A custom made baton?

[Kareeser]

Hey SOTW folks,

Now that Christmas is past, I've decided to get my school's music director a present at the end of the year. It's never too early to start planning.

He's prone to temper tantrums, and usually takes it out on his "baton". Baton is in quotes because he's gone through them all, and he's down to using metal flute cleaners as a temporary solution.

I want to (with the help of fellow bandmates) get him a baton (or "conductor's stick") that can withstand repeated (and by repeated, I mean 10 times a day, 5 times a week) bashings against his conductor'r stand (http://images.misupply.com/products/full/Manhasset/Model_49.jpg).

Perhaps one made of titanium... or am I dreaming too much? :)

P.S. Keep in mind he managed to bend a flute cleaner. He still uses it, and it has a 10 degree dent in it. I believe those things are made of metal... Gemeinhardt or Yamaha.

[Chris S]

My first thought was to get him an anger management book. As a conductor myself, rule number one is to NEVER intentionally hit something with your baton, it's your instrument, much like your sax. You'd never hit your Mk VI against a stand would you?

Now as for something that can take a thrashing, in all the batons that I've ever seen, I can't think of one that could withstand a bunch of abuse. If you can teach him to not beat his baton against things I'd suggest finding a man named Charles Olson. He makes the finest batons in the world, IMHO.

Otherwise, buy him a bulk pack of 2b drumsticks.

Chris S

[kcp]

Maybe you have seen this before; a thing called "The TV brick" it was a brick made out of foam which one could throw at the TV without risking of breaking it but still be able to express/releive anger.

So in the same spirit... how about a baton made of foam? :)

[GenericGuy]

As a conductor myself, rule number one is to NEVER intentionally hit something with your baton

Depends what your baton is made out of... I have a fibreglass baton with that purpose in mind. It make a great percussive "klang" when banged against a Manhasset stand. However, I prefer the lighter weight of my wood baton. Wood baton do not stand up to abuse.

Anyways, I recommend --

http://www.newlandbatons.com/

Good custom batons, and they do sell fibreglass shafts. Mine is 14", teardrop handle, and "natural" (looks like a peacock eye on a feather) birch wood. They also have graphite shifts which are very light, but not as flexible as fibreglass. $45.95 shipped... if you have a good local music store you should also find plenty of selection (although, probably all wood shafts) in the $15-20 range.

[Mike W]

Maybe cut him an 18 nch length of 3/4" metal pipe and paint it white. However, then you may have to frequently replace his stand. :twisted:

[gary]

My first thought was to get him an anger management book. LOL. We're on the same wave length, Chris. An anger management course was exactly my first thought.

As a conductor myself, rule number one is to NEVER intentionally hit something with your baton, it's your instrument, much like your sax. Agree, again, but for other reasons; it's just amateurish. If you lose your temper that often with a group you've pretty much lost the discipline.

I had a band director who studied with the cornet virtuoso Ernest Williams who, evidently, was a real taksmaster. My band director was an idiot and thought if he matched Williams' temperment he could be a maestro too, so he took to chucking objects at entire sections. There was a chalk board behind his podium. We eventually learned to hide the erasers before band class lest they turn into projectiles.

One extreme, which would get him fired today and actually was dangerous, but was really pretty funny when we thought about it afterwards, is that one day he was so pi**ed off he grabbed a flutist's music stand (the big black solid ones, not folding) and hurled it directly into the trombone section.

On both sides of the room to the conductor's right and left were two exit doors. The entire trombone section ran out of the room through both doors and didn't come back before the end of class. Man that was funny!

. . . . . :walk: :walk: :walk: :walk: :walk: :walk: