Drum rudiment
[4] The origin of snare drum rudiments can be traced back to Swiss mercenaries armed with long polearms.
Switzerland produced two distinct rudimental cultures, the wider Swiss Ordonnanz Trommel[7] practiced in Zurich, Valais, and Geneva, and the Basel version or Basler Trommeln.
His student Alfons Grieder continued to promote Basel style drumming in North America for many years.
French rudiments were influenced by the Swiss and then later contributed back to the specific Basel culture in a two-way exchange.
[13] Kastner's Manuel Général de Musique Militaire a L’Usage des Armées Françaises from 1848 [14] details the rudimental signals starting as far back as the 17th century and works up through the variations to his contemporary mid-19th century usage, showing that the complexity of French drumming increased significantly over time.
[17] Robert Tourte's Méthode de Tambour et Caisse Claire d'Orchestre[18] was published in 1946 and combined a selection of 34 rudiments and the classic French military calls with studies of common orchestral excerpts such as Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherezade and Maurice Ravel's Bolero.
[24] With the unification of the Kingdom of Italy in the 1870s, the central Italian style was adopted over the Austrian or Sicilian as the official pan-Italian rudimental system.
German speaking regions of Europe, often referred to historically as Prussian, had developed their own unique rudimental system by the late 18th century, as evidenced by Wittwe's 1777 publication Kurze Anweisung zum Trommel-Spiel[25] The system was dominated by the right hand and featured only about 14 standard rudiments, such as the druckruf and doppelwirbel.
The Swedish rudimental style has some unique features and rhythmic interpretations, however it draws significant influence from both French and Prussian sources.
Manuals go back at least as far as 1809 with the publication of Over Het Tromslaan – Met Marschen En Andere Muziekstukken Voor Den Trom[31] which indicates some basic rolls and a few military signals.
Marsen en Signalen voor de Koninklijke Nederlandsche Armee by Jacob Rauscher [nl] was published in 1815 and shows about nine basic rudiments.
Russia actually has no names or specific sticking for rudimental patterns[33] but a selection of rolls and ruffs of various lengths are present in military music.
In 1887, the War Office published Drum and Flute Duty for the Infantry Branch of the Army [40] which is one of only a few pre-20th century publications to feature the 17 stroke roll.
[43] British regiments made up of Scottish clansmen married rudimental drumming with the Highland bagpipes and kilts in order to regain their independent culture.
The drum rudiments were modified from British and European sources to fit with the piping idioms that had been in place for several hundred years prior.
The first publication to formally organize American drumming was by Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben at Valley Forge.
He included camp duty signals in his general manual on military practices for George Washington’s troops, the “blue book” written in 1778–79, though the drum parts were listed in prose.
[48] This was followed by Ben Clark's manual[49] on military drumming in 1797[50] and David Hazeltine's book Instructor in Martial Music in 1810.
[52] Several more manuals of note were printed between 1812 and 1860, including those by Charles Robbins (1812), Rumrille and Holton (1817),[53] Alvan Robinson (1818),[54] Levi Lovering (1819),[55] and George Klinehanse (1853).
[56] A number of manuals next appeared during the American Civil War, including those by Elias Howe (1861),[57] Keach, Burditt, and Cassidy (1861),[58] Bruce and Emmett (1862),[59] H.C. Hart (1862),[60] Simpson and Canterbury (1862),[61] William Nevins (1864).
[65] Between the Civil War and the 20th century, Fifes and Drums were phased out in favor of bugles for official signals, though military music continued to be taught and practiced for ceremonial purposes.
In 1912, just 42 years after Strube's Lessons, Harry Bower, in his book The Harry A. Bower System for Drums Bells Xylophone and Tympani, calls the military rudiments "ancient," "old fashioned," and "old style beats, rolls, and flourishes," to be played only when emulating a military sound.
In 1984, a Percussive Arts Society committee led by Jay Wanamaker reorganized, and reinterpreted, the NARD 26 and added another 14 to form the current 40 International Snare Drum Rudiments.
[83] Other organized rudimental systems include the French, Dutch, German (Prussian), Swedish [sv], Trommeslått [no], Bavarian, Austro-Hungarian, Italian, Belgian, Mexican [es], Russian [ru], Swiss Ordonnanz Trommel (non-Basel, poorly understood outside of Switzerland), and Bajoaragonés systems, which are still studied and performed on a small scale in their home countries.
[85] Recently, the International Association of Traditional Drummers (IATD) has been working to once again promote the 26 NARD rudiments of 1933 (1870 Strube list of 25 plus 1).
One of the chief issues the IATD has with the PAS 40 is the "Swiss influence,"[86] though only eight of the extra 14 rudiments (that do not appear in the Standard 26) are foreign or not found in American military manuals prior to Strube.
A charge stroke is a special variation on an open flam in which one or both of the notes are accented to provide a driving feel that can create the illusion that the downbeat has moved earlier in time.
Charge strokes can be combined with flams or drags to create complex grace note figures preceding a downbeat.
[99] They were compiled by a committee led by Jay Wanamaker in 1984 that also happened to include William F. Ludwig Jr., son of the founder of NARD in 1933.
[105] Hybrid rudiments have been historically associated with modern marching band repertoire, especially Drum Corps International.
