# Conductors? Drum Majors? Both Past and Present



## Eleziek (Jan 31, 2009)

I am just curious to see if there's any other conductors out there, or if I'm the only one around these parts that likes to wave an expensive stick around in the air  

I've been conducting for a few years now, never anything formal up until this past year. Now I'm gonna be doing some guest conducting here and there for some places I've written music for.

If so, what school of conducting? Choral? Wind? Orchestral? Do you use a baton, or do you prefer your hands? 

For those drum majors, where were you DM at? How long, etc.

I do wind and orchestral conducting myself, although the only one I've been able to put in to practice is wind. I also do marching band/corps things :]

I've got two good batons and them some trash ones that I carry around with me all the time, don't even know the brand of the crap ones. My good batons however are a 12 inch Mollard P (Natural finish shaft) and then a 14 inch Mollard Lancio (Silver handle, white shaft).


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## beyondspecies (Jan 31, 2009)

I had some training in conducting while in college for music. I can't believe how much those damn wands cost...


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## GatodeCafe (Feb 1, 2009)

I'm a member in a jazz quartet, and I've always been influenced by Butch Morris's method of conducting. He sort of brought in an element of structure to free jazz, really inspiring stuff.


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## Eleziek (Feb 2, 2009)

Oh yes, batons can get expensive xD They're so much more than a stick, like some people think they are. My two good ones are balanced perfectly and along certain points in the shaft as well. 

I have no preference to certain conductors, I love to see what everyone brings to the table. Conducting within itself is a very free art, and it's just a matter of finding what works for you and the ensemble.


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## Tiarhlu (Feb 9, 2009)

I was a student conductor back in highschool, and I didn't get a superior ranking at the concert festival. I got an excellent, and everyone gave me a hard time about it. What really bugged me was that a lot of the things the judge told me not to do, my band director told me TO do.


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