The Somethin’ Else #5: I, Synthesizer

Posted on October 6, 2010 by John CS Keston

The Somethin’ Else #5, curated by Jon Davis, will take place Friday, October 8, 2010 at the Franklin Art Works, 1021 E Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis. The theme this month is synthesizers.

I’ll be playing my restored Sequential Circuits Pro-One as well as my preferred axe, the Rhodes in the group DGK (Davis, Glenn, Keston) featuring Jon Davis on bass and bass clarinet, and Tim Glenn on drums.

The roster of artists playing this event has reached a total of eleven for four hours of synthesized madness. Artists include The Radar Threat, Moonstone Variations, DGK, Slapping Purses, S/M, SMAK 10K, Soaking Rasps, Dreamland Faces, Low-Gain, Spacebar, and John Vance.

Here’s one of my favorite live recordings from the last DKG performance to give you a taste of what’s to come.

DGK Live on August 30, 2010 (Track 1)

Cappuccino Synth Video Via CDM

Posted on August 26, 2010 by John CS Keston

Cappuccino Synth from Gijs on Vimeo.

I first saw this on Create Digital Music a few days ago, and although I think most ACB readers keep well abreast of what’s up on CDM, I’ve watched this several times now and think it deserves a re-post here. For more about this video visit the original post.

Experimental guitarists have been doing similar things like holding power tools or more recently, mobile phones, up to their pickups to generate interesting sounds. Here’s a video I shot of Siamese Bug a duet of Tim Glenn on drums with contact mics, and Jeremy Ylvisaker on prepared guitar.

Siamese Bug Video

Experimental Music Mondays #6

Posted on July 16, 2010 by John CS Keston

This round of Experimental Music Mondays features Stuart DeVaan from Savage Aural Hotbed, Davis-Glenn-Keston (Jon Davis, Tim Glenn, and John Keston), and Ostracon (John Keston and Graham O’Brien). Usually the last Monday of the month, this instance has been bumped up this Monday, July 19, 2010 where you will find us at the Kitty Cat Klub in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Expect to receive a brain-full of beautiful, grating, mysterious, haunting, mechanical, and organic sounds.

Ever Wonder What it Would be Like to Draw Sound?

Posted on July 14, 2010 by John CS Keston

I’m working on a MaxMSP performance patch that uses a Wacom tablet to draw light onto dancers holding light sensitive instruments. Last night we decided to apply sound to the strokes to give the illustrator another way to interact in the piece. Currently the pressure from the pen is translated into the volume and the velocity is translated into pitch. It will need some fine tuning, but I think you can get the idea from the video.

Sound Builders: Inventor of Circuit Bending Reed Ghazala

Posted on June 3, 2010 by John CS Keston

I’m really enjoying the Sound Builder series on Motherboard.tv, but this episode is brilliant. Now if I could just get the real-time version of that sped up footage! For more about Reed Ghazala checkout his bio and sounds from his instruments on anti-theory.com.