Hicks.

Monica
Sec 02

10/16/2014

The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. many cultures
around the world. Drums first appeared as far back as 6000 BC. Drums consist of at least one
membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either
directly with the player's hands, or with a drumstick, to produce sound. The original drum was a
animal hide stretch over a hollow log which was held by wooden or metal pins or twine to these
pins. The drum was used for several functions within various societies. From a long djembe
drum in Africa to a timbrel in middle east which looked like a tambourine and a tabor in Europe
which lead to the modern day snare drum. (Maynard, 2011)
First Drum 6000 B.C: The first drums found was in Mesopotamia. The drum was made
of clay and it was shaped like a square. In 1300 the first snare drum was made in medieval
Europe. It was also known as the Tabor. The timpani drums are a group of drums that each have
a different pitch. They were brought to Europe sometime during the 1400's, but weren't used
widely until the 1600's. Another modern drum is the bass drum. Bigger than the snare drum, it
was brought into Europe during the 1400's, and is sometimes called the Turkish drum. (Softschool)
Over time, different woods were used for different drums. Beef wood was popular in the 1700's,
and throughout the 1800's a popular choice for military drums was ebony. Drums remained
mostly unchanged for many years, but new drums were found when modern people began
exploring more and more of Africa and Cuba. The bongo drums are traced to these cultures, and
are always a set of twin drums.(Softschool)

Hicks. Monica
Sec 02

10/16/2014

Work Cited
Maynard, Tony. "The History of Drums and Drumming." All-about-drum-setdrumming.com. N.p., 2011. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.
"History of Drums." Softschools.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2014.