If you re-enact or portray an 18th or 19th century British and/or American impression, you really ought to have at least one double drag beating in your repertoire.

Read more to find out why.

Minimum Requirement: The Roast Beef

Many Revolutionary War drummers are familiar with Camus’s Military Music of the American Revolution and use him as a beginner source for music and information about military drumming.

Under his section on the Roast Beef, the Dinner Call of the American and British armies, he explains:

“This signal is still used as one of the ‘dinner’ calls in the British army and has two alternate beatings. The second is identical with that of the American drum manuals of the nineteenth century […] The first beating is considerably simpler in execution than the second, so may very possibly date from the Revolution. […] It is suggested that the earlier form of the melody, line A, and the simpler beating, line D, are closest to the actual signal used during the Revolution.”

Camus, Military Music of the American Revolution, p. 104

Notice that he implies the simpler, non-double drag beating is the “actual signal used” because of it is an easier beating. This is despite the existence of the double drag beating in early-19th century manuals and the lack of evidence for the earlier beating in any 19th century resource.

Based on the use of Double Drags throughout the 18^th century, Camus’s comment is an irresponsible piece of research.

Instead, those portraying early British and American drummers should strive to perfect at minimum a Double Drag beating for the Roast Beef.

The Roast Beef: A Double Drag Beating

We unfortunately do not have any surviving versions of the Roast Beef, or Dinner Call, from the 18^th century. Instead, we have a version from the American 1812-era, found in both Ashworth and Rumrille. We have another version in Potter’s 1815 British manual.

While these two versions of Roast Beef are technically different, they have interesting similarities:

1. Structurally, they are far more identical than they at first appear.
2. Technically, they are simpler than the Double Drag beatings found in the 18^th century drum MS because they use 7-stroke rolls rather than triplet-based 9-stroke rolls.

Notice that there are only 3 minor differences between the two versions:

1. Measure 4: Potter introduces a single ratamacue. This is a common variation in double drags.
2. Measure 6 into 7 differ. Both, however, are based around a ratamacue phrase.
3. Measure 8: Structurally, both are the same. Potter uses a triplet 9-stroke roll to fill the measure, whereas the Americans add a rest and a quick 5-stroke roll. 

Based on the structural similarities, we can assume that 18th century British drummers were playing some version of this simple, double drag beating.

The Ubiquitous Double Drag

At minimum, Drummers portraying 18th and 19th century military drummers should be able to play the duty call The Roast Beef with a simple double drag beating.

But, to add that extra element of authenticity, you should also strive to add at least one slightly more challenging double drag into your marching repertoire.

Luckily, there are a number of Drum Manuscripts that survive from the late-18^th century and Drum Manuals from the early-19^th century we can investigate.

All of these manuals and MS indicate a healthy use of Double Drag beatings. Ben Clarke particularly demonstrates a variety of this style.

There are 16 unique Double Drag beatings, plus 10 that are a mixture of double drags and flam accents.

Most double drag beatings have the same base rhythm shown in Example 1. This phrase almost always opens Line A and is usually used frequently throughout the beating.

A typical variation on Example 1 adds a series of 9-stroke rolls to open the phrase, as seen in Example 2. This phrase is typically used to open Line B and often appears in pairs.

Double Drag beatings always end with a ratamacue phrase, with either one single ratamacue followed by two double drags; two single ratamacues followed by one double drag (like Example 3); or three single ratamacues. These phrase end both Line A and Line B and are usually the same version in both lines.

Fife Tunes & Double Drags

Throughout fife tutors and fife manuscripts, we see tunes that are called or described as ‘A Double Drag’.

The frequent use of this descriptor implies a wide and common usage of double drags among 18^th century drummers.

The Reveille & Double Drags

In the 1728 Swiss ordonnance, there are three ‘Tagwacht’ or Reveille beatings. All three include double drags as the backbone of the beating.

By the late-18^th century and early-19^th century, the Prussians, French, Swiss, and Spanish all share the same simple double drag beating as their Reveille.

Note: Although the rhythm isn’t notated with drags, it does have the same rhythm as a double drag. Later Prussian sources indicate double drags here.

Want to know more about the relationship between the Reveille and Double Drags? Check out my discussion on ‘The Dutch’ and the American Reveille Sequence.

Conclusion: Double Drags Vital To A Historic Impression

Ultimately, I believe that all 18^th and 19^th century military drummers could perform Double Drags.

The common use of Double Drags in military reveilles suggests that this was a fundamental rudiment for all military drummers.

For American musicians, specifically, we see significant use of Double Drags as 6/8 marches. The structure of this style ia actually fairly complex and more difficult than the simple reveilles.

When it comes to the all-important English Duty Call “The Roast Beef”, both the early-19^th century American and British drummers performed a basic double drag beating. The similarity between the two suggests a common 18^th century ancestor.

I highly encourage every historic drummer to develop their double drags and incorporate more double drags into their repertoire.

Want to learn more about Double Drags? Check out:

• History of the Double Drag
• Double Drag Practice Guide

Want to learn more about the use of Double Drags in the Reveille? Check out:

• American Reveille Sequence
• The Dutch
• What is the Compound Drag?

