Been there. Done that. - One Wheeled, One Music

One Wheeled, One Music

I have been pleasantly surprised at the number of different instruments that have been played on a unicycle:

Brass

Dustin Kelm tried playing the trombone once - but broke a light fixture!

Tim Bustos plays the trumpet on his unicycle. He also plays the mellophone.

Steve Rossé is a top tuba player for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He used to be (according to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, 25th February 1998) a professional clown, and performs a party trick of playing Rimsky Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee, while riding a unicycle.

Andy Ford performed, once, the baritone horn on a 6-foot giraffe.

I have not one, but two pictures of sousaphone players!

John Elliott, of London, played the sousaphone on stage at the London Palladium in 1983, on the last night of the Palladium's run of the musical "Barnum". He was taught to unicycle by Bill Witter, who played the role of the Ringmaster in the show on Broadway and London, and who had also been a clown with Barnum & Bailey's Circus. John writes "It took a great deal of practice to reach the point where I could play and ride simultaneously, as the sousaphone throws the balance completely out. I approached the feat in stages, firstly on the short unicycle with the sousaphone's bell removed, without attempting to play, working my way up to the final stage of playing while riding the giraffe as seen in the picture. Mounting was a serious problem!

Ian McKeller, of Melbourne, appeared on the front page of a mainstream Melbourne daily newspaper, with this black-and-white picture."

Wind

Martin Hungerford has played both the Scottish and Galician (from North Western Spain) bagpipes, on a unicycle, in a kilt.

In 1977, Steve Bicknell included riding while playing bagpipes in the (USA) National Unicycle Meet, Men's Trick Riding Competition.

Danny Colyer plays the penny whistle (flageolet) and harmonica while riding.

John Hoy no longer plays his shakuhachi (an end-blown flute) while riding for fear of having it shoved down his throat (by accident, or by a music critic, I am not sure.)

Aaron Lennox, USA, has played a didgeridoo whilst riding.

I have played the recorder on a unicycle

String

Wolfgang Schaper has sat on a giraffe unicycle, and performed, while a guitar player/singer sat on his shoulders and performed.

Victor Wooten has a publicity photograph, riding a giraffe while playing the bass guitar.

Drew Tretick is a violinist who performs on a unicycle. Yasmin Roll was playing the violin on the unicycle when she was 10 years old. I have heard several other reports of violinists, too.

John Elliot, of London, played the double bass (which had a wheel fitted).

Percussion

Scott Duncan carried a 55 pound (25 kg) bass drum on the unicycle, as he played it.

Miscellaneous

At the 1999 Crawley Juggling Convention, four riders (names unknown!) formed the International Unicycle Philharmonic Orchestra. The ensemble included a kid's bike horn, a Mr. Potato Head (as a maraca), a cup-and-stick and a violin.

The Redford Township Unicycle Club competed in a couple of (USA) National Unicycle Meets with a unicycle band, including a trumpet, clarinet, flute and trombone.

Martin Hungerford has also played the pipe and tabor.

On the open-stage at the 19th European Juggling Association Festival, in Grenoble, France, 1996, Peter Weiss played the piano-accordion while one-foot idling a six-foot giraffe, and balancing a broom on his other foot. A number of other reports of accordian-playing unicyclists have been heard.

Music with a Unicycle Themes

Ted Piltzecker produced a CD called Unicycle Man with him riding on the cover. However, he isn't playing any instrument at the same time.

Krusty, a defunct New Zealand Christian band sang "Unicyclists for Jesus". Peter Bier recorded the lyrics.

Simon Greenaway has recorded the IOU (Idiots On Unicycles) song.