page_title: Hit Stix
hierarchical_section_title: Hit Stix
caption_attribution_description: English: this is a photograph of 'hit stix' and 'hit stix 2' toys. I took this photo myself. Nigel Tufnel
context_page_description: Hit Stix is a toy electronic musical instrument manufactured by Nasta and Radio Shack in the 1980s. A set of Hit Stix consists of 2 drum sticks which are tethered to a small amplifier by audio cables. When the drum sticks are thrust forward in mid air, mimicking actual drum playing, a snare drum sound effect is produced. A rapid succession of thrusts produces a drum roll. It is a common misconception that Hit Stix are meant to be hit against another surface. In fact, the sounds are produced simply by the motion of drumming and do not need to come in contact with any surface in order to produce a sound.
  The Nasta company went public in 1987, and Hit Stix was its first television-advertised product. The Hit Stix instrument retailed for around $20 in 1980.
  Hit Stix was succeeded by Hit Stix 2, which incorporates sound selection via sliders on each drum stick. The left stick adjusts the tone while the right selects either snare, tom, bass drum or phaser. The latter instrument was capable of producing 44 different percussive sounds. Both incarnations feature a yellow and orange color scheme and a belt clip which allows the drummer to wear the amplifier on his or her hip.
context_section_description: Hit Stix is a toy electronic musical instrument manufactured by Nasta and Radio Shack in the 1980s. A set of Hit Stix consists of 2 drum sticks which are tethered to a small amplifier by audio cables. When the drum sticks are thrust forward in mid air, mimicking actual drum playing, a snare drum sound effect is produced. A rapid succession of thrusts produces a drum roll. It is a common misconception that Hit Stix are meant to be hit against another surface. In fact, the sounds are produced simply by the motion of drumming and do not need to come in contact with any surface in order to produce a sound. 
  The Nasta company went public in 1987, and Hit Stix was its first television-advertised product. The Hit Stix instrument retailed for around $20 in 1980.
  Hit Stix was succeeded by Hit Stix 2, which incorporates sound selection via sliders on each drum stick. The left stick adjusts the tone while the right selects either snare, tom, bass drum or phaser. The latter instrument was capable of producing 44 different percussive sounds. Both incarnations feature a yellow and orange color scheme and a belt clip which allows the drummer to wear the amplifier on his or her hip. The amplifier requires one 9-volt battery and has a wheel for volume control.
caption: Hit Stix (left) and Hit Stix 2 toys
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot A95", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2006:11:16 02:24:23", "Image ExifOffset": "216", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "758", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7826", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/500", "EXIF FNumber": "8", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2006:11:16 02:18:42", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2006:11:16 02:18:42", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "287/32", "EXIF ApertureValue": "6", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "139/32", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, compulsory flash mode, red-eye reduction mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "125/16", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "700", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "549", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "851788/93", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "486000/53", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}