Nightmarish Synth Effect

Posted on March 30, 2011 by John C.S. Keston

One of many things that the MKS-80 is really good for is creating synthesizer effects. Through the use of the XMOD (cross modulation) parameters strange, metallic textures can be obtained similar to FM or frequency modulation. As heard in the Synthesizer Noise Jam series , I’m discovering a variety of ways to use these techniques to create unique and fascinating effects perfect for electronic music, or scifi thriller sound tracks. Here’s a short segment from one of these experiments processed through reverb and delay.

Excerpt of Intro to Heavy Synth Track in Six

Posted on March 29, 2011 by John C.S. Keston

Inevitably one of the results of the One Synthesizer Sound Every Day project that I started in January is to produce an Ostraka album. So far I have nearly thirty tracks in the works. Many of them will end up on the cutting room floor, but here’s an excerpt from an introduction for one of the pieces that I’m confident will make the roster. The segment starts with a washy arpeggio on the D-50 morphed into a pad with copious amounts of reverb and delay. Next up are some MKS-80 effects that introduce an unprocessed bouncy arpeggio in six eight time.

Excerpt of Intro to Heavy Synth Track in Six

DGK and Friends Bootleg Part 2

Posted on March 28, 2011 by John C.S. Keston

Once again, on March 13, 2011, my trio DGK performed at the Honey Lounge in Minneapolis, Minnesota in collaboration with a distinguished array of comrades. During part two, in addition to the guests listed for part one, we have spoken word artist Kristoff Krane and bassist Josh Granowski. This section of the recording is even more chatty than the last one, but in a way it’s just a little more character sprinkled into the document.

DGK and Friends Part 2

Pulsing Automated Bass Note

Posted on March 27, 2011 by John C.S. Keston

Since configuring the Bitstream 3X to control the Super Jupiter instead of using the reKon Audio VST-AU MKS-80 editor I have been creating loads of sounds without bothering to save to save them as presets. Thinking back, this seems to be my modus operandi. I’m feeling pretty comfortable with this instrument now and using the BS3X I can usually dial up the sound I’m looking for in less than a minute. Not saving presets is nice because when dialing them in manually they never come up exactly he same way twice and you learn a lot about the instrument in the process. Here’s an example of one of the sounds I programmed today.

Pulsing Bass Note

DGK and Friends Bootleg Part 1

Posted on March 25, 2011 by John C.S. Keston

On March 13, 2011, my trio DGK (Jon Davis on bass, Tim Glenn on drums, and John Keston on Rhodes and Pro-One) performed at the Honey Lounge in Minneapolis, Minnesota in collaboration with an esteemed line-up of colleagues. Through the night people came and went, so in the upcoming parts of this series I’ll name the individuals involved. For the beginning of the evening it was DGK with Martin Dosh on additional drums, and Juno Alpha 1, Scott Fultz on electric guitar and soprano saxophone, Andrew Broder on electric guitar, Rajiah Johnson on flute, and Brandon Wozniak on tenor saxophone. The record is a bit chatty at times, but that’s to be expected with bootleg recordings. You never know, you just might stumble across a bizarre conversation buried in the mix.

DGK and Friends Part 1 (36:16)