTonmeister (music production)

From the biography.

  1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Georgia Institute of Technology. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  2. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes Georgia Institute of Technology. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  3. People shaping AI work at a median of 3 organizations over a career: 3 for university starters and institute and lab starters, versus 2 for company startersIncludes Georgia Institute of Technology. Across 6,853 people shaping AI with a dated work role, we estimate a median of 3 parent organizations over a career (mean 3.6), comparing role groups, starting sectors and starting decades from the 1950s to 2020–2026.
  4. 84% of people shaping AI with recorded undergraduate and doctoral schools changed institutions for their doctorateIncludes Georgia Institute of Technology. 84% of people shaping AI with recorded undergraduate and doctoral schools changed institutions for their doctorate. Across 2,116 people with both an undergraduate degree and a doctorate recorded, we trace which undergraduate schools feed which doctoral programs, how often students stay at the same school, and how paths differ by birth-country region.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Alexander Lerch yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. It's Our Birthday - Celebrating 25 Years of zplane products.zplane.de. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. alexander lerch alexanderlerch.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Audio Content Analysis Teaches Computers to Understand Music music.gatech.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Alexander Lerch | College of Design design.gatech.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. alexander lerch alexanderlerch.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Celebrating Tenure and Promotions at the College of Design design.gatech.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Music Informatics Group musicinformatics.gatech.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.