Gallery: Listen: A Symphony Where Bike Parts Are the Instruments
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In his breakout single *[Bespoken](https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/bespoken-single/id762672957)*, musician Flip Baber, AKA Johnnyrandom, treats bike parts like instruments in a symphony.
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Dragging a guitar pick on a knobby mountain bike tire sounds similar to a slightly distorted electric bass guitar.
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The bike's spokes were the star of the show. "For each note, I would tune all of the spokes in a wheel to the same exact pitch to avoid unwanted overtones via sympathetic vibration," says Baber. "Tuned in unison, they sound gorgeous."
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Disc brake rotors double as gongs, and when properly tapped, can ring for a minute or more.
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The idea of using unconventional instruments to make music has been an obsession of Baber's since childhood.
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"I was never satisfied with my results up until now," says Baber. "Even with some of my favorite composers, found-object manipulation was often presented as noisy, atonal or arhythmic."
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Baber notes that the slightest adjustment in mic position or playing technique can have dramatic consequences. "The first time I tried this, it took an hour to capture just one note."
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Waiting for an encore? "The other day I was using a metal teaspoon and it bounced off the edge of the countertop and rang out, like it was demanding to be heard," he says. "I looked at it and said, 'Ok, you’re next.'"
