A snare drum or side drum is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used in orchestras, concert bands, marching bands, parades, drumlines, drum corps, and more. It is one of the central pieces in a drum set, a collection of percussion instruments designed to be played by a seated drummer and used in many genres of music.
A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the title of Bandmaster or Director of Music. Ottoman military bands are thought to be the oldest variety of military marching bands in the world, dating from the 13th century.
A fife is a small, high-pitched, transverse aerophone, that is similar to the piccolo. The fife originated in medieval Europe and is often used in Fife & Drum Corps, military units and marching bands. Someone who plays the fife is called a fifer. The word fife comes from the German Pfeife, or pipe, which comes from the Latin word pipare.
In percussion music, a rudiment is one of a number of relatively small patterns which form the foundation for more extended and complex drum patterns. The term "rudiment" in this context means not only "basic", but also fundamental. While any level of drumming may, in some sense, be broken down by analysis into a series of component rudiments, the term "drum rudiment" is most closely associated with various forms of field drumming, also known as rudimental drumming.
The United States Marine Band is the premier band of the United States Marine Corps. Established by act of Congress on July 11, 1798, it is the oldest of the United States military bands and the oldest professional musical organization in the United States. Today, the Marine Band also includes the Marine Chamber Orchestra and Marine Chamber Ensembles.
United States military bands include musical ensembles maintained by the United States Army, United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, United States Air Force, and United States Coast Guard. More broadly, they can also include musical ensembles of other federal and state uniformed services, including the Public Health Service and NOAA Corps, the state defense forces, and the senior military colleges.
Fife and drum blues is an American folk music form derived from country blues, martial music tradition, and African rhythms. It is performed typically with one lead fife player and a troop of drummers. Unlike a drum corps, the drum troop is loosely structured. As such, a fife and drum band may have a variable number of snare, tom, and bass drum players. A large military-style bass drum is preferred. Fife and drum performances are often family affairs held at reunions, summer community picnics, and on holidays.
The Großer Zapfenstreich is a military ceremony performed in Germany and Austria. It is similar to the military tattoo ceremony performed in English-speaking countries, and is the most important ceremonial act executed by the German federal armed forces, the Bundeswehr, and by the Austrian Armed Forces. The Zapfenstreich is performed only during national celebrations and solemn public commemorations, to honour distinguished persons present at such special events. Examples are the farewell ceremony for a German federal president, or at the conclusion of large military exercises. It takes place in the evening hours and consists of a military formation of at least one military band, two platoons of armed infantrymen, and two lines of soldiers carrying torches, in total about 400 men.
The United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps is one of four premier musical organizations of the United States Army. Members perform using musical instruments and wearing uniforms similar to those used by military musicians of the Continental Army during the American Revolution.
Black Rock State Park is a seasonal public recreation area adjoining Mattatuck State Forest in the town of Watertown, Connecticut. The state park covers 444 acres (180 ha) and is known for its large rock face, Black Rock, that offers views of Thomaston, Watertown, and portions of Waterbury. The park is managed by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
Sanford Augustus "Gus" Moeller (1886–1960) was an American rudimental drummer, national champion, educator, and author. He was born in Albany, New York, and began his music education by studying the piano.
The Police Scotland Fife Pipe Band is a Grade 1 pipe band from Fife in Scotland, established in September 2007.
A corps of drums is a musical unit of several national armies. Drummers were originally established in European armies to act as signallers. This is the major historical distinction between a military band and a corps of drums, 'drummers' would not play their instruments to entertain or delight, but rather as a utilitarian battlefield role. This role was fulfilled by trumpeters or buglers and timpanists in the cavalry and the artillery, who did not form into comparative formed bodies in the way that drummers did; therefore, an orthodox corps of drums will exist in the infantry arm and not in other arms.
A fanfare band, fanfare corps, fanfare battery, fanfare team, horn and drum corps, bugle band, drum and bugle corps, or trumpet and drum band is a military or civilian musical ensemble composed of percussion instruments, bugles, natural horns and natural trumpets. Fanfare bands are the descendants of the old medieval trumpet and drum teams that sounded fanfares on important occasions and are related to drum and bugle corps internationally.
Lancraft Fife and Drum Corps is an Ancient Fife and Drum Corps based in North Haven, Connecticut and is a member of the Connecticut Fifers and Drummers Association. Lancraft was founded in 1888 by conservative Freemasons, but over the years has become the pride of Irish Americans.
The West Point Band is the U.S. Army's oldest active band and the oldest unit at the United States Military Academy, traces its roots to the American Revolutionary War. At that time, fifers and drummers were stationed with companies of minutemen on Constitution Island, across the river from West Point. In 1778, General Samuel Holden Parsons' 1st Connecticut Brigade crossed the Hudson River and established West Point as a permanent military post. After the American Revolution, Congress disbanded most of the Continental Army, but “the 55 men at West Point,” members of the 2nd Continental Artillery, remained as they were. Among their ranks stood at least one drummer and one fifer, who alone maintained the tradition of military music at West Point.
Frank Arsenault was an internationally known American percussionist, teacher, and clinician in the areas of marching percussion, rudimental drumming, drum and bugle corps, and marching band. He was a full-time Staff Clinician and Educational Field Representative for the Ludwig Drum Company. He is also well known in his field for his signature playing style, for his many championship titles, and for his recording of The 26 Standard American Drum Rudiments and Selected Solos.
The Valery Khalilov Moscow Suvorov Military Music College is one of the leading military music institutions in Russia. It is a separate branch of the Suvorov Military Schools in Russia, and the oldest of them all.
The French Foreign Legion Music Band or Foreign Legion Music, formerly officially designated as the Principal Music of the Foreign Legion is a Musical Formation of the French Army composed largely of Legionnaires.
