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.
The last time I performed a series of electroacoustic piano pieces was November of 2016 (click the link for an audio example). However, I am always imagining interesting ways that the piano, one of the most ancient of all synthesizers ;-), can be processed, resampled, or re-synthesized. To that end I was recently offered an opportunity to play at Berlin, Not the city in Germany but the music venue in Minneapolis, on April 15, 2024.
Places Above the Air is a collaboration between myself and Jesse Whitney. Out today, the album features eight tracks of “a surreal blend of IDM, ambient techno, and Berlin School work, with the song titles encapsulating a passage from the Egyptian Book Of The Dead” (as translated by Normandi Ellis). Mastered by Will Killingsworth at Dead Air Studios. Pick it up on Bandcamp or give it a listen below.
Jesse also produced this video for the second track, yet I see with the eye of the sun as if it came to rest on my forehead.
This is the last in a series of live audiovisual collaborations with Chris LeBlanc and Shawna Lee. The performance was captured at at the Lakely in the Oxbow Hotel, Eau Claire, Wisconsin (https://www.theoxbowhotel.com/lakely/) on September 30, 2023.
Chris LeBlanc and Shawna Lee produced live visuals using their integrated, modular video synthesis systems as I performed. This piece titled, Dark at the End of the Tunnel, is an electro-acoustic piano composition. In this adaptation I used a a stage piano, but the processing and accompaniment are as they would be if the piece were performed on an acoustic instrument.
Please take a look at Chris’ (@blindprophet) and Shawna’s (@iamadot) Instagram feeds to see more of their work.
This is the second in a series of live audiovisual collaborations with Chris LeBlanc and Shawna Lee. The performance was captured at at the Lakely in the Oxbow Hotel, Eau Claire, Wisconsin (https://www.theoxbowhotel.com/lakely/) on September 30, 2023.
Chris and Shawna produced live visuals using their integrated, modular video synthesis systems as I performed. This as yet untitled piece is driven by morphing drums and sequences on the Dirtywave M8 tracker. I also improvised parts on the Osmose Expressive E and the Numa X Piano GT.
This is the second in a series of live audiovisual collaborations with Chris LeBlanc and Shawna Lee. The performance was captured at at the Lakely in the Oxbow Hotel, Eau Claire, Wisconsin on September 30, 2023. Chris and Shawna produced live visuals using their integrated, modular video synthesis systems as I performed. This as yet untitled piece is driven by morphing drums and sequences on the Dirtywave M8 tracker. I also improvised parts on the Numa X Piano GT and the Osmose Expressive E.
Please take a look at Chris’ (@blindprophet) and Shawna’s (@iamadot) Instagram feeds to see more of their work.
This is the first in a series of live audiovisual collaborations with Chris LeBlanc and Shawna Lee. The performance was captured at at the Lakely in the Oxbow Hotel, Eau Claire, Wisconsin on September 30, 2023. Chris and Shawna produced live visuals using their integrated, modular video synthesis systems as I performed. This as yet untitled piece is driven by morphing drums and sequences on the Dirtywave M8 tracker. I also live looped a Rhodes pattern on the Numa X Piano GT. The formant-filtered-voice-like-lead was played on the Osmose Expressive E.
I’m thrilled with the analog visuals that Chris and Shawna produced. The image above shows Shawna’s (left) and Chris’ (right) video systems. Please take a look at their Instagram feeds to see more of their work:
