Love Lessons from Regina

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Here’s another analog synth, electro-funk composition that I have kept in a locked drawer for almost a year, taking it out occasionally to brush of the dust and hold it against the light. If this track doesn’t become your Summer jam then it is time for me to give up on music and wonder When did music become unimportant? Aside from the drums, this track was made entirely using my restored Roland Juno-106. Few instruments rival the punchy sounds that the 106 seems to spurt out with only a few careful strokes of her many sliders. Please enjoy responsibly.

Track Made Entirely with Korg Monotribe

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I made this track, titled Crowd Dance, almost entirely using the Korg Monotribe synced in Ableton Live. There are 8 layers of the instrument plus a subtle analog drum pattern that includes the wood block, sampled from an old organ. This is one of several works in progress commissioned by the American Composers Forum for a collaboration with a choreographer. It is music for the opening vignette of “In Habit” that will be performed by the Aniccha Arts Dance Company at Northern Spark on June 9, 2012.

Video: Duet for Synthesizer and the Washing

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Note: This video was produced with binaural sound. Please listen with headphones to experience the binaural effect.

In this “duet” I am using the Korg Monotribe to join in with the laundromat ambience as if it were a conscious participant in an improvisational ensemble. The activity in the space produced oscillations that caused sound waves forming drones and rhythmic patterns. I responded with basic oscillators like pulse, saw, or triangle waves. I manipulated the filter, LFO and pitch to create more complex textures that alternately blend and contrast with the ambient sound.

The ambience was recorded with a set of binaural microphones. When wearing stereo headphones the playback of a binaural recording accurately positions the direction of each sound for the listener, immersing them in the spatial soundscape. In contrast the synthesis was recorded in mono, without additional processing. This simulates a process called phonomnesis, or imagined sound, by placing the signal in the center of the listeners sound-space.

Concept, Music, Sound: John Keston
Camera, Binaural Head Model: Web Baker

DKO Studio Rough Segment #2

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Here’s the second segment that Jon Davis posted on our DKO Soundcloud page from our January session at Waterbury. This excerpt starts with meandering, free passages of bass clarinet and outside Rhodes playing then, at about two minutes in, descends into a distorted passage of dirge metal, complete with bombastic drumming.

DKO Rough Segment from Studio Session #1

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On January 27, 2012 my trio DKO (Davis, Keston, O’Brien) spent about thirteen hours at the lovely Waterbury Studios in Northeast Minneapolis. We have yet to properly edit or mix any of the six or more hours of material that we performed during the session, but Jon Davis has condensed a few segments recently for sharing. Here’s one of those segments for your listening pleasure.