What Makes a Good Conducting Baton?

[windshieldbug]

Pure copper.

You're just hoping they become a conductee...

[Kevin Hendrick]

Pure copper.

You're just hoping they become a conductee...

Well, one should be well-grounded ...

[LoyalTubist]

I don't use a baton. So for me, what is important in a baton is trajectory, weight, and sleekness. Can I aim it so it goes straight into the sousaphone bell without hurting anybody?

[TubaRay]

In High School my directors favorite baton was a classic BIC pen, even for concerts if I remember correctly. It's versital. You can conduct with it and if you need to make a note in your score your pen is right there in your hand and you can quickly get back to the job at hand practicing with the band. Also cheap, fits in a pocket (has the handy little clip to keep it in place).[/img]

So it is your high school directors who have been using ink to write on scores. Not a good practice, in my opinion.

[LoyalTubist]

In High School my directors favorite baton was a classic BIC pen, even for concerts if I remember correctly. It's versital. You can conduct with it and if you need to make a note in your score your pen is right there in your hand and you can quickly get back to the job at hand practicing with the band. Also cheap, fits in a pocket (has the handy little clip to keep it in place).[/img]

So it is your high school directors who have been using ink to write on scores. Not a good practice, in my opinion.

Since it ruins whatever music is being used, it also encourages the illegal photocopying of music

[Rick Denney]

Balance? Weight? Sheesh. The cheapie that I bought is lighter than the grease under my fingernails. I think any good sporting goods store has cheapie fishing rod blanks that could be trimmed to length and glued into a piece of wood.

As a player, though, I like batons, as long as they are being waved to emphasize the beat rather than obscure it. That means it should point in the same direction as the forearm so that the arm's motion is magnified. I am amused by conductors who point their batons at right angles to their arms, and make little dancing motions with it that look very stylish to the audience but convey nothing to the musicians.

And the longer the better. My music glasses don't focus on anything too small up on the podium.

I would also prefer a contrasting color, so I can see the motion of the baton while still looking at the music. White is good for a conductor wearing a black tux against a darkened hall, but if he's wearing a light-colored T-shirt in the bandroom with beige walls, I'd prefer that the baton be black. See how far you get with that one!

Vaughan Williams advised that a conductor should hold a baton in the fist rather than between the fingers, like a hammer, so that it would extend the arm motion. Right on!

Rick "who thinks the ONLY point of a baton is to improve what the musicians see" Denney

[TubaRay]

My music glasses don't focus on anything too small up on the podium.

Told to me first hand by Adolph Herseth about when he was picking up his new "music" glasses once:

When he picked them up, the eye doctor had discovered that he played with the CSO and expressed worry that Bud couldn't see both the music AND the conductor with his new specs. Bud's response was that if he "played loud enough, Danny would know what to do!"

I believe most of us have somewhat less influence on the conductor than this, although I have played in a situation where this isn't always true.

[Chuck(G)]

Heck with the baton, just buy him one of these:

http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/QRIO/works ... 5e_nf.html

[Chuck(G)]

Wouldn't that be like giving a drumer one of these? http://www.zzounds.com/item--BOSDR880

Nope--the drummer wouldn't be able to figure out how to work it anyway, so he'd just use it to hit something...

[LoyalTubist]

But it might be like doing this for your tuba player!

http://www.pneuphoniker.de/