Basic questions to consider when crafting your Pedal Powered Stage

Oct 16, 2012Posted by in Electric Fender Blender Pro, Electric Fender Blender Pro Related Posts, FAQ, Featured News, Generator Pro, LED Panels, Modified JBL Loudspeakers, Mundo 500, Pedal Power Utility Box, Pedal Powered Stage Gear, Pedal Powered Stage Lighting LED Panels, Pedalometer, Roll Up Generator Stand | Comments Off on Basic questions to consider when crafting your Pedal Powered Stage

Basic questions to consider when crafting your Pedal Powered Stage

The technical needs of a Pedal Powered event vary greatly depending on audience size, venue, and power needs of musician’s devices. The questions in this post will help you to know what features are most important for you, and how much power you’ll really need. Please answer these questions and email us using the contact form. Also, please check out some of our recommended packages to see systems intended for different crowd sizes: https://oldsite.rockthebike.com/pedal-powered-stage-packages


Above: Shake Your Peace! performs during the Bay Rising Tour on their Pedal Powered Stage crafted by Rock the Bike.

  1. In  your mind’s eye, how many people are taking in the music at your ideal event? Audience size is the most important factor in knowing how many loudspeakers, generators, and circuitry to get.  Are you aiming for school assemblies? Street performing? A festival stage?
  2. Who is pedaling to generate power at your events? Is it competitive cyclists? fit adults? the general public? teenagers? kids? How family friendly are your events? Doing events with kids means you’ll need more bikes! The reason: Kids love to pedal but can’t generate much power. Also, they need to use bikes that are sized accordingly. If you want to do these events, you need to plan ahead so kids can participate.
  3. What style of music do you want to amplify? Or do you have a specific band your are planning to work with? Are you a bandleader? If so, what is the instrumentation in your band?
  4. Indoor vs. Outdoor? In your mind’s eye, where are your Pedal Powered events taking place?
  5. Do you want or need to be completely off the grid? Off The Grid means that you are completely independent and not relying on power from any other source. Some people just want to demonstrate Pedal Power, but are doing so in places where there ready access to wall power. Perhaps they don’t mind using some wall power and some bike power. This can be a way to decrease the number of bikes in your system, but still offer people the chance to create power with their bodies. For example, if you want a Bike Powered Cinema, you could power the loudspeakers with bikes and the projector with wall power. Other people want to make a statement by using NO power from the grid, or they are trying to bring a concert to a natural setting or park where there is no built-in power at all. They’ll need to be completely off the grid. What is right for you?
  6. Related. What is your main motivation for doing Pedal Powered events in your community? Examples: Have fun, get involved in music events, raise environmental consciousness/bike excitement, encourage healthy lifestyles, publicize a commercial offering. It helps us to know why our customers are interested in Pedal Power, and it may affect our gear recommendations.
  7. Are you planning to bike it there?  Biking it there requires more crew, gear, and experience than loading a truck, but can be enormously gratifying. Check out these photos to see if this inspires you: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockthebike/sets/72157622547485971/
  8. Will you be doing nighttime events?
  9. Do you already have a crew? Are you interested in leading a crew? Doing larger events with the general public requires a crew, including specific roles like Sound Guy, Roadie, Coach, Tech, MC and more.

 

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What are the elements of a Pedal Powered Stage?

Nov 8, 2011Posted by in Electric Fender Blender Pro, Electric Fender Blender Pro Related Posts, FAQ, Featured News, Generator Pro, LED Panels, Modified JBL Loudspeakers, Mundo 500, Pedal Power Utility Box, Pedal Powered Stage Gear, Pedal Powered Stage Lighting LED Panels, Pedalometer, Roll Up Generator Stand | Comments Off on What are the elements of a Pedal Powered Stage?

What are the elements of a Pedal Powered Stage?
What follows is an explanation of the key elements of a Pedal Powered Stage. If you are ready to buy individual components, please see the Pedal Powered Stage products section of our online store. If you’d like a custom quote for a Pedal Powered Stage, please start by emailing us with the answers to our Pedal Powered Stage questionnaire.

Pedal Power Generators:


Above, two Mundo 500 generators in use at the Eugene Bicycle Music Festival. The rear wheel is elevated off the ground so that you can pedal in place and generate power.

How many?
You will need enough bicycle generators that the pedaling effort per person is approx. 50-75 Watts. Based on our experience at events, 50-75 Watts is the amount that an average audience member can continuously provide. You should also have ‘ringer pedalers’ in your crew. Ringer pedalers are strong racer or everyday commuting cyclists who can contribute up to 4 times more than an average pedaler. Whether you’re relying on ringers or the GP (General Public), you’ll need to provide enough bikes that the effort can be shared.
In order to make Pedal Power fun and inspiring, your goal should be to have the lowest ‘overhead’ possible. Overhead is how much Wattage your system draws when no music is playing. Using energy intensive devices like rack-mount audio gear, subwoofers, large guitar and bass amps, laptops, and lights can add significant Wattage to your system’s overhead.  If you already know what devices you want to run, start by measuring their Wattage with a Kill-A-Watt. Having a lower overhead means that more of your pedalers’ energy goes into music, not keeping devices on.
If you are planning to use our Modified JBL PRX Loudspeakers, you can follow this table to estimate the crowd size possible for a given number of pedalers. These numbers are for danceable levels of music and assume a favorable overhead.
Number of Pedalers Estimated Crowd Size Possible in an Outdoor Location
1 200-500 (with One Bike / One Speaker)
4 500
8 500-1000
12 1000-2000
20 2000+ We haven’t had enough chances to test at these power levels.
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