I got some Rock Beat Sticks for Christmas

[Andrew Robinson]

Basically, these are 2 plastic toy drum sticks, each with a motion
sensor, a speaker and a few low res drum samples. Hit something with
the stick and get a drum sound! Hold the buttons to get a different
sound, and/or press the other button to play a loop for you to jam
along with. Details here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Peers-Hardy-Rock-Beat-Drumsticks/dp/B001BJEDJS

A nice idea, badly executed (the kick and snare are practically
indistinguishable, there's no hi hat, and the sensors are awful so
it's impossible to play in time).

A silly stocking filler, but good for a laugh, or trying to convince
drunk people that Eastenders is over by imitating the tom fill
whenever there's a dramatic pause.

Just in case anyone wants to recreate the experience at home, here's a
comprehensive set of all 7 badly recorded samples, complete with
realistic stereo panning where appropriate :
www.lxnen.com/RockBeatSamples.zip

These were recorded with a 'no effort made' attitude to recording
quality, using a PS2 Singstar Mic the kids left lying around. There's
no velocity switching, since hitting things harder simply increases
the risk of breaking either the stick, or whatever you're hitting with
it. You can layer these samples with your own 'hitting things' sounds
for a realistic effect though, I took advantage of the fact that the
sensors are so wonky that you can waggle the stick around in the air
and still trigger them to record these samples without any impact
noises.

Happy new year, all!

- Andy_R