Editing Drum (section)

===Military uses===
{{Further|Military drums}}
{{listen
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|title=Drum - Cadence A
|filename2=Drum - Cadence B.ogg
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|filename3=Drums - Four Flams.ogg
|title3=Drum - Four Flams
|description3=[[Snare drum]] [[drum cadence|cadences]] performed by the [[United States Navy Band]]
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Chinese troops used [[tàigǔ]] drums to motivate troops, to help set a marching pace, and to call out orders or announcements. For example, during a war between Qi and Lu in 684 BC, the effect of drum on soldiers' morale is employed to change the result of a major battle. Fife-and-drum corps of Swiss mercenary foot soldiers also used drums. They used an early version of the snare drum carried over the player's right shoulder, suspended by a strap (typically played with one hand using [[traditional grip]]). It is to this instrument that the English word "drum" was first used. Similarly, during the [[English Civil War]] rope-tension drums would be carried by junior officers as a means to relay commands from senior officers over the noise of battle. These were also hung over the shoulder of the drummer and typically played with two drum sticks. Different [[regiment]]s and companies would have distinctive and unique [[drum beat]]s only they recognized. In the mid-19th century, the Scottish military started incorporating [[pipe band]]s into their Highland regiments.<ref>{{cite web|last=Chatto |first=Allan |year=1996 |url=http://www.cadre-online.ca/drumhistory.html |title=Brief History of Drumming |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100315214859/http://www.cadre-online.ca/drumhistory.html |archive-date=March 15, 2010 |url-status=dead |website=cadre-online.ca}}</ref>

During pre-Columbian warfare, Aztec nations were known to have used drums to send signals to the battling warriors. The Nahuatl word for drum is roughly translated as ''huehuetl''.<ref>Aguilar-Moreno, Manuel. (2006). [Handbook to Life In the Aztec World]</ref>

The [[Rig Veda]], one of the oldest religious scriptures in the world, contains several references to the use of the ''Dundhubi'' (war drum). Arya tribes charged into battle to the beating of the war drum and chanting of a hymn that appears in Book VI of the Rig Veda and also the Atharva Veda.<ref name="Blades 1992 p. 134">{{cite book | last=Blades | first=J. | title=Percussion Instruments and Their History | publisher=Bold Strummer | year=1992 | isbn=978-0-933224-61-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a8V3Z6j2ExEC&pg=PA134 | access-date=20 May 2023 | page=134}}</ref> The dundhuhi was considered sacred and to capture one in battle would signal defeat of the enemy.<ref name="Halid 2022 p. 26">{{cite book | last=Halid | first=R.I.B.R. | title=The Malay Nobat: A History of Power, Acculturation, and Sovereignty | publisher=Lexington Books | series=The Lexington Series in Historical Ethnomusicology: Deep Soundings | year=2022 | isbn=978-1-6669-0089-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Ah0EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA26 | access-date=20 May 2023 | page=26}}</ref>