Keeping the Beat: Custom-Made Conducting Batons
Beethoven waved a rolled-up piece of sheet music. Bernstein was known to conduct with his eyebrows. Why, then, in this age of cheap manufacturing, are custom batons still in demand?
Dear Friends,
Throughout the month of August, we’ve been bringing back some audience favorites from the Archives while our small team takes a few weeks off. Many of our most popular stories of all time have highlighted master musicians, instrument makers, and other artisans in the world of sound, so it was no surprise (to us) when today’s featured story was chosen as a Substack Read in 2023…
We hope you’ll enjoy reading (and listening to): “Keeping the Beat: Custom-Made Conducting Batons” written and narrated by our contributing editor,
.“The way the baton responds… it’s like the feeling you get from using a really nice pen.”
Thank you for reading and sharing our stories, for supporting our work with a paid subscription if you can, and for being part of the Craftsmanship community. We couldn’t do this without you.
Sincerely,
The Craftsmanship Team
Coming soon…
Up next in Craftsmanship Stories:
“How Today’s Black Artisans are Reshaping American Ceramics”
Written by
Although Black Americans have been telling stories in clay for centuries, the works of enslaved potters were usually unsigned, due to oppressive anti-literacy laws. Today’s Black ceramicists are reshaping the medium to forge new narratives — and finally starting to get the recognition they deserve.
Coming soon to Craftsmanship Podcasts:
New Audio Story: “The Great Washing Machine Scam” 🫧
Written by and narrated by Mitchell Greenberg
As consumer technology improves, household mainstays like the basic washing machine keep sprouting new, high-tech functions. These gizmos are mostly unnecessary, and increasingly difficult if not impossible to repair. Who put us in this jam? And why? Our journalistic gumshoe sets out to crack the case.
Our latest Substack exclusive:
In our latest Secrets of Mastery episode, you’ll hear from Andy Graham, a Bay Area-based musician, instrument maker, patent-holder, and inventor of new instruments—such as the electric stringed didgeridoo, the slapstick, and the nixa wobbler, just to name a few—Graham takes us on a brief but fascinating tour of sound.
Listen to: "The Joy of Experimentation," with Andy Graham
If you haven’t done so already, you can upgrade your subscription now for just $6/month, or $60/year, and get access to all of our premium content, including the entire Secrets of Mastery series. Thank you for supporting independent journalism!
Craftsmanship Magazine focuses on master artisans and innovators whose work informs our quest: to create a world built to last. On our website, you’ll find a rich archive of in-depth reported stories, podcasts, photo essays, Field Notes, and documentary shorts—along with community resources like our Artisans’ Directory, our guide to U.S.-based craft & folk schools, and much more.