Do you have thoughts about the use of the Double Drag in the 18^th century? Contact me or comment below.

The post Why you need to learn more Double Drags first appeared on Historic Drumming.

Want to learn some ways to change up this classic beating and develop your technique?

Read on and find out more about the different historic performances and find a pdf of all recorded variations of Three Camps.

Different Roll Options

Most modern drummers are familiar with a Line A made up of 5s and 11s and Line B & C made up of 5s and 10s.

Interestingly, the oldest resources we have for the Three Camps also use this combination. Both are late 1700s English drum manuals: The Young Drummer’s Assistant (c. 1780) and “Drum Beatings” MS (c. 1770-1790).

This same combination continues into the 19^th Century for British drummers, as seen in Potter’s The Art of Beating the Drum (1815).

Between the War of 1812, when the first American manuals are published, and the American Civil War, when a huge second collection of American manuals come out, numerous American variations of the Three Camps appear.

7-Stroke Rolls in the American Three Camps

Beginning with the earliest American manuals – Ashworth, Rumrille & Holton, and Lovering – we see the Americans shifting from an 11-stroke roll to a 7-stroke roll in Line A.

This continues into the mid-19^th century in many American manuals, including Klinehanse (1853), Hart (1862), Nevins (1862), and Ditson (1861).

Try out their alternative Line A for a slight challenge.

In this variation, the 7-stroke roll is a tuplet-based roll. This means that the rhythm between the 7s and the 5s don’t change. However, there is a slight rest. Timing this right is necessary to keep the rhythm clean and even throughout.

9-Stroke Rolls appear in the mid-19^th Century

While 7-stroke rolls seem universal in the early American manuals, by the mid-19^th century some American manuals are returning to a longer roll.

Bruce & Emmet (1862) and Howe (1862) incorporate a 9-stroke roll into Line A, instead of the 11s or 7s.

Hart (1862) includes a Line B with 9s, rather than the traditional 10s.

Try out this 1860s variation:

In the first line, the 9s have been interpreted as duple-based 64th notes. The difficulty with this interpretation will be shifting from the tight duple 9s to the more open triplet 5s.

In the second line, the 9s have been interpreted as triplet-based 32nd notes. The rhythm of the 9s and 5s will be the same. The difficulty, though, is allowing the correct rest after the 5s before the 9s to keep the rhythm even and clean.

The difficulty of this variation is the rhythm shift between the 5s and the 9s. The 5s are triplet-based rolls, whereas the 9 is a duple-based roll.

Different Line Structure

The common beating today has technically a 4-line structure:

1. A Line: 55 11 55 11 55 55 55 11
2. B Line: 55 10 55 10 55 55 55 10
3. C Line: 10 10 10 55 10 10 10 55
4. B Line reprised

The whole beating ends up being: AA BB C BB

We first find this structure during the American Civil War. It appears in Nevins (1862), Bruce & Emmett (1862), and Strube (1869). Technically, it also appears in Hart (1862), although his first half of Line C uses 8-stroke rolls, instead of 10s.

It seems that the phrasing shifted to better match the fife part. The fife tune plays AA to match the drum AA; then BB to match the drum BB; but then plays ABB to finish the tune. This new drum structure (C BB) better matches the fife than the older structure.

A Longer Line C

Prior to the American Civil War, there was a fairly universal Long Line C.

The “original” structure appears in the 18^th century manuals, The Young Drummer’s Assistant and “Drum Beatings” MS. It also appears in Potter (British; 1817) and Ashworth (American; 1812), Rumrille & Holton (American, 1817), and Lovering (American; 1818). Later, the same structure still exists in Klinehanse (American, 1853).

In these earlier versions, they had the same Line A and Line B structure we’re used to today. However, they had a different and longer Line C:

1. Line C: 10 10 10 55 10 10 10 55 10 55 55 55

You can see that the Line C we’re used to is in there at the beginning of the phrase. But, instead of reprising Line B, the C line continues with the typical six 5s.

This longer Line C is then repeated so the whole beating goes: AA BB CC.

This first example is the more modern way of interpretation this longer C line. Both the 10s and 5s should be interpreted as triplets. The top lines include the roll skeletons for clear instruction; the bottom lines are a more natural notation.

This second example is a more likely historic interpretation. The 5s should be interpreted as triplets, but the 10s are quintuplet based, with a slight rest going from the 5s into the 10s.

Howe’s alternative variation

While most manuals around the American Civil War begin using the “modern” structure, a few were still experimenting with alternative structures, depending on how the fife part was performed.

In Howe (American; 1862), the drummers play “AAA CBB” while the fifers play “ABB [A]AB”. In Howe’s, the [A] fife is a corruption on AB that matches Howe’s drum Line C.

Howe’s Line C is nearly the same as the original Line C.

Howe’s version perhaps represents a simpler version of the more modern Line C, with its use of 11s instead of 10s. The second half represents a fun added variety of mixing the 11s, 5s, and 10s.

Hart’s alternative variation

On the whole, Hart’s version is nearly the same as the modern structure we use today. However, he has an interesting addition to the Line C.

Hart’s version uses 8-stroke rolls first, then returns to the typical 10-stroke rolls.

Try his version out for some practice with 8-stroke rolls.

The two tricky parts of Hart are:

1. The 8-stroke rolls have a slightly different structure than the continuous triplet rolls of the 5s and 10s.
2. The sticking of the 8-stroke rolls means the 5-stroke rolls switch hands. The 10s are also right-leading. In the second to last measure, note that there is a double left-hand 5, so that the beating ends with a right hand.

Note: Hart explains that he believes there aren’t even rolls, but rather odd-numbered rolls with an extra stroke on the end. In this way, he actually notates 9-stroke rolls with a stroke and 7-stroke rolls with a stroke.

Trying Out Variations of the Three Camps

If you’re interested in switching up the classic drum solo The Three Camps, a great way to do this is to be inspired by these older variations.

Historically, there was one version that appears in 18^th century sources, whose main difference was the longer Line C.

During the American Civil War, in particular, a huge number of variations appear that offer great opportunities to experiment with roll control.

Try out as many as you can to develop this beating, expand your repertoire, and work on your rolls.

Click here for an exercise pdf of several alternative performances of Three Camps.

Interested in improving your performance of Three Camps? Check out:

• Double Stroke Roll Practice Guide
• Three Camps Practice Guide

Want to know more about the Reveille and how Three Camps was used in the Reveille sequence? Check out:

• The American Reveille Sequence
• Three Camps

Curious about the historic performance of The Three Camps, including the tempo it was played? Check out my blog post:

• Should Three Camps Be Performed in Common Time or Quick Time?

Do you have any thoughts or evidence for how the Three Camps should be performed? Contact me or comment below.

The post Spice Up Your Three Camps Solo With Historic Variations first appeared on Historic Drumming.

Le Rigodon d’Honneur translates to ‘The Dance of Honor’ and was essentially a variation of the single drag La Diane used as a fancy salute.

Le Rigodon d’Honneur is a fantastic addition to your French repertoire or just a great drumming challenge for anyone who wants to explore some new stick play.

While the second half of the beating is a variation of sticks clicks (and, in the modern interpretation, some back sticking), the first half of the beating explores a French stick play called Bâton Méle – which is what we’ll focus on in this article.

If you’re specifically interested in learning more about Le Rigodon d’Honneur and how to play it, check out my full page on this French salute.

Bâton Méle

Bâton Méle loosely translates to “mixed sticks” and refers to sticking patterns that are a mix of single and double strokes. 

A common variant of the Bâton Méle, seen in both French and Basel performances, consists of a triplet movement – R L L – where the right stroke is embellished with stick play.

Bâton Méle – French Style

The French style is defined by this kind of “pushing out” feature, occasionally interrupted with a brief pulling back towards the body.

Here’s how this plays out in the first variation of Le Rigodon d’Honneur.

The stick notes say the following:

D = Right Stroke; G = Left Stroke.

X-note = “Baguette droite passant sous la baguette gauche” / “The right stick passes under the left stick.”

A full circle arrow = “en tournant” / “while turning”

Right or Left Arrow = “sens de la baguette droite” / “direction of the right stick”

You can watch this stick play here in a performance of Le Rigodon d’Honneur by la Batterie des Grognards de Haute Alsace.

Bâton Méle – Swiss/Basel Style

The Swiss/Basel style is defined by more of a swaying style.

You can read Berger’s description of this ‘crossing-sticks’ from his Méthode Baloise de Tambour (1964).

The main difference between the two is the shorter phrasing of the Swiss performance over the French.

Do you know a good video demonstrating this stick play by a Swiss/Basel group, please let me know!

Bâton Méle – Influence in Scottish Bagpipe Drumming

Just like the French used their Reveille, La Diane, as a salute, the British used The Three Camps as a salute for various purposes.

And, just like the French create variations on their Reveille to create the fancy Le Rigodon d’Honneur, The Three Camps has a history of appearing as a fancy drum solo with variations and embellishments to create increasingly impressive variations.

This is a common practice in modern Scottish Bagpipe groups, with many of these variations showing the Basel influence that people like Fritz Berger introduced in the 1960s.

I’ve seen a few videos of Scottish groups playing these, but now can’t find any! Please comment if you have a Youtube link of this Scotch drum solo!

Conclusion

Bâton Méle are a really form of stick play that have a long history and cross multiple cultures. The style of play can be modified to match certain cultures, or modified for your own corps fun!

Want to incorporate more virtuosic elements into your drumming? Check out:

• French Sauté Rudiments
• Inverted Flam Taps / Coup Anglais
• Le Rigodon d’Honneur
• Creating a Fancy Short Troop
• Performing the Three Camps
• How Many Versions of Three Camps Are There?

Need more help improving your Tempo? Tips for Improving Your Tempo

The post Bâton Méle: Le Rigodon d’Honneur first appeared on Historic Drumming.

This is an obvious balance of camp life, where maintaining a vigilant guard is always necessary.

But a survey of some of the earliest military treatises and manuals suggest the Retreat actually originates with a Medieval, religious tradition.

Read on to discover the role of the Ave Maria in the 16^th century military life and how it spawned the Retreat beating familiar in later military tradition.

