As predicted, the Maker Faire proved to be a showcase for some wild and weird musical experimentation. Peter Kirn over at CDM ponders the significance of the bicycle meme in music – the power of the bicycle was exposed in literature by Flann O’Brien’s Third Policeman, but is there a growing bikelihood of music developing around us?
The Reel to Wheel Project provides some evidence of this. The device (shown below) uses a reworked bicycle to create a grossly mutated reel-to-reel tape machine, and by rotating the wheels a scrubbing effect can be achieved.
Music and bicycles do seem to be strangely compatible – CDM’s most-viewed article ever was about an arrangement of The Sugar Plum Fairy performed solely on bike parts. On the Dublin music circuit, The Jimmy Cake’s live sets often featured the playing of a set of bicycle handlebars. CDM also has another article which covers bike ensembles and the delightful bikelophone (below).
