Drums can be traced back to 6000 BC and have been used in almost every culture throughout history for a variety of purposes. Is it any wonder that the drums have such an appeal today? They've been used as a form of communication, a call to arms, and as important part in some of humanity's most sacred, religious and important rituals.
In Africa, hourglass shaped pressure drums, also called talking drums, were used by natives to communicate to a group, usually as part of a ceremony. Far from making a similar noise each time the tightly-stretched hide was struck, leather cords stretched the length of the drum allowed the person beating the drum to change the pitch by squeezing or releasing the cords. These drums are popular in West African music today.
Message drums, also called slit gongs, were made from a single log, with sounds that could carry 5 miles to another tribe or village. The logs could be elaborately carved or plain, but the emphasis was on the sound. The log was hollowed and slit cut in it, its length determining the pitch of the drum. Native American Indians regularly used slit gongs to communicate, too. Hollowed out logs are among some of the earliest discoveries of a type of drum used in ancient times.
Drums were used as communication devices during the Revolutionary War by troops, as well. Each camp had a drummer who played something designed to communicate their status to the other camps. Drums were used to motivate soldiers to move, they were used when commencing battle, and they were used as the beat for the death march of the condemned.
Medicine men used drums to perform their sacred healing rituals, and most ancient cultures used them in almost every ritual from birth to marriage to burial. The beat of drums is part of our humanity and our heritage, even though it seems that today drums are only used to keep time for rock bands and heavy metal guitar solos.
A truly skillful drum solo may touch that tribal ancestry within all of us and connect with us in ways we can't even begin to understand. Listening to tribal drums may forge such a connection but even listening to modern era drummers and percussionists like the late Buddy Rich can demonstrate the true skill required to play a musical instrument, even one considered as basic as the drums.
Drum sets are a relatively new development, with the first drum set appearing in the 1800s. They let one person play the snare drum, cymbals and bass drum (thanks to the foot pedal) where it always took 3 separate people before. This gave way to drums being used in jazz and swing, and then in the 50s, drum sets being used with rock music.
But the tribal beat that our species played thousands of years ago still appeals. Browse your music score today and you'll find heavy metal music with pounding drums sold alongside entire albums filled with tribal drum solos.
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Originally posted 2008-12-08 21:19:18. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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