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.
Keston and Westdal’s third album titled One Day to Save All Life (ODTSAL) is currently available for pre-ordering through Unearthed Music. The CD package will be printed on 100% recycled paper and the CD tray is made from 100% post consumer waste. All pre-orders will be shipped on, or up to two weeks before the scheduled release date of March 25, 2008.
A CD release party is schedule on March 29, 2008 at the Minnesota Museum of American Art (MMAA.org). Other artists include Kyle Herskovitz, Cepia (Ghostly International) and Primadonahue. An industry listening party is TBA.
Recent Response to ODTSAL:
A full review of the album has been posted on Properly Chilled, one of the top sites for downtempo reviews, artists interviews, and podcasts.
“This work is quite different than previous and is applauded on every level. [They] have certainly defined a sound that resonates through on this unique work. Westdal’s bass is beautifully morphed and Keston’s keys and digi work have stepped over the horizon with a definable expertise. I think I have listened to it three times already. Bravo!” – Chris Lindsey, Slackline Radio
Have you ever put a microphone down the hallway from the studio then cracked the door on the recording booth while recording drums for a bit of natural reverb? Have you ever used the feedback from an open tuned acoustic guitar placed on a stand in front of a speaker? Have you run a vintage mono-synth through a Lesley cabinet? Use the Processing category to tell us what experiments have worked or not worked for you when processing audio in unique ways.
Good foley studios are littered with everything from sod, gravel, pavement, and other surfaces to garden rakes and kitchen utensils. This category is for the strange, unique, bizzarre, or just plain effective techniques you have used to generate foley sounds.
Recently I had the pleasure of producing the audio for a short animated piece called “Drown” by Aaron Dabelow. I simply recorded myself blowing bubbles in water with a straw. I captured in it Ableton Live 6 with my AKG c4000b large diaphragm condenser at a distance of about 9 inches, being careful not to splash water on the mic. The processing included down pitching an octave or so, running it through a high pass filter, and then dousing the works with some massive reverb.
On YouTube there are a total of seven excellent mini-documentary episodes on how the sound design was produced for Peter Jackson’s remake of King Kong. Here’s a playlist of all seven videos. In the first video Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins explain why they prefer not to use sounds from pre-recorded libraries.
Keston and Westdal’s third album titled One Day to Save All Life (ODTSAL) is currently available for pre-ordering through Unearthed Music. The CD package will be printed on 100% recycled paper and the CD tray is made from 100% post consumer waste. All pre-orders will be shipped on, or up to two weeks before the scheduled release date of March 25, 2008.