Drum Beatings in 16^th Century European Militaries

After the victory of the Swiss army over the Burgundians at in the 1470s, the function of fife and drum became a fixture of European armies. The Italian Wars (1494-1559) ensured that the Swiss phalanx formation, firelocks, and fife & drum became standardized throughout the major European armies.

Unfortunately, military manuals and treatises weren’t published until the late-16^th century.

However, once these military publications appear, they detail the role of drummers, down to enumerating the various beatings and signals drummers were required to perform.

In some of these we see a reference to the drum beating ‘Ave Maria’.

In The Arte of Warre (1591), William Garrad refers to a beating called the “Salue or Ave Maria” (153).

In Five decades of epistles of warre (1622), Francis Markham describes a similar beating that suggests it’s the Ave Maria (59).

What was the Ave Maria in 16^th Century European life?

In 1095, Pope Urban II commanded all faithful to pray for Christendom and victory in the Crusades. At the striking of the Ave Bell, lay people could stop working to recite the Angelus, or readings about the immaculate conception interrupted by three Hail Mary’s.

This tradition was later reinforced by Pope Gregory IX in 1238 and still commonly heard into the 17^th century (Bells and Bell Lore, T. Harrison Myres, 1916, p. 35).

We should note that the Catholic faith was nearly ubiquitous across Europe at this time and into the 15^th century. Therefore, we know this tradition was practiced by the Spanish, Italians, French, English, and Germanic people. By the 16^th century, Protestant religions were taking hold in all of these countries, but many still adopted or recognized the practice of saying the Angelus.

The Ave Bells

Generally speaking, the bells rang at 6am, noon, and 6pm. In practice, the final Ave Bell might ring somewhere between 5pm and 9pm, depending on the time of year and local practice.

The final Ave Bell of the day lines up with Garrad’s reference to the “Ave Maria” as being performed “in the euining at y^e closing of the night” (153).

Garrad’s description doesn’t fully explain the purpose of the “Ave Maria” beating. It could be a replacement for the Ave Bell, should the army be away from a town or church.

More likely, though, Garrad is referring to the time of day and is describing the predecessor to the Retreat beating.

The Early Retreat

Most likely, by the “closing of the night”, Garrad means that the drummers signal for the posting of the guard in response to nightfall.

He notes earlier that the officer on duty must

“warily and secretly, [even] at the closing of the night, vntill the bright spring of the Diana [the Reveille], and fayre day light, […] place Sentinels”

Garrad (26)

We see a similar description in Markham, who explains the evening duty of the drummers as followed:

At night when the watch is to be set, the Drumme Maior beginneth first to beat it [presumably the “Ave Maria”], and then after him all the rest in their order through the whole Armie or Garrison, and then after prayers are said, they [the Drummers] conduct their Squadron to their Corps du guard, & so attend to giue seconds to euery Alarme.

Markham (59)

We can be nearly certain that Markham is referring to the same beating as Garrad. This is based on two things:

1. The Time, at the close of the day
2. The note that the men pray before going on guard, presumably the evening Ave Maria.

Thus, the “Ave Maria” beating was a signal to set the guard for the evening, in response to the sunsetting.

The “modern” Retreat

The use of the “Ave Maria” beating is consistent to the timing and function of the 18^th century beating “The Retreat” or “La Retraite”.

Timing: The Closing of the Night 

The French beat La Retraite every day at sunset – 8pm from All Saint’s Day (November 1) until Easter and 9pm from Easter until All Saints’ Day (Code Militaire 1728, vol. 1, vol. 1, 364).

Similarly, the English beat The Retreat every evening at sunset. Simes explains:

“Warning-Piece is the gun which fires every evening at sun set, to give notice to the drums and trumpets of the army or garrison, to beat and sound the retreat” (Military Medley, 1767,entry: “Warning-Piece”).

Overall, this aligns with the final Ave Bell ringing somewhere between 5pm and 9pm.

Meaning: At Night When the Watch is to be Set

The French La Retraite signaled for the piquets to form and be inspected (Ordonnance…service de l’Infanterie en Campagne 1753, 17-18). An hour later, the garrison or town gates were closed (Ordonnance … Concernant les Gouverneurs … 1750, 44; D’Hericourt 1756, vol. 2, 153).

Similarly, in the English army, all the men assembled under arms for roll call. The rolls of each company are called, after which the officers read orders of the day. The Piquet Guard, or Reserve Guard, also form at this time to check their readiness (Military Guide 1772, 93-4). Similarly, the Main Guard are instructed to beginning challenging until Reveille (Military Guide, 1772, I:231).

This aligns with Markham’s description of forming up the piquet guard and conducting the sentries to their positions for the night.

Performance: The Drumme Maior Beginneth First to Beat It

Recall that Markham explains that the “Ave Maria” is performed in a specific manner:

The Drumme Maior beginneth first to beat it, and then after him all the rest in their order through the whole Armie or Garrison

Markham (59)

This appears to be the same method used by the English and French.

In the English, American, and French armies, the major camp duties, such as Retreat or La Retraite, began with Signal Strokes.

This was played first by the Drummer on the right, typically the most senior regiment. The drummer in the regiment to the left then repeats the signal and this continues from right to left and then from the left to the right.

