Clapsticks, also spelt clap sticks and also known as bilma, bimli, clappers, musicstick or just stick, are a traditional

Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

instrument. They serve to maintain rhythm in voice chants, often as part of an

Aboriginal ceremony Australian Aboriginal culture includes a number of practices and ceremonies centered on a belief in the Dreamtime and other mythology. Reverence and respect for the land and oral traditions are emphasised. Over 300 languages and other groupings ...

. They are a type of drumstick,

percussion mallet A percussion mallet or beater is an object used to strike or beat a percussion instrument in order to produce its sound. The term beater is slightly more general. A mallet is normally held in the hand while a beater may be foot or mechanically ...

claves Claves (; ) are a percussion instrument consisting of a pair of short, wooden sticks about 20–25 centimeters (8–10 inches) long and about 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) in diameter. Although traditionally made of wood (typically rosewood, ebony o ...

that belongs to the

idiophone An idiophone is any musical instrument that creates sound primarily by the vibration of the instrument itself, without the use of air flow (as with aerophones), strings (chordophones), membranes (membranophones) or electricity ( electrophones) ...

category. Unlike drumsticks, which are generally used to strike a

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

, clapsticks are intended for striking one stick on another.

Origin and nomenclature

In northern Australia, clapsticks would traditionally accompany the

didgeridoo The didgeridoo (; also spelt didjeridu, among other variants) is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo was developed by ...

, and are called bimli or bilma by the Yolngu people of north-east

Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compan ...

in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

of Australia.

Boomerang clapsticks

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning b ...

clapsticks are similar to regular clapsticks but they can be shaken for a rattling sound or be clapped together.

Technique

The usual technique employed when using clapsticks is to clap the sticks together to create a rhythm that goes along with the song.

External links

A survey of traditional south-eastern Australian Indigenous music
by Barry McDonald (book chapter) * * * Stick concussion idiophones Australian Aboriginal music Australian musical instruments {{Idiophone-instrument-stub

Origin and nomenclature

Boomerang clapsticks

Technique

See also

External links