Freewheelophone, 2007

Variable dimensions

Drum, guitar, bicycle, medical and science equipment parts.  Steel, maple, electronics, amplifier, speakers, and salvaged components.

Instrument with companion amplifier; interactive, kinetic elements.  When a participant turns the crank, a bass drum mounted on bicycle wheels spins.  Depression of the pedals at the base causes a plectrum system to pluck the spokes of the bike wheels.  Guitar pickups amplify the plucked spokes resulting in a sound that has been described as a “sci-fi motorcycle.”  A play on Marcel Duchamp’s Bicycle Wheel, 1913.

Participants exploring interactive art. 

Detail of crank, pedals, and plectrum system.