It Spoke to Me in a Strange and Rhythmic Language

This dissonant microtrack was created on the Roland MKS-80 with MIDI mapping on a Korg nanoKONTROL for real time manipulation of the settings. I setup three scenes on the nano to control virtually every parameter, although I was only adjusting a few of them for this recording. What makes this patch so interesting to me are the opposing oscillator frequencies. I managed this by routing the LFO to the VCO and by using cross modulation, which are settings on the MKS-80 that I’m just starting to get familiar with. Everything else on this machine fits snuggly into the subtractive synthesis model, but the cross modulation uses the second oscillator to modulate the pitch of the first. This can be used to produce FM or frequency modulated sounds including bell like tones similar to what the famous Yamaha DX-7 was doing around the same time.

It Spoke to Me in a Strange and Rhythmic Language

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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.

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