Drum sticks:

I have decided that I speak in Georgia Font:
As we saw yesterday drumsitck prototype works pretty well.
For the sake of completeness:

• 16 inch aluminum tube
• 5" stiff bare wire
• little blob of foam core
• electrical wires

push the stiff wire through the foam core, and solder the electrical wire to that end. carefully thread the whole thing through the aluminum tube so that the electrical wire comes out one end of the tube and the stiff wire sits in the last five inches of the other end, not touching the sides. Tape another wire to the outside of the tube near the handle. When you strike the stick the stiff wire bends and touches the inside of the aluminum tube, making a connection. This is used to charge an RC drain so we have a basically steady voltage that goes up the more often you hit and slowly drains otherwise. Sweet.

Possible future improvements: use a spring that is less likely to bend over time and touch the side.