The War Drum: a short history of drumming for death

Although the universe pulses with the rhyhm of life, there also exists a dirge of death and destruction. The drumbeat of war and violence is as ancient as the rhythm of life. You have heard the expression “The drums of war are beating” haven’t you? I heard it and saw it in print often before the invasion of Iraq. It always seems to be drums beating which metaphorically precede human engagement in warfare. We don’t hear reporters saying “The war flutes are tooting,” or “The war bassoons are bellowing.” It’s always the war drums are beating! The metaphor of war drums beating has a long and shameful history. The reason is because drums have long been associated with war. In many cultures the power of beating drums has been harnessed to excite and incite humans for battle.

Kettledrums, the precursor of the orchestral tympani, were originally played by the Mongols on mounted horses. Their thunder was used on the battlefield to exhort troops and relay commands. In 1085 C.E. the Moors used African drummers in exotic costumes to play kettledrums to prepare for battle. The tradition of using Africans for war drumming continued until the 18th century.

Among the Zulu of Africa the shield was once the principal drum struck in battle songs. In some cultures the drum was decorated with the skulls or remains of their enemy in warfare as a sign of the utter degradation of the victim. One of the most gruesome practices was to make a drum from the skins of the enemy.

The Chinese drum has been an essential instrument in “drumming up” war. In The Book of War instructions are given on the use of the drum in military warmaking:

At one beat of the drum the ranks are put to in order; at two beats of the drum, formation will be made; at three beats of the drum, food will be issued; at four beats of the drum, the men will prepare to march; at five beats of the drum, ranks will be formed; when the drums beat together, then the standards will be raised.

The drum was then carried with the flag on the commanding chariot with its position in battle deciding the movement and fate of the army.

Marching drums have their roots in the military and war. What is known as the “side drum,” the early marching drum, was extolled as an instrument of war. Francis Markham in Five Decades and Epistles of War (1622) says,

It is the voice of the Drumme the soldier should wholly attend…the Drumme being the very tongue and voice of the Commander…If he beat a retreat when commanded to Charge, or to beat a Charge when men are to retire, the army might perish by the action. The soldier must be diligent and learn all the beating of the Drumme and the Drumme make plain the alteration of notes, and how they differ in their significations.

British, and later colonial American, troops used the fife and side drum to signal for battle and encourage the troops in warfare. The standard rudiments of the marching drum, which most drummers learn in school band, have their roots in the drums signals used as commands for military troops engaged in warfare. Drummers had a privileged place on the battlefield. When the technology of warfare allowed for soldiers to fire at will, the drum was silenced on the battlefield. It became part of the pomp and parade of modern armies as they continued to march to the beat of the military drum. The history of the drum has been pounded through and through with the sound of the war drum.