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

Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...

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. The words "law" and "lore", the latter ...

. They are a type of drumstick,

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

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 ...

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 ( electrophone ...

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 ...

, 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 (music), drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgerido ...

, and are called or by the

Yolngu people The Yolngu or Yolŋu ( or ) are an aggregation of Aboriginal Australian people inhabiting north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. ''Yolngu'' means "person" in the Yolŋu languages. The terms Murngin, Wulamba, Yalnuma ...

of north-east

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

in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

of Australia.

Boomerang clapsticks

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...

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.

References

External links

A survey of traditional south-eastern Australian Indigenous music
by Barry McDonald (book chapter) * * * *Curkpatrick, Samuel. "Productive Ambiguity: Fleshing out the Bones in Yolŋu Manikay" Song" Performance, and the Australian Art Orchestra’s" Crossing Roper Bar"." ''Critical Studies in Improvisation/Études critiques en improvisation'' 9, no. 2 (201

Stick concussion idiophones Australian Aboriginal music Australian musical instruments {{Idiophone-instrument-stub

Origin and nomenclature

Boomerang clapsticks

Technique

See also

References

External links