An Exclusive Holiday Gift from Ostraka

Posted on by

Here’s a set I recorded live to Ableton during a performance at Nick and Eddie Thursday Funhouse hosted by Jon Davis, December 16, 2010. This is all new material that I’ve been working on, except for the last track, which is a remix of Illuminator Console from Precambrian Resonance (Unearthed Music 2009). Here’s the download link for the 37:28 minute set hosted on Unearthed Music. Expect to hear lots of Grain Machine, as well as synth sounds from the Casio CZ-1000, the Korg MS2000, the Roland D-50, my Sequential Circuits Pro-One, some old Hammond rhythm programs, and even a little bit of Rhodes electric piano.

Download Live Ostraka Set at Nick and Eddie Thursday Funhouse (89.9 MB)

This entry was posted in Audio News, Max for Live, Music, Performance and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , by John CS Keston. Bookmark the permalink.

About John CS Keston

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.

15 thoughts on “An Exclusive Holiday Gift from Ostraka”

  1. Hi John: Thanks for such great music. I’ve really enjoyed listening to you and Westdal.

    I downloaded the Ostraka set at Nick and Eddie’s, but the file won’t play in iTunes or WMP. Did other people have any problem. WMP says the file is unrecognizable. Thanks – Tom

  2. Out of 240 downloads no one else has reported a problem. Please try another browser, or media player. The mix is a 320kbps VBR mp3 rendered from a 24 bit .wav file, so it’s possible that WMP doesn’t handle files of that quality, although it works in iTunes on my end. If it still doesn’t work, let me know and I’ll put up a 192kbps version.

  3. Pingback: Audio Cookbook » Blog Archive » One Synthesizer Sound Every Day Debut

  4. Pingback: Audio Cookbook » Blog Archive » Grain Machine Sample from Live Performance

  5. Pingback: Audio Cookbook » Blog Archive » Korg Monotron Clip from Live Set

  7. I finally got a chance to sit down and listen to this. It’s fantastic! Loving the new work…when is the next album. The track leading into about the halfway mark is so eerily introspective and simple.

  8. Thanks for listening, Grant! And for taking the time to comment. There has been nearly 400 downloads. Not sure if that means anything, but you’re one of just a few who’ve spoken up about it. Cheers! -John

  11. Pingback: Unearthed Music » Blog Archive » One Synthesizer Sound Every Day Debut

  12. i am having a hard time downloading. its just not letting me. i would like the best quality version, but the link seems to be dead, sending me to a 404 page

    lewis

  13. Hi Lewis. Sorry for the late reply. The holiday gift Ostraka mix was erased in a recent server crash and I haven’t had a chance to put it back in place yet. I’ll post another comment once it’s recovered.

  14. I just wanted you to know that I still listen to this regularly, and that it really was a gift that keeps on giving. Next time I’m in the Twin Cities for more than 12 hours I’ll need to catch a live show. Keep it up!

Leave a Reply