(British:Military Guide 1772, 13;System of Camp Discipline 1757, 64; Potter 1817, 26; American: Washington v. 8; French:Guignard 1725, 667-68; D’Hericourt 1756, vol. 2, 35-6; Ordonnance…service de l’Infanterie en Campagne 1753, 28).

Following the signal strokes, English and American drummers also performed the Rolls or Cheers (Potter 1817, 18; Grimke “Orderly Book” v. 14, no. 2, p. 109; Washington v. 8, 13, 16; Klinehanse).

After this, the musicians of all three armies commenced The Retreat or La Retraite together while marching.

If in camp, the drummers assembled on their own parade and beat The Retreat or La Retraite while marching along the front of the regiment (British: Bland 1727, 155-6; 173; System of Camp Discipline 1757, 1; French:Ordonnance…service de l’Infanterie en Campagne 1753, 28; D’Hericourt 1756, vol. 2, 35-36).

If in town, the drummers would march through the main street of the town to a predetermined location (British: Kemble 1775, v. 1, 257-8; French:Ordonnance…Concernant les Gouverneurs … 1750, 44; 55-56).

According to French ordinances, when there are regiments of different nations in the same place, the foreign musicians play together but separate from the French (Ordonnance … Concernant les Gouverneurs … 1750, 55-56; D’Hericourt 1756, vol. 2, 35-36).

Ave Maria, also known as La Retraite

There is enough evidence based on the timing, meaning, and performance of the “Ave Maria” drum beating to say it was an early version of The Retreat.

However, there is also some evidence to suggest that the “Ave Maria” beating already had a connection to the name La Retraite.

Markham notes that Voluntaries (gentleman soldiers who are not bound by a contract) can be placed in the rear of the column as a position of honor “at night (upon retrait)” (59).

Based on the context, he does not mean “during a retreat” but rather after a certain hour, or after the “retrait” has been beaten. Through Markham, we see that the term “retrait”, and probably the beating “retrait”, has already taken on its double meaning: to fall back in battle and to end the day in camp.

Religion, Bells, and The Retreat

These earlier military manuals provide an interesting insight into the overlap of daily religious life – the praying of the Angelus at the chiming of the Ave Bell – and the incorporation of daily drum beatings to regulate military duty.

How or why the posting of evening piquet was signaled by the same beating as the battlefield retreat may never be known, but we can see based on these early writing that the connection was made early.

Also interestingly we can see that the general performance of the duty call was consistent in two major armies, and probably many others considering how the English learned a lot from the Dutch in the late 1500s, and the Dutch from the Spanish.

Would you like to learn more about the musical component of the English Retreat? Check out:

• The Major Duty Calls: The Retreat

Want to know more about the History of the Snare Drum? Or how Fife and Drum was adopted all across Europe? Check out:

• History of the Snare Drum

Do you have more information about the early use and development of The Retreat for any European army? Contact me and share your information and resources.

The post Ave Maria: The Origin of The Retreat first appeared on Historic Drumming.

Thus, it’s no surprise that the American’s original Drummer’s Call was taken from the British Duty.

Overtime, though, French influence on the American military appears in very minor changes to Fife and Drum music. The most notable change comes to a replacement of the British Drummer’s Call with the French version.

In this article, I’d like to take some time to track this replacement and discuss some observations on the origin of the French drummer’s call.

French Music Enters the American Duty

In 1835, General Scott introduced his three-volume set of military regulations and drill. These manuals, often referred to as Scott’s Tactics, were translations of the French military drill, which was updated in 1831.

In the back of Scott’s first volume, he includes fife and drum music for the various camp duties. Interestingly, the majority of daily duties – like Reveille, Retreat, Tattoo, etc. – reflect the traditional British music. Many of the field signals, however, such as Forward March, Commence Firing, etc., were taken from the French 1831 manual.

This is also true of the Drummer’s Call. Scott’s beating removed the fife tune and replaced the slower British beating with a quicker French variation.

As with many things, it’s unclear how quickly or completely Scott’s new music was adopted by the military and the militia.

However, by the American Civil War, this version of Drummer’s Call has been full adopted throughout the army.

Bruce and Emmet include the older British version, with a note:

“Formerly beat in the army, and now used in the U.S. Navy.”

B&E, p. 9

Instead, they offer the new version from Scott’s as the appropriate Drummer’s Call in the U.S. Army. This is confirmed by Nevins’ use of Scott’s beating.

Even the militia appear to use this beating fairly uniformly. Hart calls it the “Modern Style” and Howe includes the beating, with just a slight modification to the ending.

Additionally, all manuals uniformly change the French 4-stroke rolls, still notated in Scott, with 7-stroke rolls.

The use of Scott’s beating is solidified post-war by Strube.

The French Drummer’s Call

To learn more about the origins of the American Drummer’s Call, we’ll need to work backwards through the French repertoire.

The first written example of the French drummer’s call appears in the 1831 ordonnance.

The notes with “4” above them indicate a 4-stroke roll, known to French drummers as the Ra Simple. Modern drummers might recognize it as a Swiss Ruff.

Interested in learning how to perform the Ra Simple? Check out my Practice Guide: Ra Simple.

