Does anyone sit on a drum throne, rather than a traditional piano bench, while playing piano?

Question

I've noticed certain artists using various kinds of benches at the piano at different times.

Answer 1

I don't know about the drum throne but I do know the late, great Glenn Gould used to prefer to play sitting on a rickety old wooden chair rather than any conventional piano stool. It was much lower than most piano stools could reach. It was an odd sight!

Answer 2

Drum thrones are designed to allow the drummer to swivel his hips in order to facilitate reaching a large panoply of percussion arrayed around him. It has a bit of swivel built into it in order to facilitate this. It is also built with the center of gravity of the player pushed forward, to allow more leverage for foot pedals. It could be very uncomfortable or dangerous to use it for a piano stool, but mostly, it won't provide the kind of foundation that a bench or chair (or even an old-style piano stool) does.

The standard bench is a four-legged beast without any adjustment. The standard for professional performances is a bench with four legs and an internal jack mechanism which allows raising and lowering the height of the seat. (This is done with knobs on both sides, which are attached to one axel, so you can use either or both knobs to adjust height.)

The old piano stool rotated to adjust height, using a big screw in the central post. While this is convenient and can be made inexpensively, the cost is that it turns while you're sitting on it, which can cause a learner to develop bad habits (or prevent them from developing the kind of posture that allows drawing all of the sound out of a piano that it has to give!)

Many people think of a piano as a black-box, push a key, get a note. In reality, it is a musical instrument, and as such requires a well-developed technique. This is why the same piano sounds different under the hands of different performers (and the same performer can sound different playing different pianos). It is also why some performers demand that they only be asked to perform on a specific piano, or pianos by a specific maker, or, indeed, specific benches.

Answer 3

Piano

Answer 4

Drum Bench

Answer 5

the drum throne is so similar to the old piano stool (see any saloon scene in a western, movie that is) yes I know people who love them

Answer 6

I prefer the traditional bench, and I don't sit too close to the piano.
What type of music do you play mostly?