[Raak] Some day my...? NO, but again, the right level of generality

I'm going to be without net access for a week as of late Thurs evening, so perhaps I can do a summary + hints in case it jogs your thoughts. We are looking for the one-word name for a set of mainly functional objects, (at the same level of generality as "chip" or "wedge"). They can be metal or wood. There are a couple other "vegetable" types which are not wood. All of these are typically smaller than a toaster by volume. There is an abstract type too. You could put The Answer into an Amazon search and be offered a couple of types of this. One of the wooden types of this is all wood and has a musical connection. The metal type has a symbolic function.

... apart from the indefinite article, naturally

[Spangle] Vowelish? NO.

[Raak] Figurehead? NO. Think smaller.

(I have found fibreglass and plastic examples of this on further research)

[Raak] And the murderer was...? NO
[INJ] Do you hit it? NO
[FGZstar] Just purse your lips? NO

[FGZstar] A pipe? NO *applause*

[Spangle] Model/miniature? NO
[INJ] Basically cylindrical? YES *applause*, most cases are cylindrical, if you're not too Platonic about it.
[FGZstar] A drum? NO
[Raak] Do most people have one? NO.

[FGZstar] Recorder? Flute? NO (not a musical instrument per se, in fact).

I realise this is probably a slightly annoying one (altho you will kick yourselves) but can I just say how gratified I am by the ingenuity of the guesses? Thank you.

[FGZstar] Stick? OF SORTS! *tumultuous applause, and stirrings of anticipation for the endgame*

[INJ] Item best used in pairs? NO
[FGZstar] Drumstick? NO (there's no animal type of this)

Well, about five more hours before I might have to hand this over.

Well, the only wooden, sticky, musical things that aren't instruments that I can think of are a baton (disqualified because they come in animal types and aren't obviously abstract) and the pole that some C18 & 19 conductors would use to beat time.

Oh and I'm quite glad my previous guess was wrong, now I start to think of the 'edible' case.

[INJ] In that case, as we might disagree on the definition and you might have guessed it otherwise, I think it only fair to hand over the BATON to you, hoping to be enlightened about the animal case! The cases of which I was thinking are the wooden (or sometimes, apparently, fibreglass) conductor's baton, the military baton, the metal relay baton, the well-known small loaf, carrot batons and police batons, plus of course the abstract Baton Sinister from heraldry. Challenging subject, but I enjoyed attempting something a bit more hard to get hold of, as it were. Apols to anyone else who had foregone that guess on non-animal grounds, too.

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They make them in bone and ivory
Anyway, moving on - Let's have a nice simple ANIMAL

They don't come much simpler than that.

[Raak] amoebic? - NO (not quite that simple)
[irach] monotremic? - NO (but I had been thinking about that, so you were close to the quickest ever win)

[ImNotJohn] Great minds think alike; what more can I say?