John CS Keston is an award winning transdisciplinary artist reimagining how music, video art, and computer science intersect. His work both questions and embraces his backgrounds in music technology, software development, and improvisation leading him toward unconventional compositions that convey a spirit of discovery and exploration through the use of graphic scores, chance and generative techniques, analog and digital synthesis, experimental sound design, signal processing, and acoustic piano. Performers are empowered to use their phonomnesis, or sonic imaginations, while contributing to his collaborative work. Originally from the United Kingdom, John currently resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota where he is a professor of Digital Media Arts at the University of St Thomas. He founded the sound design resource, AudioCookbook.org, where you will find articles and documentation about his projects and research.
John has spoken, performed, or exhibited original work at New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME 2022), the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC 2022), the International Digital Media Arts Conference (iDMAa 2022), International Sound in Science Technology and the Arts (ISSTA 2017-2019), Northern Spark (2011-2017), the Weisman Art Museum, the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Walker Art Center, the Minnesota Institute of Art, the Eyeo Festival, INST-INT, Echofluxx (Prague), and Moogfest. He produced and performed in the piece Instant Cinema: Teleportation Platform X, a featured project at Northern Spark 2013. He composed and performed the music for In Habit: Life in Patterns (2012) and Words to Dead Lips (2011) in collaboration with the dance company Aniccha Arts. In 2017 he was commissioned by the Walker Art Center to compose music for former Merce Cunningham dancers during the Common Time performance series. His music appears in The Jeffrey Dahmer Files (2012) and he composed the music for the short Familiar Pavement (2015). He has appeared on more than a dozen albums including two solo albums on UnearthedMusic.com.
I’ve almost finished with my initial round of tweaking and bug fixing on the GMS, so I’ve finally been able to put a bit more time into actually using the software for its intended purpose. My most recent work with it involves a companion document in Ableton Live that loads a number of virtual instruments into about nine separate MIDI tracks. Ableton provides the external sync via the Apple IAC (Inter-Application Communication) drivers. In turn, the GMS sends MIDI note on and off data to the instruments in Ableton. Using this method I can live loop on various tracks and build a multi-timbral composition in real-time. Here’s an example for a recent practice session.
I’ve been scheduled to perform live using my GMS this Wednesday night, May 13, 2009. I’ll be projecting against the Western wall of Art Institutes International. The reactive music will be amplified along with the projection as it is produced in real-time. Here’s the publicity statement that went out about the event.
John Keston will be performing using his gestural music sequencer or GMS on Wednesday, May 13, 2009 in the parking lot next to Art Institutes International Minnesota, 15 South 9th Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota. The GMS was written in Processing.org by Ai instructor, Unearthed Music recording artist, and AudioCookbook.org founder John Keston. His tool analyzes video input and converts it into a sequence of musical information in real-time. The live video image will be projected on the building while the musical response to the images is amplified through a sound system. For more information about the GMS visit audiocookbook.org/tag/gms/. All Ai students, staff, alumni, and the public are welcome to attend this free performance. A drawing will be held (for WDIM students only) giving away two passes to this years Flashbelt conference.
Here’s a segment from a practice session today to give you an idea about what sort of output the GMS can produce. All of the percussion, melodic lines, and bass were generated by the sequencer, then live looped to produce the results.
Lovingly mixed on cheap ear buds, this micro track consists of a cut up chunk of low frequency Rhodes running through auto pan and a bit of amp modeling, out of key FM synth bass, and frosty beats that were partially programmed using the GMS (Gestural Music Sequencer). It’s not a habit of mine to mix blind (or would that be deaf?), so I hope there aren’t too many nasty surprises when I hear this through proper speakers.
I’ve almost finished with my initial round of tweaking and bug fixing on the GMS, so I’ve finally been able to put a bit more time into actually using the software for its intended purpose. My most recent work with it involves a companion document in Ableton Live that loads a number of virtual instruments into about nine separate MIDI tracks. Ableton provides the external sync via the Apple IAC (Inter-Application Communication) drivers. In turn, the GMS sends MIDI note on and off data to the instruments in Ableton. Using this method I can live loop on various tracks and build a multi-timbral composition in real-time. Here’s an example for a recent practice session.
Lovingly mixed on cheap ear buds, this micro track consists of a cut up chunk of low frequency Rhodes running through auto pan and a bit of amp modeling, out of key FM synth bass, and frosty beats that were partially programmed using the