From 1898 to 1984, the RAMC maintained a staff band in its ranks. The earliest record of music in the RAMC was in the 1880s when a Corporal of the Medical Staff Corps was sent to Kneller Hall to be trained as a bugler. It was founded officially in 1898, with official permission for the band being given by the Duke of Connaught, first Colonel-in Chief of the RAMC. In 1902, the band had reached a stature to where it could take part in the Coronation Procession of King Edward VII. On 1 January 1939, the RAMC Band was taken over by the Army Council and was officially recognised as a state sponsored band. In 1962, Derek Waterhouse became the first official Drum Major to be appointed to the band. It was disbanded in 1984, being one of the first to go in the as a result of the restructuring of the Army. It is today retained in the Army Medical Services Band.