Make Some Noise! Are You Gripping Your Wand Correctly?

    Grandmaster street magician Jimmy Talksalot tells a legendary story about Jim Cellini stopping crowds and starting shows by bowing and striking the ground with a magic wand, *tap tap*. Jimmy and his own school of busking follow in Cellini's footsteps and use magic wands as "thumpers" to make noise and attract attention.
     When using a sawed off drum stick or cheap dowel, one can whale on the ground without concern. Hickory, a common wood used for drum sticks, is loud and resonant, and inexpensive. When the ends splinter or the shaft snaps, they are easy enough to replace.
     Luxury ironwoods, on the other hand, are more exotic, rare, and valuable. Although they are tougher and more robust than softer woods, jagged concrete sidewalks can wear away at the ends over time. Cellini himself tapped his Lignum Vitae street wands on the ground, but he also had a supply of them. To get the most out of your own street wands, one factor to consider is how you hold the wand while striking the ground.
     

     In the left image above, the wand is held firmly with each of my fingers contacting it securely. While this grip is useful for other aspect of magic with wands, it mutes the vibration of the wood. To get the most sound out of tapping the wand, it needs to be held at two contact points, the thumb and first or second finger. In the above right photo, even though the wand is held with the thumb and first finger, the location of the grip is incorrect. Holding the extreme end of the wand also mutes the noise it can make.

     This is because of the way the wood resonates when struck. The image above shows another incorrect grip, as well as an illustration of how the wand moves then it resonates. The white line shows the exaggerated end positions of the wand as it vibrates. The green circles show the "nodes" where the wand doesn't move. The "anti-nodes" are the parts of the wand that move the most-- the tips and the center. 
     When the wand is held at an "anti-node" the vibration from tapping the wand goes into your hand and gets muted. When you hold a wand loosely at the "node"-- 1/4 or 3/4 of the way up the wand-- the wood is able to vibrate and make the most sound.
     What this means for you and your wand: you don't have to hit the wand as hard to get more sound. Hold the wand correctly and you can lengthen the lifetime of your thumper. If your wand is 12", hold it about 3" from the end between your thumb and first finger when you tap it and you will feel the difference.

     Go out there and make some noise!