The Ra Simple is used predominately throughout French duty beatings and simple cadences, and can loosely be thought of as the French equivalent to a 7-stroke roll. (It’s understandable, though, why the American drummers would have converted this foreign roll into something more comfortable.)

French Drummer’s Call: Evolved From L’Appel

There is no earlier written evidence of the French Drummer’s Call; however, we must assume that they had a beating to summon the musicians, as it’s hard to believe they wouldn’t have required such a call.

Most likely they used a beating called L’Appel.

L’Appel literally means “To Call” and the beating appears to have a variety of different uses, many of which were to call officers and NCOs, among other things.

There is a fife tune to L’Appel, which might have only been used when L’Appel was played as a salute.

Otherwise, the beating is one simple drum phrase, repeated over and over again.

The important question is: How did the French soldiers differentiate the meanings of L’Appel?

Most likely, the drummers played just a portion of L’Appel depending on who they were summoning.

Dutch Duty Calls: L’Appel as NCO’s & Drummer’s Calls

We can find Dutch military duty calls in Rauscher’s Marchen en Signalen (1815).

The Dutch have a beating “Appel” that is nearly identical to the French l’Appel.

Later, we see that their beatings for various NCOs are made up of an opening roll, followed by the Appel phrase so many times over.

• The Serjeant Major is Roll + 4 phrases.
• The Serjeant is Roll + 3 phrases.
• The Fouriers is Roll + 2 phrases.
• The Corporal is Roll + 1 phrase.
• The “Tamboers Appel” (Drummer’s Call) is just the Appel phrase 3x.

What Does the Dutch Duty Suggest about the French?

In the 1831 French Ordonnance, we also find NCO calls for the French.

• The Serjeant Major is Roll + 4 strokes.
• The Serjeant is Roll + 3 strokes.
• The Fouriers is Roll + 2 strokes.
• The Corporal is Roll + 1 strokes.

The pattern is strikingly similar to the Dutch break down and suggests a possibility that the French NCOs calls were once more complex, using the L’Appel phrase rather than a simple stroke.

Though we can’t prove that, we can see a remarkably similarity between the Dutch Drummer’s Call and the structure of the 1831 French Drummer’s Call.

This similarity suggests that the older French Drummer’s Call probably was once the Appel phrase three times, played three times over, like this:

Conclusion

This survey suggests that the well known American Drummer’s Call actually originated in the French beating L’Appel.

The quick, double-drag-like L’Appel phrase eventually blurred into a Ra Simple, which ultimately became a 7-Stroke roll to the Americans.

Find out more about the British and early-American Drummer’s Call:

• British Drummer’s Call

Interesting in learning more about the Ra Simple? Check out:

• History of the Ra Simple
• Practice Guide: Ra Simple

Want to know more about L’Appel and its relationship to American Music? Check out:

• The American Reveille: The Dutch

The post Evolution of Drummer’s Call in the American Army first appeared on Historic Drumming.

But how do you keep your audience engaged while you’re playing?

If you’ve given a music demo in the past, you may have noticed that there’s sometimes an awkwardness after you finish playing – maybe you lose the audience’s attention or you’re unsure how to transition to your next thought?

Here are some tips for interpreting musical performances to spectators to keep them engaged and learning.

What’s the Point of Playing Music During a Demo?

The obvious answer is: how can you have a music demo without music?!

But the real question I’m asking is: what purpose does the music serve?

If you just play to play, then all you’ve done is put on a little concert. It’s nice. People enjoy hearing the music. But this alone isn’t particularly educational.

Instead, the music must serve a larger purpose.

Advancing your Theme

In another article, we talked about the importance of developing a mission statement to help create a theme and focus your ideas.

Find out how to craft a mission statement that guides your formal demos and provides a template for answering visitor questions.

When you perform a piece – whether it’s a duty call, field signals, or tune – the music should serve to further your mission statement and fit into the overall theme.

For example, if your theme is: “it was easy for soldiers to learn field signals because they were short and simple” then you want to play 1+ field signals that demonstrate this.

If you’re explaining that field signals are simple, don’t pick a signal that is or sounds complicated. Pick the easiest ones you know so the audience can also hear this.

As another example, if your theme is: “fifers and drummers were professional and well-trained musicians”, then select a duty call or tune that demonstrates your skill and proficiency.

Pick a tune with a harmony part if you have more than one fifer or a tune with embellishments and ornamentation, so the skill level is apparent.

As a drummer, try to select a beating that is complex – like double drags, a lot of rolls, etc. – so you can impress the audience.

WARNING: don’t pick a tune that is too hard for you in order to show complexity. If you’re point is that musicians were skilled, you need to seem skilled. Go for the hardest / most impressive tune you can play WELL.

Engaging the Audience

Equally as important – perhaps more important – is keeping your audience engaged throughout the performance to ensure that they take away the message you are trying to demonstrate.

I’ve found that the best way to do this is to give your audience a task while you perform.

Essentially, before you start playing, tell your audience:

“While you listen to XXX, pay attention for ABC.”

• XXX stands for the name of the duty call / tune you’re about to play
• ABC stands for what you want them to listen for. This is basically just you stating the theme.

