David Byrne’s Installation with DKO in Binaural Sound

Posted on December 1, 2012 by John CS Keston

This is another binaural recording featuring David Byrne’s installation “Playing the Building” at Aria in Minneapolis, this time with the ensemble DKO (Jon Davis on bass clarinet, John Keston on the installation, and Graham O’Brien on percussion).

You can read more about the installation at Aria’s website, but it lends itself perfectly to being documented through binaural recording techniques because the sounds literally come from all around you. There are motors, mallets, and pipes installed on walls, girders, and metal stairs in the historic, gutted, warehouse building, all which are activated from the keyboard of a repurposed, antique, pump organ.

The recording was made with a custom built binaural head microphone. I made the device with a styrofoam mannequin head, a set of silicone ears designed for acupuncture practice, and a pair of Shure MX202 microphones embedded into the ear canals. Once again it is critical that you wear headphones to experience the localized binaural effect, although I just listened on my studio monitors and it sounds very clear and wide, maintaining lots of the spatial qualities.

Binaural Video of David Byrne’s Installation Playing the Building

Posted on November 30, 2012 by John CS Keston

On November 27, 2012 I made a binaural recording of David Byrne’s installation, Playing the Building (2012), at Aria in Minneapolis. During my session in the space I recorded a solo performance of myself, a duet with me and Jon Davis on bass clarinet, and a trio (DKO) with me, Graham O’Brien on drums and Jon Davis. I used a binaural head to record each performance. I have been interested in building a binaural head for some time, and finally got the parts together including a mannequin head, silicone ears, and overhead microphones capsules. I’ll share more about “Vincent” (the head’s name), and the rest of the recordings soon. For now here’s a video of my solo performance. Remember to listen using headphones in order to hear the binaural spatial effects. You’ll hear the installation surrounding you, a visitor bouncing a tennis ball off to the right, and occasional interjections of people in conversation.

DKO Recording Session and Performance at Bellows

Posted on October 23, 2012 by John CS Keston

Here’s a selection made by Jon Davis from our recent DKO performance and recording session at the lovely Bellows Studio in St. Paul, Minnesota. This rough segment was mixed and engineered by Adam Krinsky. The limited edition poster was designed and screen printed by Jasio Stefanski.

Fourteen Live Mixes from Ostracon: Track 5

Posted on July 9, 2012 by John CS Keston

The fifth track in this series marks a move from our cassette release show to five days later during our performance at the 2011 Eyeo Festival. If you’d like to hear more from this collection please comment, share, retweet, like, or insert method through which you are comfortable and adept at spreading the word. Thanks!

Fourteen Live Mixes from Ostracon: Track 4

Posted on July 6, 2012 by John CS Keston

Please enjoy track 4 of 14 out of a collection of Ostracon mixes from three consecutive live shows last year. Each track is an untitled improvisation roughly mixed and edited for length. Ostracon is Graham O’Brien on drums and John Keston on electronics. If you’d like to hear more from this collection please comment, share, or like. Thanks!