Video below
(Photos © J. Maus)
One of the fringe benefits of pedaling around Portland this time of year are all interesting bikes and people you come across.
One such person is Dan Kaufman.
Dan lives just off the Springwater Corridor Trail in Sellwood with this wife Kirsten (a real estate agent who gives home tours by bike) and his three kids.
Dan is the man behind CrankMyChain! Cycle TV, and in addition to being a fab filmmaker, he’s also a songwriter and audio/video/internet guru.
To do his thing at bike events throughout the city, he’s created what he calls his “Disco Trike” — a news-gathering, music-playing, live webcasting, party machine.
Dan rolled out Disco Trike Version 2.0 for the first time on the Splash Dance Ride over the weekend and he rocked while we rolled and danced in several downtown fountains.
I asked Dan to share the rundown on what he’s got on the Trike.
“The sound system is powered by two 36 amp hour, six volt, deep discharge gel type batteries ran in series — (it can run all day). I use my Polytone bass amp for the amplification.
I have tied a whole slew of analog gear I have collected since the late 80’s including, a DR110 Dr. Rhythm drum machine and a Synare analog drum pad which I refer to as the electronic gong.
Through the mixing board I also hook up an iPod, my guitar (with octave pedal so it can sound like a bass), a microphone, and a loop pedal.”
The Splash Dance Ride was his first time out with the new, instrument-enhanced version of the Trike and Dan says he’s still learning the system.
“I hope to get a lot better at running the music side of the system to play dance beats and my own compositions like Naked Bike Ride and Now I’m Rollin’ [two songs he wrote himself].”
He apparently also made quite an impression after his Splash Dance debut. “Maybe some folks will even hire out me and the system. I got some interest at Jameson Square fountain.”
See the Disco Trike in action in the short video clip below (note: the music is all live from Dan and the Trike!):
Keep on rockin’ in the (car)free world Dan!