Cassette Tape and Evolving MKS-80 Pad Driven by GMS

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After a few hiccups we have finally finished producing our limited run of cassettes. We only have 25 instead of the 50 we had planned, but all the j-cards and labels are printed so we can produce more quickly if need be. Each cassette contains a unique download code for multi-platform listening. A big thanks goes out to Unearthed Music designer Benjamin Montag for his design work and assembly. Also, major thanks to Wes without whom it would have never happened. Finally, thanks to Chris for the inspiration. For now, to get a cassette you will have to show up to the release show tomorrow night. Later on we may consign a few at local stores, but this media is for local consumption only.

Unauthorized Modifications was written and produced by John Keston (that’s me) and Graham O’Brien. The album was recorded, engineered and mixed by Adam Krinsky and mastered by Tom Garneau. For the release show performance I have opted to christen my Super Jupiter Roland MKS-80 for it’s first live show since I have owned it. Here’s an example of what I have been getting out of it and the GMS during my practice sessions.

Evolving MKS-80 Pad Driven by GMS

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About John CS Keston

John CS Keston is an award winning transdisciplinary artist reimagining how music, video art, and computer science intersect. His work both questions and embraces his backgrounds in music technology, software development, and improvisation leading him toward unconventional compositions that convey a spirit of discovery and exploration through the use of graphic scores, chance and generative techniques, analog and digital synthesis, experimental sound design, signal processing, and acoustic piano. Performers are empowered to use their phonomnesis, or sonic imaginations, while contributing to his collaborative work. Originally from the United Kingdom, John currently resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota where he is a professor of Digital Media Arts at the University of St Thomas. He founded the sound design resource, AudioCookbook.org, where you will find articles and documentation about his projects and research. John has spoken, performed, or exhibited original work at New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME 2022), the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC 2022), the International Digital Media Arts Conference (iDMAa 2022), International Sound in Science Technology and the Arts (ISSTA 2017-2019), Northern Spark (2011-2017), the Weisman Art Museum, the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Walker Art Center, the Minnesota Institute of Art, the Eyeo Festival, INST-INT, Echofluxx (Prague), and Moogfest. He produced and performed in the piece Instant Cinema: Teleportation Platform X, a featured project at Northern Spark 2013. He composed and performed the music for In Habit: Life in Patterns (2012) and Words to Dead Lips (2011) in collaboration with the dance company Aniccha Arts. In 2017 he was commissioned by the Walker Art Center to compose music for former Merce Cunningham dancers during the Common Time performance series. His music appears in The Jeffrey Dahmer Files (2012) and he composed the music for the short Familiar Pavement (2015). He has appeared on more than a dozen albums including two solo albums on UnearthedMusic.com.

3 thoughts on “Cassette Tape and Evolving MKS-80 Pad Driven by GMS”

  2. Oh, I found it in a previous post that I had missed. “Don’t miss our live performance celebrating the release at the Honey Lounge in Minneapolis on June 24, 2011. Artists performing with us at the event include Dosh, Smyth, and Ghostband. Rogue Citizen will be doing live painting during the performance.”

  3. Sorry, Rob! I’m glad you found the details. Here’s the entire press release:

    ***********************
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
    UNEARTHED MUSIC Presents UNAUTHORIZED MODIFICATIONS by OSTRACON

    ALBUM RELEASE SHOW FEATURING:
    DOSH, OSTRACON, SMYTH, GHOSTBAND, and ROGUE CITIZEN

    DATE: June 24, 2011 9:00pm to 2:00am
    VENUE: Honey Lounge, Minneapolis

    Please join us to celebrate OSTRACON’s debut release, UNAUTHORIZED
    MODIFICATIONS, with live music from DOSH, OSTRACON, SMYTH, GHOSTBAND,
    and live painting by ROGUE CITIZEN.

    OSTRACON:
    Ostracon is producer John Keston (AudioCookbook.org) on electronics
    and drummer Graham O’Brien (No Bird Sing). No keyboards are used in
    their music. Instead, Keston uses his custom sequencing software and
    hand manipulated light controllers to convert projected video signals
    into a stream of generative melodic structures. During their
    performances and recording sessions the visuals, electronics, and
    synchronized drumming are interwoven creating ephemeral structures
    that are familiar yet never repeated outside of each composition.
    O’Brien’s percussive statements firmly place the work into a
    non-linear landscape, grounded in an impossible to categorize igneous
    crust. UNAUTHORIZED MODIFICATIONS includes six pieces recorded and
    mixed at the former Flyte Tyme studios by Adam Krinsky. The the
    tracks, interspersed with angular melodic passages, sound mysterious,
    organic, and periodically invoke dystopian imagery.

    KESTON:
    Keston’s work involves performance, composition, experimental software
    design, and sound art. He founded the sound design resource,
    AudioCookbook.org, where he documents his ongoing projects and
    research. He has performed around the US and internationally at the
    Montreal Jazz Festival in 2004, the Spark Festival of Electronic Music
    and Art in 2009, and New York’s In/Out Festival of Digital Performance
    in 2010. Following the performance, John will be speaking and
    demonstrating his software at the Eyeo Festival of art, music, and
    technology interaction (http://eyeofestival.com/) on June 29, 2011.

    O’BRIEN:
    Graham O’Brien is a drummer, producer and composer hailing from St.
    Paul, Minnesota. He is most noted for his writing, production and
    performance in various Alternative Hip-Hop bands in the Twin Cities,
    which have drawn local and national recognition. Aside from drumming
    in No Bird Sing, he has recorded and performed with the likes of
    Eyedea, Kill The Vultures, and Kristoff Krane. A beat maker since
    1997, Graham has recently released his well received solo debut album
    on experimental/hip hop/ambient London based label, NoEcho Records.

    MORE INFORMATION:
    http://www.unearthedmusic.com
    http://www.audiocookbook.org
    http://grahamobrien.bandcamp.com/
    http://www.eyeofestival.com
    http://www.honeympls.com
    http://inoutfest.org
    http://www.doshfamily.com
    http://www.jredsmyth.com
    http://ghostband.bandcamp.com
    http://www.facebook.com/roguecitizen.art

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