Drummer (military)

A drummer was responsible for the army drums for use on the battlefield. Drums were part of the battlefield for hundreds of years, being introduced by the Ottomans to Europe. Chinese armies, however, had used drums even before this. With the professionalization of armies, military music was developed as well. Drums were used for the men to march in step and were also an important part of the battlefield communications system, with various drum rudiments being used to signal different commands from officers to troops.^[1] By the second half of the 18th century, most (if not all) Western armies had a standardized set of marches and signals to be played, often accompanied by fifers.