A Tuned-Up Bike

The mechanics of the above audio:

It’s hard to believe that all of those sounds are made by a bicycle. Some of them are strictly the the byproduct of the bike’s mechanical operation, like the sound it makes when you release a brake lever. Others are created when you play different parts of the bike with a musical accessory.

For example, Johnnyrandom records the low-pitched flutter of a pick scratching on a spinning wheel, and tunes the bicycle’s spokes so he could play them with a bow like a string instrument. After capturing the sounds with a portable recorder, the different sounds were arranged and sequenced using software.

A short video on the artist’s process here.