page_title: Drummer
section_title: Military
hierarchical_section_title: Drummer / Military
caption_attribution_description: fanfare du 27e bataillon de chasseurs alpins d'Annecy (Haute-Savoie - France) lors du festival de musiques militaires de Nice le 6 octobre 2007. Les chasseurs sont en tenue de sortie bleue
context_page_description: A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums.
  Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer's equipment includes a drum kit which includes various drums, cymbals and an assortment of accessory hardware such as pedals, standing support mechanisms, and drum sticks.
  In other genres, particularly in the traditional music of many countries, drummers use individual drums of various sizes and designs rather than drum kits. Some use only their hands to strike the drums.
  In larger ensembles, the drummer may be part of a rhythm section with other percussionists playing, for example, vibraphone, marimba or xylophone. These musicians provide the timing and rhythmic foundation which allow the players of melodic instruments, including voices, to coordinate their musical performance.
  Some famous drummers include: Ringo Starr, John Bonham, Ginger Baker, Keith Moon, Neil Peart, Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, Tim "Herb" Alexander, Phil Rudd, Rashied Ali, Carl Allen, Steve White, Craig Blundell, Travis Barker, Tony Royster Jr., Rick Allen, Tré Cool, Dave Grohl.
context_section_description: Before motorized transport became widespread, drummers played a key role in military conflicts. Military drummers provided drum cadences that set a steady marching pace and elevated troop morale on the battlefield. In some armies drums also assisted in combat by keeping cadence for firing and loading drills with muzzle loading guns. Military drummers were also employed on the parade field, when troops passed in review, and in various ceremonies including ominous drum rolls accompanying disciplinary punishments. Children also served as drummer boys well into the nineteenth century, though less commonly than is popularly assumed; due to the nature of the job, experienced older men were preferred.
  In modern times, drummers are not employed in battle, but their ceremonial duties continue. Typically buglers and drummers mass under a sergeant-drummer and during marches alternately perform with the regiment or battalion ensembles.
  Military-based musical percussion traditions were not limited exclusively to the western world. When Emir Osman I was appointed commander of the Turkish army on the Byzantine border in the late 13th century, he was symbolically installed via a handover of musical instruments by the Seldjuk sultan. In the Ottoman Empire, the size of a military band reflected the rank of its commander in chief: the largest band was reserved for the Sultan (viz. his Grand Vizier when taking the field). It included various percussion instruments, often adopted in European military music (as 'Janissary music'). The pitched bass drum is still known in some languages as the Turkish Drum.
  Military drumming is the origin of Traditional grip as opposed to Matched grip of drumsticks.
caption: Drummer of the French Chasseurs alpins, 2007
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