Clapsticks or
clappers are a type of drumstick or percussion mallet that are used to serve the purpose of maintaining rhythm. Unlike drumsticks, which are generally used to strike a
drumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of music instruments, technically classified as a membranophone.. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with parts of a player's body, or with some sort of...
, clapsticks are intended for striking one stick on another.
As an ancestral instrument that traditionally accompanies the
didgeridooThe digeridoo is a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians of northern Australia at least 1,500 years ago and is still in widespread usage today both in Australia and around the world. It is sometimes described as a natural wooden trumpet or "drone pipe". Musicologists classify it as...
, it is sometimes referred to as
musicstick or just
Stick.
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Clapsticks or
clappers are a type of drumstick or percussion mallet that are used to serve the purpose of maintaining rhythm. Unlike drumsticks, which are generally used to strike a
drumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of music instruments, technically classified as a membranophone.. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with parts of a player's body, or with some sort of...
, clapsticks are intended for striking one stick on another.
Music stick
As an ancestral instrument that traditionally accompanies the
didgeridooThe digeridoo is a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians of northern Australia at least 1,500 years ago and is still in widespread usage today both in Australia and around the world. It is sometimes described as a natural wooden trumpet or "drone pipe". Musicologists classify it as...
, it is sometimes referred to as
musicstick or just
Stick. In the language of the
YolnguThe Yolngu are an Indigenous Australian people inhabiting north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. Yolngu literally means “person” in the language spoken by the people.-Yolŋu Law:...
AboriginesIndigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands, and these peoples' descendants. Indigenous Australians are distinguished as either Aboriginal people or Torres Strait Islanders, who currently together make up about 2.6% of Australia's...
of Northeast
Arnhem LandThe Arnhem Land Region is one of the five regions of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around 500km from the territory capital Darwin. The region has an area of 97,000 km² which also covers the area of Kakadu National Park, and a...
, Australia these clapsticks are called
bimli.
Recording signal device
A clapstick is also a piece of equipment used in the motion picture and TV industry to signal a synchronization point on film and audio track. Since the audio is often recorded separately, the clapstick snapping shut is used to provide a single spot in the film where there's a distinct noise and a visual cue (the closed clapstick) to put the two tracks together.
A clapstick is usually striped and may be mounted on top of a slate which contains the scene information. Modern movie-making uses electronic synchronizers instead of clapsticks, but clapsticks are still a popular and inexpensive choice for the budget-minded film-maker.