Making a functional equivalent of Glenn Gould's famous chair
Michael Leddy says: It's a blog post about making a functional equivalent of Glenn Gould's famous chair. The maker, whom I know only as MPR, left a comment on a post of mine that has much of the chair's history.Chair as good as GouldThis project is especially awesome as a European company sells a licensed replica for 990 euros. MPR's project (not a replica, but a chair that functions in the same way) uses a $35 chair from Costco. This sort of homemade ingenuity and beauty made me think of Make.
the latest
latest episodes
Actually, I prefer the exposed hardware myself.
My old pal, Tim, used to work at the CBC in Special FX and it was always his job to wrangle Glenn Gould's chair and make sure it would stay together whenever they were shooting anything with Gould.
It had been repaired so many times it was always on the verge of imploding. Invariably he used a clever combination of baling wire (or stovepipe wire), tape and glue - made it look as pretty as he could - and then crossed his fingers.
It's weird seeing a pristine new version of the same battered old favourite.
Cheers.
I don't understand why this chair, or Gould's chair for that matter, is noteworthy.
Skatanic: Because it's a good solution to a finicky problem: precisely adjustable height, no slippage, and a strong construction that'll last a long time.
I love it. Threaded bolts plus nuts and washers plus epoxy putty is one of my favorite technologies.
Also, it will give street-cred to us pianists.
@Daemon: I second loving exposed hardware.
So many things in our lives are bad craftsmanship hidden behind a cheap veneer. I say make the hardware beautiful and don't hide it.
Meh.
Skatanic - Gould's chair was a loose folding chair, modified by his father, that creaked when he rocked back and forth. The noise of the chair can be heard in his recordings, along with his own humming. The chair is a unique relic of one of the most eccentric and best pianists of the 20th Century. I seem to remember the chair had a case, but I can't find any pictures with a case, foggy memories abound.
Here's a great example, watch and listen closely in the first few moments. His vocalizations continue to the end.
oops!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB76jxBq_gQ&eurl
foetusnail, that is a great example. Good lord, he was practically doing 'skat' singing to Bach! I think he was playing for the camera more than usual in that clip.
When I came up with the idea to make this chair it was really to combat the silly notion that a chair with such features needed to cost over a grand (along with the "prestige" of being able to tell others it is a replica of the Gould chair). I didn't really care if it was just like the original, I just liked the initial idea Bert had.
I'm not sure I would go with an office chair because the one I have now folds up and is relatively light which makes for easy mobility.
Robbo, did your pal mention anything about the seat of the chair? I was always curious why Gould never had it repaired. When it wore down he left it that way. If you look at it, it's just the frame which I can't imagine is comfortable to sit on!
Glad you enjoyed the clip. Well done on the chair.