How Were Drums And Percussion Instruments Invented?

Percussion instruments and drums have been used in virtually every kind of music throughout history, spanning ages and countries. The history of drums also spans a wide range of musical forms, from early gourd drums to today’s computerised drums.

Drums made of alligator skins were used in religious rituals and cultural meetings as long back as 5500 B.C., according to artefacts from China. Iconography from ancient Mesopotamian, Greek, Egyptian, and Roman civilizations shows the usage of drums in religious rites and cultural gatherings. Both the drums played with beaters and the hand drums appear to have emerged at the same time, according to evidence.

Idophones built from mammoth bones discovered in modern-day Belgium are among the earliest known instances of percussion instruments. These instruments are idiophones, meaning that they generate music by vibrating the entire instrument. They are considered to date from 70,000 B.C.

The modern drum kit may be traced back to early twentieth-century New Orleans, when jazz drummers  put together a drum set out of classical instruments. A few of these instruments had to be changed, such as the bass drum, which is played with handled mallets in classical music but rests on the floor and is played with a bass drum pedal in popular music.

However, no particular individuals or group of individuals is credited with the development of drums, according to music historians. Different drums, like other musical instruments, have evolved through the centuries of invention. Drum beaters, such as felted mallets and drumsticks are also invented the same way.