Disquiet Junto 0165 Bertoia chair

The assignment this week is to create a composition that explores the sonic resonance of Harry Bertoia’s iconic side chair.

On Saturday I procrastinated away my opportunity to go to a main street cafe. My son sorta hijacked my recording to develop a cover of a TV theme.



While I don't normally pay much attention to chairs, it seemed very unlikely to find a Bertoia chair in Leeton. An aluminum chair was needed for the resonant properties but I could only find a matted sort that didn't seem ideal.

Then I spied the public seating and noted it was made of metal. I tapped the seat and ran my fingers over the surface until I settled on a spot with a lot of vibration to place the mic.

There were a few tones from tapping resonant spots, which I tapped while making a few recordings. Those passing by pretended not to be interested, except for pets and children.

Once in Ableton Live I applied a lot of EQ and tape saturation emulation to the recording from the contact mic. Three busses added reverb, bass and echo, each with their own saturation.



The track shared with the Junto came from the start of the second take. There's a nice part at the end of the first take where a magpie's song resonated on the seat.



For more, hear my remix on main street.