After the human voice, our instrument, the drum(s) are the oldest known to mankind. Aside from being the only form of long distance communication, I'm sure it's a 'which came first, the chicken or the egg' type call whether the first drummer was sending a message across the valley, or banging a log with a stick in rhythm with celebratory/ritual dancers. Either way, ours is the oldest musical instrument.
As a drummer, I have always been in awe of the young (sometimes 13, 14, 15 years old) field drummers who would pass on instructions from the General to the troops -during battle- by playing certain rhythms on their drums. That's where the rudiments come from. Rhythms that conveyed orders/instructions for the battlefield movement of the troops. As you can well imagine, a 'primary' target for any advancing enemy would be to shoot the guy who controls the movements of the army on the field. In other words, you want to -shoot the drummer- first!
The invention/development of 'drum kits' is a fairly modern phenomenon. Drummers from the past would watch us play our kits today and drop their jaws in wonder at how one man can make so much music with drums. Especially in modern times, drumming has been elevated to an art-form. If anybody knows any interesting historical facts about our beloved instrument, please feel free to comment or post away. I'm always interested to learn something new.
John
