Post-prepared Piano by John Keston and Piotr Szyhalski

Posted on January 13, 2013 by John C.S. Keston

Piotr Szyhalski and I have just finished installing a piece titled, Post-prepared Piano, in the Burnet Gallery at Le Méridien Chambers, Minneapolis. Our installation is part of a show called Interactions and features the work of select MCAD MFA students in collaboration with their mentors. Our piece consists of several components. The first part is a 14′ wide and 17″ tall inkjet print of spectral analysis from a short piano composition that I performed and recorded using my custom built, binaural head microphone (otherwise known as Vincent).

Below the print is an installation that Szyhalski constructed from tarpaper, nails, and one continuous piece of twine. This handmade mapping of the spectral analysis was then photographed and converted back into sound using Michel Rouzic’s excellent application, Photosounder. Thirdly, we installed an iPad with headphones that allows the visitors to hear the original recording, the nails and string version, and a combination of the two layered on top of one another (visit the tablet optimized webapp). The show opens today and runs through February 24, 2013 with an artist’s reception on January 31 from 6pm to 9pm. Read on for more details, photos and sounds. Continue reading →

Excerpt from Ostraka Improvisation at NAMAC 2012

Posted on September 10, 2012 by John C.S. Keston

This excerpt is from my first live performance featuring the DSI Tempest last Thursday, September 6, 2012 at the Walker Art Center for the NAMAC opening night reception. My setup consisted of the Tempest synched up with a Korg Monotribe. The notes and some of the drums patterns were created in real-time with the GMS creating those signature, angular lines. I also played percussion patterns into the Tempest sequencer during the performance. The entire 75 minute set was improvised. LEDs fed into the video camera were projected on the wall behind me and used to generated the melodic and some of the rhythmic content.

Eyeo: Using Digital Imagery to Generate Sound

Posted on February 27, 2012 by John C.S. Keston

The first ever Eyeo Festival was last June and the second iteration looks to be just as amazing as the last. Here’s a video of a presentation that I gave at Eyeo last year on using digital imagery to generate sound. I also have the HTML5 slideshow available (use the left and right arrow keys to navigate). A big thanks goes out to Dave Schroeder for creating Eyeo and sharing these videos.

Free Track from Ostracon Debut Unauthorized Modifications

Posted on June 17, 2011 by John C.S. Keston

Unearthed Music is giving away a free track from the album Unauthorized Modifications by Ostracon (John Keston on electronics and Graham O’Brien on drums). This album was recorded and mixed at by Adam Krinsky at the former Flyte Tyme studios and mastered by Tom Garneau of Audioactive.

To get the free track Probability Defect visit the release page and enter your email address in the box in the lower right of the screen. You will then receive an email message with a unique link to download the track at 320kbps. Please let us know here what you think of it and join us for the release show on Friday, June 24, 2011.

Ostracon Debut Excerpt: Telemetry Implant

Posted on June 6, 2011 by John C.S. Keston

Here’s an excerpt from the sixth and final track on our upcoming release, Unauthorized Modifications by Ostracon. 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.

Telemetry Implant