Mi Jam Drummer is a set of motion-activated drumsticks that let you play "air drums" while listening to music on your iPod (or any audio source with a 1/8-inch plug). Or, you can play Mi Jam Drummer "solo" without an iPod if you like. Either way you "play" the plastic drumsticks by whipping them through the air to trigger drum sounds, which you hear through your earphones or speakers (not included).

Each drumstick has a rocker switch you press with your thumb to invoke a different drum sound. On the left stick your choices are Tom Tom or Cymbal; the right stick offers Floor Tom or Bass Drum + Hi Hat. The right stick also has a button on its side that plays a "fill" pattern when you press it.

The hockey puck sized control module has three wires -- one to each drumstick and one to plug into the headphone jack of your iPod or other sound source if you like. There is also a 1/8-inch headphone jack so you can hear what you are playing.

The controls consist of a Rhythm button that turns on a canned drum track you can play along with, a Tempo up/down control to make the canned drum track play faster or slower, a volume up/down control, and an on/off switch.

I really wanted to like this toy but I can't recommend it. It just doesn't work the way it ought to. I only heard the appropriate drum sounds some of the time when I hit the air with a stick. Even worse, when the drum sound was triggered it frequently sounded before or after I meant for it to. And the drum sounds themselves are weak -- among the worst sounding drum samples I can recall.

I have to say that it's kind of fun to wave the sticks in the air and hear drums in your ears. But it would be a lot more fun if the drums played every time and exactly when you expected them to play.

There are other shortcomings, too, including no power light or indicator, which makes it easy to accidentally leave Mi Jam Drummer turned on and thus drain the batteries. And speaking of batteries, it requires a pair of AAAs which are not included.

The Bottom Line

It sounds good on paper and looks cool in the picture, but the reality is that Mi Jam Drummer is more frustration than fun.