This conductor's baton was a gift made for a dear orchestra conductor. After having left the stage for a while, she was faced with a "difficult decision": to return or not to return to orchestra conducting. Therefore, her son, his girlfriend and I decided to engrave this hint, inspired by Beethoven's String Quartet No. 16, 4th movement: "Der schwer gefaßte Entschluß (The difficult decision).” Grave, ma non troppo tratto (Muss es sein?/Must it be?) – Allegro (Es muss sein!/It must be!) – Grave, ma non troppo tratto – Allegro"

Items needed:

Piece of wood ~ 40 cm length and 2 cm diameter

Sandpaper

Pyrography Tool

1. Take a piece of wood. Preferably give new purpose to an old Christmas tree. The light weight feature of this type of wood makes it ideal for this project.





2. Cut the wood down to approximately 40 cm in length.





3. Cut the wood down to approximately 2 cm in diameter.





4. Shape it. This part must take into account the ergonomics of the conductor's baton. A well balanced baton would not strain the conductor's hand. For this purpose, I tried to balance it in between the handle and the shaft. Because this baton is made from a single piece of wood, the balance point is where the grip ends, thus balancing the baton on the index finger.





5. Engrave it.





5. Apply lacquer and let it dry. I used a lacquer designed for musical instruments.





6. Enjoy!





Muß es sein? Es muß sein!, 2012, Woodburn on pine, Zenith Adi