Interesting Facts About War Drums

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The Rigveda (one of the oldest known four sacred Vedic Sanskrit text) describes the war drum as the fist of Indra (king of Gods in Hindu mythology).

Among ancient war drums that can be mentioned, junjung (a royal war drum) of the Serer people ( a west African group) in Senegal and Gambia - Played on the way to battlefield, on special state occasions as well as Serer religious ceremonies.  

Drum is one of the oldest instruments invented by mankind. The first are believed to have originated in China around 6000 BC. They were often used for rituals and to direct the spirits or spiritual energies into the physical world for healing or some other purposes. These ancient drums were made of alligator hides and wood or clay. The first drumsticks were sticks and bones. Soon animal skins were stretched over bowls to create a booming sound. Thereafter, drums started to pop up in Egypt, Peru, Israel and Mesopotamia. By the 2nd century BC, African drums had made their way into Rome and Greece. 

They didn't become popular in Europe though after the crusades when Europeans started coping the War Drum. During the 1800 s, drums were used by the military to send messages and signals during wartime. Drums are used to keep a steady beat in a song. They give music of many kinds a sense of feeling. A drum is a percussion instrument, which means it makes a noise by being hit. They have been used to set a marching beat of soldiers as well as to motivate them for thousands of years,  and to demoralize the enemy.  On the battlefield-up until 19th century, Drums were used for to communicate commands from officers to the soldiers.     

In the civil war, drummer boys learned dozens of different drum calls so that they can send messages to the troops on the battlefield. The image of the drummer boy has stuck to us and is still celebrated to this day. Military drums or War drums are used for martial music, including military communications, as also for drill, honors music and military ceremonies. They serve two purposes - to set the timings for soldiers marching to help them in step and at the same speed and secondly as a signaling method, different drum rolls can be used to send out different commands e.g. roll call, meals etc. These were later replaced by bugle calls, the sound of which carries further.         

The journey of drums and drum sets does not end here. Every day, more and more musicians find out ways to improve their sets. They would add a little bit more to incorporate unique sounds to play on their drums. I am sure that it will not take long for us to create an even better version of the present-day drums.  

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Feel free to leave your comment and add any other facts abut drums I may have left out. 

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