What Makes a Good Conducting Baton?

[pulseczar]

Google "Mollard batons"

[XtremeEuph]

ya they all look the same to me as well....for my directors 41st birthday im going to carve down a branch and right a note saying something like "here wave this for a change, its pure oak. Happy Birthday..." thats how much time I have on my hands.......sad I know

[tubaman5150]

It should be well balanced between the grip and rod and be no longer than the users forearm.
The grip should feel comfortable in your palm with your thumb and forefinger just behind the edge of it.

[Carroll]

It should be well balanced between the grip and rod and ... should feel comfortable in your palm with your thumb and forefinger just behind the edge of it.

and should be inversely proportional to the length of his...


oh, nevermind.

[pgiampi1]

well let's break it down a little:

length - i think this can be pretty important to most people (yes, i know what this is starting to sound like...). my first baton was a mollard 12"...is was shorter than everyone else's in class which led me to believe that mollard does their measurements differently. i think they're 14" baton is much more of a common size.

handle - a company like mollard makes striaghter handles, bulb-shaped handles, and crazy metal ones. i don't think you can know whether or not you want something straigter or more bulb-like until you hold them both.

most other factors are appearence based i suppose. there are batons out there other than mollard, but they're pretty famous for their high-quality craftmanship and the excellent job they do with the "physics" of a good baton. still, some people perfer to buy ones that can't break, as $20-30 is a lot of money to keep spending on little pieces of wood

[MartyNeilan]

I have found that the fiberglass shaft models work well for school use - you can tap the stand to get attention without having the shaft snap off and impale any of your woodwinds.
FWIW, I know some "big name" conductors who just buy their sticks off the rack, and music teachers who spend $$$ having a stick custom fitted and balanced for them. I guess we play the same game with mouthpieces.

[iiipopes]

OK, this takes stealth, but you can do it: figure out what he uses now, and get one of his students who is a likely choice for a college music major and get the student to get into a discussion with him on the topic, and what he would like or change about his current baton. The rest is easy.

Oh, yeah...my high school band director had good aim with the baton as well.

[Dylan King]

I like the cheap ones myself. The King Dvaid 28B is my favorite. Just a painted stick on the end of a big cork. I like how long they are, much longer than the mollards, that are two small for my 6'4", 300 pound frame. I also like the big cork handle on the King David batons.

And of course you can't beat the price. I've seen them as low as 3 bucks.

They kind of look like this one, only longer. I think the 28Bs are 16".





But of course, these might not be so great as a gift. If you knew the size he liked, you get him a whole bunch of them. It's good to have extras in case you smash one on the stand or have to throw one at a trumpet player.

[scouterbill]

Being in a trade that uses tools, I find choosing a tool that I will be using every day to be personal. Any time someone presents me with a tool as a gift, it invariably is not one I would have chosen for myself. Would you want someone to choose a new mouthpiece for you? (Oh, but it’s so shiny!!)If you want to pursue this I would suggest matching whatever the conductor is using now. Check out grip size and shape as well as length. Make sure you get the proper right or left handed model.

[tubiker]

Try using 4 fingers and a thumb - thats right........... its something called your hand - far more expressive than Harry Potter's wand

When I went through college, Pierre Boulez was Principal Conductor of the BBC Symphony in London - he never used a baton and as a young impressionable student I was quite struck by that - I've never used one and have always felt that you could say more with your hands than you could with the stick......... Especially when working with young people......IMHO

Andrew Murray

[EuphDad]

"What makes a good conducting baton?"

How about a good conductor at the end of the baton?

My niece, a HS choral director, says that she needs to have perfect pitch. Not to ever hit the student, but to come close enough to just miss everytime.

[Roger Lewis]

Toscanni had a habit of throwing his baton in his earlier years. He eventually hit a second violinist with it and put the man's eye out. Toscanni paid this man for the rest of his life and began just breaking the batons in half during his rage and never threw one again. I, personally, would discourage this pratice.

Roger

[Chuck(G)]

I'm buying a baton for a family member's birthday. He's a high school music director. I know absolutely nothing about batons so I was wondering if any of you could give me some advice on purchasing one. What should I look for? They all look the same to me! Thanks a lot

You guys all missed the important part! Obviously, the poor man needs this kind of baton:

<img src="http://www.kopes.com/stun-guns/stun-baton-300.JPG"width=300>

[pulseczar]

I'm buying a baton for a family member's birthday. He's a high school music director. I know absolutely nothing about batons so I was wondering if any of you could give me some advice on purchasing one. What should I look for? They all look the same to me! Thanks a lot

You guys all missed the important part! Obviously, the poor man needs this kind of baton:

<img src="http://www.kopes.com/stun-guns/stun-baton-300.JPG"width=300>

complete with a 10k volt taser? A must need for those inner city schools.

[Dan Satterwhite]

FWIW, I know some "big name" conductors who just buy their sticks off the rack, and music teachers who spend $$$ having a stick custom fitted and balanced for them.

One "big name" conductor I know does just fine with a little yellow stick...sharp on one end, black tip, and with a red rubber bumper on the other end. I think it's a "number 2".

The idea of a baton case sounded like a good one to me...sure to please.

[iiipopes]

I concur with the case, since the price is about the same, but the prep and execution effort is much less. On reflection of my earlier post, getting a student to keep a secret in band, even for the short time between now and the presentation, is pretty much an oxymoron.

[Chuck(G)]

With some conductors, the baton almost seems superfluous:

[TubaRay]

As a conductor, I am not especially picky about which baton I use. Sometimes I don't use one at all. As a player, I don't care what the conductor uses. As a matter of fact, if the conductor has some conducting ability, I don't care if he/she is an especially good conductor. I am much more interested in what they bring musically. Now, THAT'S important. As long as they are able to convey good musicianship to the ensemble, I am a very happy player. I have regularly played under a conductor whose conducting skills were somewhat adequate, but who simply didn't bring much else with him. He helped make me extremely aware of the tempo. (I don't like being so aware of the tempo.)

[DonShirer]

There's a fellow (dave4tampa) on EbBay who sells batons with handles made of exotic South American woods like Bocate and Morado. I'd never heard of those but they have pretty patterns. I bought a couple for Christmas presents. Even if they never use them, they can mount them on a plaque and admire the grain.

[ken k]

Being in a trade that uses tools, I find choosing a tool that I will be using every day to be personal. Any time someone presents me with a tool as a gift, it invariably is not one I would have chosen for myself. Would you want someone to choose a new mouthpiece for you? (Oh, but it’s so shiny!!)If you want to pursue this I would suggest matching whatever the conductor is using now. Check out grip size and shape as well as length. Make sure you get the proper right or left handed model.

I would agree with this statement, you may want to look into a nice baton case. check out Mollard or Newland Custom Batons for nice wooden desk cases for batons.

newlandbatons.com
ken k