For example, my theme “it was easy for soldiers to learn field signals because they were short and simple”, I would say something like this:

• This is the Retreat, or order to perform an ordered retreat on the battlefield. As you listen, see if you can hear how simple and repetitive this beating is.

For the other example, “fifers and drummers were professional and well-trained musicians”, I might say something like this:

• This is a ceremonial tune, The Duke of York’s Short Troop. Pay attention to how much more ornate the fife tune is and how much more complicated the drum beating is than the duty calls we played earlier.

What’s the Purpose of These Tasks?

Giving your audience a task does two things:

1. It makes you state very clearly the theme and how the music fits into the theme. This really helps your audience see the purpose of the music you selected.
2. It keeps the audience from feeling alienated and engages them in actively thinking about the music itself.

Point 2 is especially important for musicians to keep in mind.

Most people who aren’t musicians feel like they don’t and can’t understand music. It’s very foreign to them and often intimidating to do anything with music besides passively listen.

Giving your audience an easy, specific task helps to break down that barrier.

They now know exactly what to do as they listen, even if they know very little about music.

Here are some example tasks:

1. Listen for simple, repetitive rhythm / melody
   • On some beatings that are so incredibly simple and extraordinarily repetitive, like To Arms or The Retreat, I challenge the audience to try to tap along by the end of the beating. This is a fun way to get a “hands on” element to your demo.
2. Listen for difference between this beating and the one before
3. Listen for ornamentation / speed / harmony / etc.
4. Does this tune sound English / French / etc.?
   • This one can be rather difficult for people who aren’t quite as musically literate. But some tunes do really work for this – the British To Arms, for example “feels” very English. French duty calls feel a bit “foreign” to the American ear.
5. Does this duty call / ceremonial tune sound like what it means?
   • The French La Generale (alarm) sounds fairly urgent. Many people agree that it sounds like what it means.
   • If you’re talking about how pompous some of the ceremonial things are, a tune like Duke of York’s March “sounds” pompous and fits its purpose.

Adding Music to your Music Demo

My suggestion when you add music to your music demo is to take a sandwich approach.

1. Intro the beating and then give audience an appropriate task.
   • Keep your theme in mind here
2. Play the tune or duty call
3. Check in with the audience

After you finish playing, always check in and make sure that the audience did what you asked. Not doing this is like making a student do homework and then not collecting it.

Most of the time, your audience will agree that they heard what you assigned.

Sometimes people won’t get it and you might have to point out more specifically what you meant.

• For example, if you want to show an ornamental piece and people don’t quite get it, you could demonstrate what a trill sounds like, so they can see this.
• Or, if you want to emphasize how simple or repetitive the beating is, you could play just the short, basic phrase that repeats, so they hear that one measure pattern.

Conclusion

1. When choosing which beatings or tune to include in your music demo, consider what music demonstrates your Mission Statement or the theme of your demo.

2. Before playing the tune, assign an appropriate task to the audience. Pick a task that aligns with the theme or Mission Statement.

3. After you finish playing, check in with the audience to see if they were able to complete the task.

These three steps make a music demo 10x better and greatly increases the visitors’ engagement during your performance.

If you want to develop your ability to talk to the public and become a better interpreter, keep an eye out for additional blog posts in the category “How to Talk to the Public?”.

• Develop Your Mission Statement

If you need help choosing the best beating to match your Mission Statement, contact me for help or comment and ask for other opinions.

Do you have other tasks the audience can perform while listening? Comment below and add your ideas.

The post Talking to the Public: Interpreting While Drumming first appeared on Historic Drumming.

This tradition might have started after the beating was included in the original BAR book around the bicentennial or it may originate from even earlier as a popular street beat in 1930s and 1940s corps.

Regardless of its origin, reenactors often play this cadence today at roughly 80 bpm to maneuver the troops at the common time.

Historically, common time was 75bpm for the American army and 60bpm for the British army, though arguably something closer to 75 may have already been in vogue.

As a beating taken from an 1812 source, is The Long March even appropriate for an American Rev War interpretation?

Moreover, should The Long March even be performed at the common time? Or should it exclusively be used at the quickstep?

In this article, I’d like to explore both of these questions, as well as if and how The Long March should be incorporated into your Rev War impression.

Is The Long March an 18^th century beating?

There are only two written drum beatings that call themselves the Long March.

The first appears in Ashworth (1812) and is the most commonly played still today.

The second appears in Rumrille (1817). Line A  is nearly identical to Ashworth’s; Line B is a typical 15-stroke roll variation.

An identical beating or a different beating with the same name does not appear in any of the known 18^th century drum manuscripts or manuals. However, we do find two 18^th century references to the beating itself.

Von Steuben states that “Front to Advance Quicker” is signaled by The Long March.

Simes also referred to the Long March:

“If [the officer] receives certain intelligence of a party of the enemy being superior to him, and that he is marching in order to intercept him, I would have the officer send the most active drummer or fifer to beat or play the long march a different road that he intends to take, with orders to conceal himself from the enemy, by which means the enemy may be induced to follow their sound, and give time to form an ambuscade, or to pursue their march quietly.”

(Simes, Military Course, 1777, 198)

These two references suggest that either

1. Ashworth’s Long March existed in the 18^th century and was a common cadence or
2. The phrase “The Long March” originally referred less to a specific beating than to a type of beating.

