History Main / DrumsOfWar

The association of drums with violence may be a contributor to the AllDrummersAreAnimals stereotype. If the drums are being used to harass or annoy someone, it's LoudOfWar. If the sound of the drums itself causes harm, that's a BrownNote. If someone is getting ''hit'' with a drum, it's either ImprobableWeaponUser or ImprovisedWeapon.

* ''[[https://www.libertypuzzles.com/userfiles/media/images/4933/Spirit-of-76-image-L.jpg The Spirit of '76]]'', the Archibald Willard celebrating the centenary of the UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution. It includes two drummers, a piper and an American flag in the background.

* ''The Spirit of '76'' (see [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Willard#/media/File:Sprit_of_'76.2.jpeg here]]), the Archibald Willard celebrating the centenary of the UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution. It includes two drummers, a piper and an American flag in the background.

* ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Willard#/media/File:Sprit_of_'76.2.jpeg The Spirit of 76]]'', the Archibald Willard celebrating the centenary of the UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution. It includes two drummers, a piper and an American flag in the background.

* In ''Film/TheGreatEscape'', Captain Virgil Hilts organizes a makeshift July 4th celebration, including a parade in the POW camp with himself as a piper and another prisoner as drummer, recreating the popular image of ''The Spirit of '76''.

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* ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Willard#/media/File:Sprit_of_'76.2.jpeg The Spirit of '76]]'', the Archibald Willard celebrating the centenary of the UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution. It includes two drummers, a piper and an American flag in the background.
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* In ''VideoGame/CossacksEuropeanWars'' and its expansions, drummers are needed in combination with officers and a precise number of soldiers to create battle formations, in both 17th and 18th century variants. There's an exception: the English nation's 18th century unit that's needed for formation is a [[EverythingsLouderWithBagpipes bagpipe player]].

* ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'' has an Orc unit called the Kodo beast, which is ridden by an orc drummer. It increases the damage done by all nearby allied units.

* There were also a lot of various drums in chinesse and japanesse armies while in Europe their role was partially fulfilled by brass instruments.

* The Lambeg drum of UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland is possibly the biggest bass drum that can be carried by one person; it is a survival of the battle-drums of Ireland that goes back into the mists of antiquity, and these days is a centrepiece of the marching Orange bands that parade in July and August. These parades are a throwback to Protestant/Catholic conflict during UsefulNotes/TheTroubles, during which lambegs were used by Protestants as a symbol of protest, and about which [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment nothing more needs to be said]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7UzN8UvI5g Listen to massed lambegs here]].

* Music/GustavHolst's ''Planets'' has ''Mars'', the planet named for the Roman god of war, which famously features a pounding drumbeat.

* Any true march essentially is this.

* In ''Disney/{{Pocahontas}}'', the song "Savages" has both the Powhatans and the English colonists beating their respective drums as they go to war. The song's lyrics include the line "now we sound the drums of war".

* In ''Discworld/{{Thud}}'', as the anniversary of the Battle of Koom Valley approaches and tensions grow between the dwarves and the trolls, mention is made of troll war drums called ''gahanka''. Traditionally it is made of cured Dwarf-skin for preference, stretched over a frame. Human skin will do, if Dwarf is in short supply; although today's trolls assure humans they don't do dat sort of ting no more and use animal leather.

* In ''Film/LordOfTheRings'', as Sauron's army prepares to use the battering ram Grond to break the gates of Minas Tirith, a strong drum-beat underlies their war chant.

* In ''Literature/LordOfTheRings'', after Pippin knocks a stone down the well in the Mines of Moria, the Fellowship hears drum-beats echoing up out of the well. It's not explicitly stated, but this is the sound of the orcs that now infest the mines gathering to attack the Fellowship. Along similar lines, the final entry in the Book of Mazarbul mentions hearing "drums in the deep"; the orcs coming to finish off the last holdouts of Balin's colony.

* One episode of ''Series/GilligansIsland'' involved the castaways starting up a band to keep themselves entertained. Gilligan took the drum-like bongos and his song was mistaken by natives on a distant island as this trope, prompting them to attack first. One adventure later, after everything had been cleared up, Gilligan proceeded to give the leaving natives a different bongo beat, [[HereWeGoAgain which the natives of another island mistook for this trope...]]

* In ''Literature/LordOfTheRings'', after Pippin knocks a stone down the well in the Mines of Moria, the Fellowship hears drum-beats echoing up out of the well. It's not explicitly stated, but this is the sound of the orcs that now infest the mines gathering to attack the Fellowship.

* ''Music/{{Sabaton}}'': Inverted by the song "Fields of Verdun" which compares the opening artillery barrage of the battle to a drum roll.

* The Lambeg drum of UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland is possibly the biggest bass drum that can be carried by one person; it is a survival of the battle-drums of Ireland that goes back into the mists of antiquity, and these days is a centrepiece of the marching Orange bands that parade in July and August. These parades are a throwback to Protestant/Catholic conflict during UsefulNotes/TheTroubles, during which lambegs were used by Protestants as a symbol of protest, and about which [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment nothing more needs to be said]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7UzN8UvI5g&list=PLIa36ETako3P_RKRg1uoedNGuP9RDDA6P&index=19&t=7s Listen to massed lambegs here]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' has Raiko Horikawa, who is a drum tsukumogami with a thunder-god motif, meaning her attacks and theme heavily feature drums.

* The Lambeg drum of UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland is possibly the biggest bass drum that can be carried by one person; it is a survival of the battle-drums of Ireland that goes back into the mists of antiquity, and these days is a centrepiece of the marching Orange bands that parade in July and August. These parades are a throwback to Protestant/Catholic conflict during UsefulNotes/TheTroubles, during which lambegs were used by Protestants as a symbol of protest, and about which [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment nothing more needs to be said]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7UzN8UvI5g&list=PLIa36ETako3P_RKRg1uoedNGuP9RDDA6P&index=19&t=7s Listen to massed lambegs here]].

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