Early Ostracon Performance

Posted on June 21, 2011 by John Keston

Here’s an early live recording from Ostracon way back in September, 2009 that I thought would be interesting to share. We have come along way since then, but this documentation has a fragile, exploratory charm to it including hefty amounts of buzz and crackle from a bad cord.

The way I produced the recording was by putting my Sony PCM-50 near the drums, and then recording the Live set during the show. Afterward I put the drum track into the Live set and matched it up. The recorder started a little late, so it’s missing the first three minutes of drums, but there’s 34 more minutes with Graham’s spectacular drumming all over it. Enjoy!

Ostracon Live Recording, September 28, 2009 by Ostraka

DGK and Friends Bootleg Part 1

Posted on March 25, 2011 by John Keston

On March 13, 2011, my trio DGK (Jon Davis on bass, Tim Glenn on drums, and John Keston on Rhodes and Pro-One) performed at the Honey Lounge in Minneapolis, Minnesota in collaboration with an esteemed line-up of colleagues. Through the night people came and went, so in the upcoming parts of this series I’ll name the individuals involved. For the beginning of the evening it was DGK with Martin Dosh on additional drums, and Juno Alpha 1, Scott Fultz on electric guitar and soprano saxophone, Andrew Broder on electric guitar, Rajiah Johnson on flute, and Brandon Wozniak on tenor saxophone. The record is a bit chatty at times, but that’s to be expected with bootleg recordings. You never know, you just might stumble across a bizarre conversation buried in the mix.

DGK and Friends Part 1 (36:16)

Cymatic Sounds

Posted on February 16, 2011 by John Keston

One thing that I think we don’t do enough is record amplified synthesis with microphones. I must admit to recording an unhealthy portion of my work direct. There’s a reason. It’s much easier. It’s clean. It’s fast. But some really great qualities can be achieved by going the extra mile. Some of my favorite sounds were made by plugging my Pro-One into my Leslie cabinet and using the motor speed for expression. During our cymatics tests last week I recorded some of the sounds made by the oscillators, and the agitated granules with my PCM-D50 and my mobile phone. Here’s a combination of those sounds layered into an ambient microtrack.

Cymatic Sounds

DGK Rehearsal Segment

Posted on January 25, 2011 by John Keston

During a rehearsal with DGK tonight for our upcoming show this Friday at the Turf Club, I put the Roland Juno-106 on top of the Rhodes and ran them both through my Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man delay. I had the Sony PCM-D50 setup to capture the session with TIm Glenn on drums and Jon Davis on bass. It was a fun rehearsal. I’m looking forward to our show. Here a segment from the recording where I was playing chords on the Juno through the Memory Man.

DGK Rehearsal Segment

52 Minutes of Music for the Brave at Heart

Posted on July 29, 2010 by John Keston

On Monday, July 19, 2010, my latest trio featuring Jon Davis on bass guitar and bass clarinet, Tim Glenn on drums, and me on Rhodes and Sequential Circuits Pro-One, played at the Kitty Cat Klub for the Experimental Music Mondays series.

I recorded the set on my Sony PCM-D50 and applied some subtle mastering with Ableton Live. I’m pretty fond of how the music and the recording turned out other than the fact that the bass clarinet is too low in the mix.

Here are the three tracks of improvised music from the evening adding up to around fifty two minutes. If you like experimental improvised music be prepared to have a long and challenging listen.

Davis-Glenn-Keston Track 1
Davis-Glenn-Keston Track 2
Davis-Glenn-Keston Track 3

Off to CNMAT

Posted on July 27, 2009 by John Keston

In a few hours I’m headed to California for a night class on MaxMSP at CNMAT, the Center for New Music and Audio Technology, UC Berkeley. I am very excited to be visiting this historic college on their twentieth anniversary. In preparation for my trip I put my favorite pair of my trainers in the dryer after a wet ride in the rain. Naturally I recorded the stumbling rhythm they produced while tumbling in the heated bin.

Trainers in The Dryer

Nils and Graham Goof Off at Rehearsal

Posted on July 12, 2009 by John Keston

bass During a recent rehearsal I managed to catch a few seconds of a really nice improvised jam between Nils Westdal on Bass and Graham O’Brien on drums just before we captured a run through of a new piece we were working on. The kick has a nice thump considering that I was only using the mics built into the PCM-D50. I like the way the kick and rim shot pattern counter the bass harmonics. Undoubtedly there’s a loop in there worth experimenting with.

Nils and Graham Goof Off

Rhythmic Rolling Carts

Posted on July 9, 2009 by John Keston

Here’s another example of the sound made as we rolled our carts along cement paths to the Artists on the Verge opening reception show at the Weisman Museum. At a consistent pace each section of pavement made the cart rattle rhythmically.

More Rolling Carts

Empty Dumpster Sounds

Posted on July 7, 2009 by John Keston

dumpster_hitch I recorded some sounds from this giant dumpster in the alley behind my house. It’s there so my neighbor and I can dispose of some construction waste that will not be taken away by the city, including wood posts stuck in cement that I dug up while replacing old decaying fencing.

At the time the dumpster was almost completely empty allowing it to resonate for an extended period of time. If I get a chance I will make some more recordings of this metal behemoth.

Dumpster