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With\u00a0Bike to Work Week<\/a>,\u00a0Velopoloosa<\/a>, and the\u00a0In the House Festival<\/a>\u00a0all converging this weekend, the stage is set to highlight another fascinating musical instrument maker, Daniel Lunn.<\/p>\n Daniel is making a name for himself as a drummer (and guitarist) around town, but for someone who plays an instrument that is legendary for its lack of portability, it\u2019s his\u00a0mode<\/em>\u00a0of transportation that caught my attention\u2014by bicycle.<\/p>\n Not only does he transport all his gear by bicycle\u2014drum kit, amps, guitars, the lot\u2014but he custom designed a set of drums specifically to be light weight and bicycle friendly. He\u2019s converted old suitcases into drums with drum heads inserted in the sides, and with weather-proof covers, the suitcases can also house the amp and, of course, hold other gear. Oh, and provide him with somewhere to sit when he gets to the gig.<\/p>\n All obvious puns about pedal power and bass pedals aside, Dan came into tinkering naturally. Growing up in the Ottawa Valley, he apprenticed in his uncle\u2019s appliance repair shop where he learned to redeem and extend the life of old refrigerators, dryers, and sewing machines. Added to that was a kinaesthetic need to hit things\u2014a\u00a0bona fide\u00a0<\/em>form of\u00a0intelligence<\/a>\u00a0that, when coupled with a musical inclination, is the foundation of all drummers.<\/p>\n In Dan\u2019s Eastside backyard, he shows me his\u00a0Furnaphone<\/em>, another instrument made from furnace parts that, when hooked up with a\u00a0piezoelectric pickup<\/a>\u00a0to translate and transform its sounds to a processor, mixing board and amplifier, produces sounds weird and wonderful enough to qualify it as a musical instrument. \u201cNo need to call the furnace man Mabel. It\u2019s just Dan practicing again\u201d, I imagine.<\/p>\n Dan tells me that he continues to work as handyman, running his own woodworking and renovation business. How does he get to jobs? By bicycle, of course, although he admits to occasionally renting a truck for larger jobs. He laughs about the time he went to the extreme of his range\u2014Willingdon and Moscrop in Burnaby\u2014with over 200 pounds of gear. It was so heavy that it started lifting his rear wheel off the road as he made his way up the hill to Metrotown.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s not the furnaphone I\u2019ve come to see; it\u2019s the drum set, whereupon he loads up his bicycle and we go for a ride. It\u2019s a sight to bring a tear to Gregor\u2019s eyes. If a handyman slash drummer is able to manage two careers by pedal power, what\u2019s to stop the cubicle monkeys from following suit?<\/p>\n Somewhere in the junk fields of Saskatchewan, where old Massey-Ferguson tractors rust into dust, musical instruments are waiting to be born. It\u2019s Dan\u2019s membership with the popular band,\u00a0Swarm<\/a>, which specialized in building their own instruments out of \u201cfound objects\u201d that Dan found his calling as a drummer and instrument maker. Dan is very careful to credit his co-collaborator,\u00a0Wayne Mercier<\/a>\u00a0of \u201c8 Prime\u201d, a spoken word poet and action drummer (choreographed drumming).<\/p>\n Together, they performed for the Olympics, toured (yes, including Saskatchewan where they found lots of material), and along with other Swarm members and guests, are having something of a re-union at this week-end\u2019s\u00a0In the House Festival<\/a>. In a performance called,\u00a0Spring Evening Doom Lounge – A Celebration of Destruction and Renewal,<\/em>\u00a0they will perform at 1934 William St. (Backyard) – Sunday, June 5th<\/sup>\u00a0from 7 to 8:45 pm.<\/p>\n The\u00a0In the House Festival<\/em>\u00a0is organized by Miriam Steinberg. It focuses on using private homes and back yards as venues for live multicultural, multidisciplinary shows in people’s living rooms and backyards.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nNone of his instruments is actually\u00a0played<\/em>\u00a0by bicycle; they are just transported that way<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.vancouverobserver.com\/sites\/vancouverobserver.com\/files\/images\/article\/body\/drumKit1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\u201cAnything\u2019s a potential instrument\u201d<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.vancouverobserver.com\/sites\/vancouverobserver.com\/files\/resize\/images\/article\/body\/furniphone-500x375.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.vancouverobserver.com\/sites\/vancouverobserver.com\/files\/resize\/images\/article\/body\/Dan2-500x610.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSpecializing in found object instruments<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.vancouverobserver.com\/sites\/vancouverobserver.com\/files\/resize\/images\/article\/body\/Swarm-500x375.jpg\")
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