Unicorn Dream Attack and Ostracon at the Honey Lounge

Posted on September 10, 2010 by John CS Keston

On Saturday, September 11, 2010 Ostracon is performing a “send off” show for the In / Out Festival in New York. I am excited to be sharing the stage again with 8-bit maestro, Unicorn Dream Attack. Stefen Keen of UDA describes his music as follows.

The music I make is often times called “8-bit” or “chiptunes” (there are many other names but these are the most popular). There are many many ways to make this music. Some of them include using live sounds, trackers, or MIDI inputs on vintage computers (like Commodore 64), game systems (like a Gameboy or NES), old Casios/Yamahas (like vl-tone or vs-30), and circuit bent toys or non-bent toys of all kinds. check out the forums at chipmusic.org, 8bitcollective.com, and micromusic.net for more answers.

I describe it as intense, square wave, head exploding madness, not to be missed. UDA takes the stage at 7:45pm followed by my duet, Ostracon, with Graham O’Brien on drums at 8:45pm. The event takes place at the Honey Lounge, located in the basement of Ginger Hop at 205 East Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55414. The show is free if you arrive before 9:00pm.

Control the GMS Via Ableton Live

Posted on September 7, 2010 by John CS Keston

Currently I am busy preparing for the Ostracon show at the In / Out Festival of Digital Performance that is coming up on September 17 and 18 in New York (we are playing on the Saturday the 18th at 9:30pm). Part of my preparation involves minimizing my setup for ease of transport. For one thing, I am not bringing my Korg MS2000 as a controller for the GMS, as I have done for other performances. However, because I’m projecting the live video source, I cannot use the on-screen controls in the GMS.

My first idea to solve this problem was to share a single Korg nanoKONTROL between Ableton Live and the GMS. Unfortunately this approach was not practical because it would require some major reconfigurations as well as recompiling the GMS with a set of new external MIDI controls. My next idea was to route the MIDI control and program changes to the GMS via MIDI clips in Ableton’s session view. This worked immediately and I knew I was on the right track. The only problem was that there seemed to be a MIDI signal feedback loop when using the same bus for output and external control in the GMS. I solved this problem by creating a second IAC bus for the external control and using the first bus for the MIDI output. Finally I configured a combination of keyboard controls and Korg Nano buttons to trigger the clips in Ableton that, in turn, trigger the specific functions in the GMS. Voilà!

The flexibility of Ableton never ceases to amaze me. I had never used session clips to send MIDI program and control change messages to an external device, let alone, independent software running simultaneously. Nor had I ever needed to do this in the past. Yet the thought occurred to me, I wonder if Ableton can do this? It turns out that it can. Thanks to Ableton this solution has saved me many hours of redundant and tedious programming, and well as making my setup more streamlined and efficient for upcoming performances. How have Ableton’s capabilities surprised you?

Experimental Music Mondays with Ten72, Ostracon, Terr the Om, and Davis-Glenn-Keston

Posted on August 24, 2010 by John CS Keston

The Experimental Music Mondays series at the Kitty Cat Klub concludes this Monday, August 30 with a familiar lineup and newcomer Ten72 (Nils Westdal). Regulars Ostracon (John Keston and Graham O’Brien) and Terr the Om (Nathan Brende) are playing as well as my new unnamed trio Davis-Glenn-Keston. It is shaping up to be a fun and delightful evening of experimental music. Music will start by 9:30pm and go until 1:00am. Entry is free. Stop by and let us know what you think of this event.

This is the last chance to experience this series. For now there are no plans to continue the night at another venue, but depending on Monday’s turnout it may be taken under consideration. Thanks to all the people who have helped support this event, including Tom Rimarcik, Ryan Olcott, Graham O’Brien, and Nathan Brende, not to mention all the patrons who appreciated the work presented by the artists involved.

Beyerdynamics DT770 Pro Closed Back Circumaural Headphones

Posted on August 3, 2010 by John CS Keston

I just got a set of Beyerdynamics DT770 Pro closed back circumaural headphones and now I’m listening like mad to familiar music in order to get used to them as quickly as possible. I wanted some better quality closed back headphones firstly for performing, but secondly for recording, producing, and listening while on the road.

So far I’m very impressed with the detail and bass response. They have much more bass and overall volume than the AKG K240s that I use in the studio, but I imagine that the open back K240s are probably more flat. The DT770s are a snug fit and surround even my abnormally large pinnae. The thick velour padding blocks a fair amount of sound and keeps your ears toasty warm, or nice and sweaty in this ninety six degree heat.

It took me a while to decide about these phones, but based on what I’ll be using them for I think I made the right decision. They are louder than I expected, given that many people prefer to use a headphone amplifier with them. I didn’t find amplification necessary with my MacBook Pro, but haven’t tried them with an iPod, or anything else yet. Feel free to chime in with your own experience or opinions on headphones.

52 Minutes of Music for the Brave at Heart

Posted on July 29, 2010 by John CS 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