MAW Media Mash-up at the WBSC

Posted on September 25, 2009 by John CS Keston

Earlier this month I shared an excerpt of music from a performance at a recent Minneapolis Art on Wheels exhibition. MAW artist, Andrea Steudel, did some excellent video documentation that highlights the artwork and sound that transpired at the event.

The audio quality is quite good, considering the conditions in the space, and goes a long way to illustrate the ambiance during the night. Please enjoy the video and checkout the original post at http://minneapolisartonwheels.org/content/media-mash-wbsc.

GMS Ensemble Live Performance Segment #2

Posted on June 26, 2009 by John CS Keston

Here’s another segment of video from the Flashbelt after party on June 8, 2009. The music is still Graham O’Brien on drums and me using the GMS.

However, the visuals shown are mostly part of an excellent piece on gender transformation by Sinan G. of minneapolisartonwheels.org.

I think this short chunk of video is an accurate illustration of the spirit of the party.

In my mind the best parties are always in alleyways, sometimes in warehouses, and once in a while in apartment kitchens.

Click to view a 640 x 480 version of GMS Ensemble Live Segment #2.

GMS Ensemble Live Performance

Posted on June 24, 2009 by John CS Keston

Nils Westdal shot this video of myself and Graham O’Brien on drums performing with the GMS during one of the Flashbelt after parties on June 8, 2009. The party was held in the back alley of One on One bike studio, considered the bike Mecca of the Midwest.

Recorded using the internal mic on the video camera, the mix is chatty and pretty drum heavy for the first half, but you can hear the GMS sequencing a little better toward the end.

The setup consists of a MacBook Pro running the GMS synced to Ableton Live 7, an M-Audio Firewire 410 interface, a Mackie 1202 mixer, my Korg MS2000 for external control of the GMS, a Casio projector, and a variety of bike lights and spinning LED tops as “light controllers”.

Click to view a 640 x 480 version in a new tab.

Gestural Music Sequencer Documentary Short

Posted on June 23, 2009 by John CS Keston

Josh Clos produced this documentary short about the GMS recently. He and his colleagues Julie Kistler and Brian Smith shot video during my performance in Downtown Minneapolis with Minneapolis Art on Wheels on May 13, 2009. Later Josh interviewed me in the audio studio at Art Institutes Minnesota where I teach interactive media and audio production. As a student in my audio production class, Josh edited the sound and video together with minimal input from myself. His short illustrates what the GMS does and how I’ve been using it to compose music in real-time. Thanks, Josh, for a job well done!

Speaking of the GMS, I have recently slowed down its development, and I’m considering releasing a beta version of the application in a few months. Soon afterward I plan to release the code as Open Source so that the application can be developed further by artists interested in creating music through gestural input.

Stop Motion Video: Leggy

Posted on May 20, 2009 by John CS Keston

I made this stop motion video using a tool developed in Max 5 by Ali Momeni. All the sounds effects and music were previously posted on ACB. The sound at the beginning is the wind up toy from Weird Noisey Spark Shooting Guy. The backyard ambiance is from Normalized Binaural Back Alley Ambiance. The cave sound is pitched down water dripping from Snow Melting into Lake Superior. Finally, the music at the end is from Processed Rhodes Pedal Noise.