The Audible Edge

Posted on May 22, 2014 by John C.S. Keston

I am pleased to announce my participation in The Audible Edge, a group exhibition that “explores intersections of architecture and sound, inside and outside the gallery space.”

The Audible Edge includes With Hidden Noise, a traveling exhibition of sound art projects, including works by Taylor Deupree, Jennie C. Jones, Pauline Oliveros, Andrea Parkins, Steve Peters, Steve Roden, Michael J. Schumacher, and Stephen Vitiello. With Hidden Noise is part of ICI’s Exhibitions in a Box series. Produced by Independent Curators International (ICI), New York, this exhibition is curated by Stephen Vitiello. The Audible Edge includes artists invited by the organizing team to participate in the exhibition, including J. Anthony Allen, Philip Blackburn, Mary Ellen Childs, Douglas Ewart, Douglas Geers, Beatrix*JAR, John Keston, Abinadi Meza, Ryan Wurst and Patrick Beseda.

The exhibition runs from May 27 to July 26, 2014 with an opening reception during Northern Spark on June 14. As well as exhibiting I will be performing my piece Vocalise Sintetica (performed recently at Echofluxx in Prague) during the opening reception. My exhibit is a new piece in my series Spectral Tablature called Synthetic Skyline in collaboration with designer Jasio Stefanski.

Volca Keys with Bass Station II through Minifooger

Posted on May 4, 2014 by John C.S. Keston

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This simple layering of the Korg Volca Keys and Bass Station II through the Minifooger Delay came about during my preparations for the Echofluxx.org festival.

Bass Station II through the Minifooger Delay Part 2

Posted on May 4, 2014 by John C.S. Keston

Here’s another example of the Bass Station II running through the Moog Minifooger Delay. At the end you can hear the feedback alone with some time knob manipulation.

Bass Station II Through the Minifooger Delay

Posted on May 2, 2014 by John C.S. Keston

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I finally got my hands on a Minifooger Delay by Moog. I wanted something battery operated and more portable than the Memory Man for my performance at Echofluxx.org on May 7th, 2014 and an upcoming recording project in Northern England. Lucky for me it showed up at Foxtone Music just days before my flight to Prague. Thanks, Eric!

Audiovisual Grain Machine Demo

Posted on March 31, 2014 by John C.S. Keston

Here’s a quick demo of the software I am designing to do audiovisual granular synthesis that I’ll be presenting at Moogfest and performing with at Echofluxx. It allows a performer to apply granular synthesis to sound and corresponding video using a touch interface such as MIRA (shown). The audio and video are synchronized in parallel. The software also has the capability to capture and repeat gestures so that the performer can accompany the projections with multiple layers and arrange compositions in a performance setting. This demo granulates the voice and image of Lister Rossel. In addition I use analogue synthesizers to contrast the digital manipulations.

This work alludes to the speech-to-song illusion discovered by Diana Deutsch. It also evokes an “event fusion” as vocalizations are repeated much faster than humanly possible until they enter the audio range. Adding the corresponding visuals makes it appear uncanny as video and sound are looped in millisecond intervals.