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Can anyone recommend a good office chair for practicing sax, clarinet and flute, that provides adequate back support?

7K views 9 replies 8 participants last post by  turf3 
#1 ·
I have fibromyalgia, two wedge fractures in my thoracic spine, and a bulging L5 disc, as well as a pronounced kyphosis from hanging large pieces of metal from my neck for 45 years (I play alto, tenor, bari, soprano, clarinet, flute and oboe). I have tried multiple office task chairs to sit in when practicing; after the first hour or so of standing, I really can't concentrate, due to the pain, so I like to do at least some of my practice in a sitting position. I especially like to sit when practicing flute and clarinet; in a chair with armrests, I can rest my right elbow on the armrest while playing long-tones on the flute, but, obviously, when I'm playing one of the saxes, the armrest gets in the way. Most task chairs are too low to get the right posture, and most architect chairs are too high; I found a chair right in between (about 22.5" from floor to seat), with armrests that swing up out of the way when I don't need them, but the backrest leans back too far, thus providing no support, and I can't get it to tilt forward at enough of an angle. I've read other threads on this forum, but haven't seen anything that truly addresses this problem. At this point, I've tried a lot of chairs and drum thrones, and I'm getting frustrated at my inability to solve this problem.
I actually play all genres of music, playing in about 7 different groups, although I prefer to play jazz the most. Nevertheless, even though I'm in constant pain on the gig, I make really good money when I swing my tenor while doing dance moves in a dance band, and you wouldn't know that I'm 56 and in pain if you were to see me on one of those gigs. But when I'm home in my own studio, just trying to concentrate on what I'm practicing, but fighting the pain, that's when it really sucks to not have better ergonomics available to me.
Any ideas? I sure appreciate them.
 
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#5 ·
Re: Can anyone recommend a good office chair for practicing sax, clarinet and flute, that provides adequate back support

I have one of these (with the adjustable back support) for piano. It's great. No more low back pain while practicing. Could be used for other instruments. You can give them a call and asked them directly about their products.
http://www.concertdesign.com
Which is suitable for alto saxophone and lower?
 
#6 ·
Re: Can anyone recommend a good office chair for practicing sax, clarinet and flute, that provides adequate back support

Chris,

We are about the same age. I've already had back surgery - discotomy.

I use a Herman Miller at work, but make a point of NOT leaning back while playing. I practice yoga to strengthen core muscles, and that has really helped my post-surgery recovery.

Much I might hate to state the obvious: Lose the bari, and consider whether you need to set free your tenor <gasp!>. If you keep the big horns, you may be limiting your future years being able to play the rest of the horns.
 
#7 ·
Re: Can anyone recommend a good office chair for practicing sax, clarinet and flute, that provides adequate back support

I just got a drum throne...super comfortable.
It swivals and I set the height so that my leg are at 90+ degrees, this allows me to sit up straight (no slouching) and puts a small curve in the lower back which takes a load off.
with this I don't need to lean back while performing on any of my instuments.
 
#8 ·
Re: Can anyone recommend a good office chair for practicing sax, clarinet and flute, that provides adequate back support

Something you might want to consider to take the weight off your back completely....

http://www.ergonomic-systems.de/produkte/free-neck.html

No weight on your back, it all sits on your hips and you can still swing it around like a normal strap. I use this, primarily for bari, but I can also hitch up SAT on it as well. Sort of looks like some sort of scoliosis brace, and the metal rods going down don't let you bend your back forward. However, if you're standing and dancing with a horn, this is the ticket.

As for sitting, a backless chair or something that makes you sit upright is better than a chair with a back, as the rods dig into your back after awhile if you're leaning in to the back of the chair. Another thing I commonly use when I can is an upright bass throne. You sit up quite a bit higher, almost straight, and don't tend to lean into the chair back.

https://www.amazon.com/Quik-DX749-D...&qid=1469318523&sr=8-3&keywords=guitar+throne
 
#9 ·
Re: Can anyone recommend a good office chair for practicing sax, clarinet and flute, that provides adequate back support

I have the workstation, which as I understand is the same as the piano bench with the addition of wheels. While I mostly use it for piano, it can also be used for tenor which is what I play most of the time (keep in mind that as a hobbyist, I probably wont practice as long as you do and I have never played either an alto or a bari).

Now, while these are not inexpensive, they are specifically designed for musicians. At any rate, you will be best served by asking them directly. I did call them before purchasing mine and they were very helpful.

Hope this helps.
 
#10 ·
Re: Can anyone recommend a good office chair for practicing sax, clarinet and flute, that provides adequate back support

I'm going to go against the grain here and recommend a straight back wooden chair with a flat, only slightly upholstered seat. I still use at my desk at home the chair that my mother gave me when I was about ten years old and that I sat in for studying etc. as well as practicing from then till I left home for college, and then again once I graduated from college. As I'm in my mid fifties, I guess I've been sitting in that chair for almost 40 years now.

The problem, to my mind, with all the "ergonomic" chairs is that they force you into one position. After some time in any position, no matter how comfortable at first, your body needs to move around and adjust, but the "ergonomic" chair won't let you. The traditional hard seat straight back wooden chair ensures you will move around slightly every few minutes, and after several hours on such a chair you won't be stiff and sore like you will be on one of those "prescriptive" chairs that are designed to enforce a position designed by someone else.

Note that for hundreds of years, students and scholars all sat on plain wooden chairs for many more hours at a stretch than today's people do, without a perceived need for new designs all the time. Yet once the furniture companies started designing "ergonomic" chairs, every year brings another crop of new designs that are supposed to be better than last year's designs - and they certainly are better, for the purpose of bringing revenue into the furniture companies' accounts receivable. But when every year brings a new crop of designs for something, each one supposedly so much better than the one before, and the thing being designed is something simple that's been around for generations, I usually figure that none of the new fancy-schmancy designs actually provides any real benefit other than to the marketeers flogging it.

Sorry for the rant but in my different workplaces I have suffered with different "ergonomic" chairs for 30+ years now, none of them as comfortable as the one I have at home, that my parents bought for ~$10 at the used furniture store back in the 40s or 50s, and spent probably another ~$5.00 to recover the seat with green vinyl.
 
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