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Clapsticks, also spelt clap sticks and also known as bilma, bimli, clappers, musicstick or just stick, are a traditional Australian Aboriginal instrument. They serve to maintain rhythm in voice chants, often as part of an Aboriginal ceremony.[1]

Two pairs of Australian Aboriginal clapsticks
Didgeridoo and clapstick players performing at Nightcliff, Northern Territory

They are a type of drumstick, percussion mallet or claves that belongs to the idiophone category. Unlike drumsticks, which are generally used to strike a drum, clapsticks are intended for striking one stick on another.

Origin and nomenclature

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In northern Australia, clapsticks would traditionally accompany the didgeridoo, and are called bimli or bilma by the Yolngu people of north-east Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Boomerang clapsticks

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

Technique

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

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Rare Music Collection, University of Melbourne Library. "Bilma (clapsticks), from the Northern Territory" (PDF). The University of Melbourne. The University of Melbourne. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
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