DJ + BMX = Turntable Rider [video]

We have featered some pretty cool hacks, D.I.Y projects, and gimmicky tools over the years with their eyes on the DJ booth. Some have made it to market others shouldn’t have, regardless it is this type of ingenuity that birthed DJ culture to begin with. Well, now, get a load of this.

The Turntable Rider is like one of those fleeting ideas you have as a kid that you willingly let escape you just as fast as it came due to its seemingly impossible nature, except that these cats caught that thought and made it a reality!

The Turntable Rider is a “bicycle accessory which converts a bicycle into a musical instrument. The bike wheels, become jog wheels. The handbrakes, become sound pads. Mix and scratch at will.”

WTF? Yes, people you read correctly, these ingenious cats from Japan, apparently a bike sharing company called Cogoo, have hacked together a bike, Traktor’s DJ software, and some Bluetooth hardware to create a bike based DJ controller! Again, WTF?

I’m not sure, since the site is in Japanese, but this might still be in the concept stage. I can’t make out much of anything other than what is obvious from the few pictures they have posted on their official site, but it appears you will be able to add a few pieces to your bike, namely a fader that goes on your handlebars, yes a fader people, “sound pads” that somehow attach to your hand breaks, and what appears to be a type of bluetooth receptor that goes on your tires air valve, and you’re good to go.

I can’t determine the price, and it doesn’t appear the software is included or even if it solely works with Traktor, but frankly, I think this is a great concept.

I’m sure the resulting music isn’t as, well, musical as it sounds in these expertly edited videos, but you know what, who gives a fuck? Pardon my French, but if I was young, not that I could do many tricks back then either, I would so enjoy trying to make some sweet, or ugly music, using this contraption.

For the purist out there who I can almost already hear yelling “blasphemy,” “sacrilege,” I say stop that ish now. Does this mean Lil Johnny will, after one Summer of using this be calling himself DJ BMX Johnny? Will Skrillex or better yet perhaps some BMX freestyle champ like Garrett Reynolds be adding it to their repertoire anytime soon? Maybe, maybe not, but you gotta love ingenuity, right!

Here it is in “action”!

OFFICIAL SITE:

http://cogoo.jp/turntablerider/