The conductor's podium. The central workstation of the band room.

First, the chair. I inherited this from my predecessor. It was probably inherited by him. Most obvious is the piece of furring strip attached to the center post by two tie wraps. This positions the footrest at exactly the right place. The set screw on the foot rest is stripped so it will spin all the way around. There are supposed to be screw in feet on the bottom to level the chair. Missing. Notice how the center post itself leans forward. When I would sit in the chair and spin the seat from side to side it would make the most horrendous squeak that no amount of oil would mitigate.

The chair is on a platform that I built in 1993 when I was first hired as a band teacher in the Garden City Middle School. It is made of scrap plywood and 2x6s from my basement and the old carpet from my daughters' room. That pink platformy thing at the back was part of their bunk beds.

The conductor's platform is populated with the 5 food groups - flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet and trombone. Bigger saxes and baritone horns are close by. For kids of middle school age, it was important to me to able to model and demonstrate correct playing.

Now, I am proficient enough at the woodwind instruments, including oboe, to play professionally. I can play the trumpet well enough to play taps in my backyard on Memorial Day. I am, however, a hazard to navigation when I pick up the trombone. The flutes and clarinets in the front row would dive for cover when I picked up that trombone. Not only is my trombone embouchere so underdeveloped that I have to blast the notes to make them come out, but I would stand up and extend the slide out over their heads and blow. Of course, the business end of the trombone slide has a spit valve in it.

Notice that my conductor's music stand also has a very cool clip on thingy for pencils, highlighters and my baton.