Postfauxpocalypse Excerpt No. 2

Posted on December 2, 2013 by John C.S. Keston

This 1:19 minute excerpt from my live performance, “Postfauxpocalyse,” on October 24, 2013 at Popup Northrop was recorded directly from a Mackie 1202 VLZ Pro to a Sony PCM-D50 at 48kHz/24bit. The only instruments used were a DSI Tempest, Korg Volca Keys, and Korg Monotribe. I also used a Memory Man analog delay during the performance.

“Postfauxpocaplypse brings together MAW members Jenny Schmid, Davey T. Steinman and Eben Kowler with musician John Keston for a night projection event that employs live drawing, animation, wireless camera feed, roaming interactive performance and responsive soundscapes. This piece responds to our current post-fake-apocalyptic state of illusion by embracing morbid seasonal imagery to respond to non-functioning governments, surveillance and a culture of excess.”

Duet for Synthesizers and Mobile Conductor (2013)

Posted on November 11, 2013 by John C.S. Keston

Duet for Synthesizers and Mobile Conductor is a piece composed and performed by John Keston in collaboration with David T Steinman who also performs in the piece as the mobile conductor. Steinman creates a real-time audiovisual score that is broadcast into the performance space from a remote location. This score consists of textural, atonal, and arrhythmic “sound features” produced with artifacts from Steinman’s apartment. The imagery and amplified sound become content within the music as it is interpreted through improvisations by the synthesist, John Keston. Keston accompanies the sound features while controlling three analogue synthesizers (Novation Bass Station II, Korg Monotribe, and Korg Volca Keys). This use of an audiovisual score is a means to harness the sensory influence of non-musical sounds and images in our environments, elevating these sources to compositional structures.

Duet for Synthesizers and Mobile Conductor was performed on November 7, 2013 at the Strange Attractors festival, St. Paul, Minnesota. This video was captured during a private performance made shortly after the public showing. The piece is the first in a series of new Duets by Keston made possible by a grant from the American Composers Forum with funds provided by the Jerome Foundation.

Duets Setup

The shot above shows the setup I chose to use for this project. Although it is possible to synchronize these instruments, for this piece I decided to run them independently creating poly-temporal accompaniment for the atemporal audio I received from Steinman’s mobile conducting. Multiple free-running clocks were involved. For example, on the Bass Station II there are two LFOs, BPM for the arpeggiator and sequencer, and the second oscillator can be routed to modulate the the filter frequency. Both the Monotribe and the Volca also have BPM for their sequencers and a free-running LFO. In addition the Volca and Memory Man delays produced unsynchronized repetitions. All of these independent time sources helped create chaotic, non-interlocking rhythms that mimic and/or contrast the audiovisual score.

Mobile Rig

The sound and video from the mobile conductor was broadcast via UStream using a Logitech Broadcaster camera. This technique makes it possible for the mobile conductor to choose content for the piece from anywhere with internet access and still perform in near real-time with the ensemble. This made our performances with DKO at Northern Spark 2013 and WAM Bash 2013 possible. It also means that the quality of the video and audio from the broadcast is limited. Other examples of Duets (Duet Under Bridge, Duet for Synthesizer and Spin Cycle, Duet for Synthesizer and Rail Cars) do not have this requirement and do-have/will-have better sound and video quality than the Instant Cinema series.

Instant Cinema Work in Progress Video

Posted on May 30, 2013 by John C.S. Keston

Jon Steinhorst put together this video preview for our Northern Spark project, Instant Cinema: Teleportation Platform X. It was compiled from footage that was shot during our recent work-in-progress performance at the Northrup King for the Visual Storage exhibition. This should provide a small scale example of what to expect from the final performance on June 8, 2013.

Instant Cinema: Teleportation Platform X

Posted on May 29, 2013 by John C.S. Keston

Instant Cinema Works in Progress

June 8 through 9, 2013 is this year’s Northern Spark Festival and I am participating with a project that I am directing called Instant Cinema: Teleportation Platform X. This is a collaborative effort with an amazing team of artists and musicians involved including the members of DKO, David T. Steinman as the Mobile Conductor, and Jon Steinhorst as our Artistic Director.

Instant Cinema - Mobile Conductor

The nine hour performance running from dusk until dawn will consist of seven or eight “circuits.” Each circuit will include a live audiovisual stream projected and amplified into the performance space for the musicians to instantly score as the events unfold. To learn move about our performance, that is free and open to the public, please visit these resources:

instant-cinema.org
2013.northernspark.org/project/instant-cinema

Duet Under Bridge

Posted on April 23, 2013 by John C.S. Keston

This piece was shot under a railroad bridge that I ride under during my commute. While trains are going over the bridge a nice rumbling, screechy ambience envelopes the space. On this occasion, a few weeks ago, melting icicles were dripping onto the sidewalk adding a chaotic rhythm to the soundscape. Rather than producing a drone to mimic the ambience I used noise, LFO pitch sweeps, and sample-and-hold on the Monotribe to contrast the reverberated railroad rumbling, and screeching.

NOTE: This is a binaural recording mixed with a monophonic, analog, synthesizer performance. Please use circumaural headphones to experience the binaural effect.