Sound / Simulacra: Michael Masaru Flora

Posted on January 3, 2019 by John CS Keston

On Wednesday, January 23rd, 2019 Sound / Simulacra will start off the New Year presenting Michael Masaru Flora at Jazz Central Studios.

Flora is a Minneapolis based artist working with sound in various contexts. Within the intersections of art, science, music, and mathematics, he creates work that examines sonic morphology, spatialization, and human perception. Flora’s practice includes installation, performance, recording, and curation as well as numerous collaborations with artists in the fields of transdisciplinarity, visual arts, dance, and performance art. His work has been presented at Stanford University’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), St Cloud State University (Minnesota) as well as clubs, galleries, theaters, warehouses, and universities throughout North America. His latest recording “Xi” was published by Minnesota based label Sympathy Limited.

Sound / Simulacra is a monthly series produced by John C.S. Keston and Cody McKinney which explores musical improvisation as a “faithful and intentionally distorted” representational process. Sound / Simulacra brings together some of the Twin Cities most unique voices to “recreate, distort, and create the hyperreal.”

Set 1: Michael Masaru Flora solo performance
Set 2: Michael Masaru Flora with John C.S. Keston and Cody McKinney

Here’s a link to the event details on Facebook

Video: Parking Ramp Project

Posted on December 27, 2018 by John CS Keston

Aniccha Arts premieres a performance installation inside a seven-level parking garage. The project asks questions about transience, migration, and stability in a space that temporarily stores cars and is home to nothing. Performers pervade the parking structure with their bodies, working against the visible slant of the ramp to find their individual verticality. Questions we asked in creating the work: How do we find softness in a landscape of concrete? What anchors us on these alternating planes? How do we connect across such a complex landscape? video by: Cully Gallagher

This video by Cully Gallagher is 3 minutes and 30 seconds of fragments from the approximately 44 minute long Parking Ramp Project. Composing music for this performance installation showed me how far it is still possible to explore improvised music through experimental processes. Considering the acoustics of the parking ramp was a critical consideration within the musical scope. One approach to this was rests coded into the algorithms that allowed for the music to decay during long pauses while the ambient sound of the space inserted itself as an unintentional “performer”.

I am humbled by the willingness of the Pramila Vasudevan and other collaborators to humor my absurd scheme to compose the work using Javascript. This language allowed me to quickly produce animated, generative, graphic scores. It was also a privilege to perform the music with Peter Hennig (drums) and Cody McKinney (bass/electronics) who effortlessly interpreted the graphic scores. You can read and hear more about the project or continue for a gallery of screen grabs from the animated graphic scores. Continue reading →

ISSTA 2018 and Ableton 10 NRPN Morphing

Posted on October 29, 2018 by John CS Keston

Soon I’ll be on my way to Ireland for my second appearance at the Irish Sound, Science and Technology Association (ISSTA) annual conference. This year ISSTA will be held at Ulster University’s Magee campus in Derry, Northern Ireland, November 9th and 10th, 2018. Tickets are still available.

This time around my work is entirely rooted in FM synthesis. Particularly around my explorations of the amazing PreenFM2. I have designed a Max for Live patch that allows me to degrade, morph, and/or scramble sets of parameters on the synth. This is similar to a device I designed for the Yamaha TX81Z. This process creates an algorithmic approach to the sound design.

I have titled this series MODULATOR and recently made an album (unreleased) of material based on the technique. There is a lot to mine here, so I am finding that while I prepare for ISSTA a whole new range of material has emerged. These new compositions developed through a sequence of stochastic, deliberate, and arbitrary processes. Through algorithmic and improvised methodologies textures evolve beyond aesthetic considerations allowing peculiar, harsh, and even grotesque sounds to emerge. Have a listen to this series of clips I recorded while practicing for the upcoming performance:

Continue reading →

Sound / Simulacra: Martin Dosh, October 24, 2018

Posted on October 22, 2018 by John CS Keston

This October 24, 2018 Sound / Simulacra will feature Martin Dosh. Both me and Cody have had the pleasure and privilege of collaborating with Dosh over the years. Marty and me have bonded over our love of the Rhodes electric piano, DIY electronics, and similar musical ideals. This is bound to be a quite special performance in the intimacy of Jazz Central Studios, 407 Central Ave SE. Minneapolis, MN 55414. Please do join us for this event on October 24, 2018. Music starts at 8:30pm. Or checkout the Facebook event.

Dosh’s work with Andrew Broder in Lateduster and Fog gave him an experience that helped him begin to perform solo. In 2002, Dosh released his first album Dosh. He had recorded it himself, mostly in his basement. The album developed a following in the local Twin Cities scene. After playing many shows, City Pages voted him second on their annual “picked to click” list. Dosh was re-released internationally on Anticon in 2003. It was reviewed in Village Voice, URB, Flaunt, XLR8R, The Big Takeover and a number of online magazines. Dosh has toured extensively with Andrew Bird. He contributed significantly to Andrew Bird’s albums, Armchair Apocrypha and Noble Beast. Dosh is a member of The Cloak Ox, a four-piece band featuring Andrew Broder, Jeremy Ylvisaker and Mark Erickson. — Last.fm

Set 1: Martin Dosh: Drums, keyboards, electronics
Set 2: Martin Dosh: Drums, keyboards, electronics +
John Keston: Keyboards, synthesizer, electronics +
Cody McKinney: Bass, Voice, electronics

Sound / Simulacra: Zosha Warpeha Recordings

Posted on October 21, 2018 by John CS Keston

Please enjoy this recording of Sound / Simulacra featuring Zosha Warpeha on violin, voice, and electronics, John C.S. Keston on piano, Rhodes, synthesizers, electronics, and Cody McKinney on bass, voice, synthesizer, electronics. Recorded at Jazz Central Studios on Wednesday, June 27th, 2018.

Zosha Warpeha is a genre-crossing violinist, vocalist, and composer from Minnesota, currently based in New York. Steeped in improvisation, her music draws inspiration from a wide range of folk traditions and contemporary music. Her approach to blending voice and five-string violin brings an unique dimension to her sound. She also performs regularly on the hardanger fiddle, a traditional instrument of Norway, fully embracing the resonance and shimmering qualities of its sympathetic strings. Current musical projects range from the contemporary chamber ensemble Stratus Quartet to the ambient electro-acoustic duo visible worlds. Recent multidisciplinary collaborations include improvisatory performances with the Joffrey Ballet School and the experimental theatre group Exquisite Corpse Company. She has performed in many musical contexts at festivals and venues across the US, as well as internationally at the Bern Jazz Festival in Switzerland, and has been a recipient of artistic awards from the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.