The Long March Style

If you take every drum beating found in the three 18^th century drum manuscripts – Ben Clark, Isaac Day, “The Drummer’s Book of Music” – as well as all beatings from the early 19^th century –  Ashworth, Robbins, Rumrille, Lovering, Hazeltine, Robinson – then you will find that beatings of this era tend to fall into one of a handful of categories.

One of those categories I like to call “Long March” style beating.

These beatings structurally resemble the Long March as seen in Ashworth. Structurally, they are eight measures with four phrases; each phrase follows certain rules.

Phrase 1: these beatings begin with the same two measures:

• seven right right right flam left left left (or two side flamadiddles).

Phrase 2: this is the most variable phrase. Generally, it uses on one of a handful of predictable phrases.

• Most often these phrases are flamadiddles, double stroke, Lesson 25, or flam tap based.

Phrase 3: usually the same as Phrase 1.

• In some more complicated Long March beatings, we see a handful of alternative phrases, such as Ashworth’s Long March’s repeat of its Phrase 2.

Phrase 4: it’s always a simple variant of the phrase “flam flam 77 flam flam”. Most common:

• “flam flam 7 7 flam flam”
• “flam flam 7 7 Lesson 25”
• “flam flam 7 7 double strokes”

If we think about The Long March as a style of beating, rather than as a specific beating, then we see that a large number of 18^th and early-19^th century drum beatings were all Long Marches.

This might explain Simes’ reference to the Long March as also being a fife tune; nearly any 2/4 tune could fit along with a basic Long March style beating.

Should you play the Long March at a Rev War event?

Even though we don’t have a written record of Ashworth’s Long March existing in the 18^th century, we have enough evidence to show that the basic concept of the Long March was highly popular.

The variations seen in Ashworth’s Long March would be very much available and appropriate for the late 18^th century.

In my opinion, Ashworth’s Long March makes a great marching cadence and general beating for any common time tune.

I would highly recommend though taking the time to learn some other long march-style beatings, taking care to notice the similarities and variations within them. This will really help to flesh out your repertoire without being a large burden on your memory.

Common Time versus Quick Time

Now that we’ve established that the Long March style beating was commonly played in the 18^th century, we next need to decide whether it was played at the common time, at the quick time, or at both.

Evidence for the Quick Time

Quite a few details push us to the conclusion that the Long March may only have been played at the quick step, which was 120bpm for both the American and British armies of the late 18^th century.

Von Steuben indicates that the Long March was used for “The Front to Advance Quicker”.

This could indicate that the column of march was slowing down and the drums performed the Long March to get the men back to a 75bpm pace.

On the other hand, it could easily indicate the order for the column of march to begin to double their pace to the quick step.

Perhaps more significantly, however, is how 1812-era manuals label the beating itself.

Ashworth’s Long March is labeled “The Long March, or quickstep”. Similarly, Rumrille places the Long March as the first in his category of quick steps, which he defines as being performed at 110bpm.

Thus, based on the historic name we should assume that The Long March was a quick step.

In Defense of the Common Time

There is some evidence – albeit a little circumspect for the moment – that The Long March could also be performed as in common time.

In Robbins and Robinson, we see Long March style beatings labeled as “common time”.

We should stop here to consider this terminology. In the 18^th and early-19^th century, the musical classification “common time” literally referred to anything in a duple meter – aka 2/4, 4/4, C, C cut, inverted C.

Therefore, when Robbins and Robinson call these Long March style beatings common time, they don’t necessarily mean beatings played at the common time (60 / 75bpm) but rather it is notated in common time, 2/4 or 4/4.

Should These Beatings be Played in Common Time?

To solve this question, we should think more carefully about how Robbins and Robinson define common time and how they are specifically labeling these different drum beatings.

Based on some residual elements of older music theory, Robbins and Robinson define four types of common time.

First Mode of Common Time

Robbins describes the “first mood” of Common Time, which he says “represents a slow movement, […] it contains four beats in a bar […], each beat containing one second of time” (Robbins 3).

This tells us that the First Mood is in Common Time, with the beat on the quarter note, performed at 60bpm (a second of time).

This is identical to Robbinson’s “1^st Mode” of Common Time (22).

Second Mode of Common Time

The “second mood” is likewise in Common Time and performed with the beat on the quarter note. However, this mood is “a little quicker movement than the first” (Robbins 4).

Robbinson gives a more specific description for his “2^nd Mode” in which there is “three seconds in a bar”, or 75bpm (22).

This suggests that there is a 1st mode that is “slow time” or 60bpms, whereas the 2nd mode is the “normal” common time or 75bpm.

Third Mode of Common Time

The “third mood” is instead in Cut Time, with the beat on the half note. Robbins notes that the beat “contain[s] one second of time”, or at 60bpm (4). This also true for Robinson’s “3^rd Mode” (22).

This tells us that there are tunes depicted in Cut Time (C with a line through it) that should also be performed in “slow time” or 60bpm.

Fourth Mode of Common Time

Finally, the “fourth mood” is also in Cut Time, with the beat on the half note, except “beat one quarter part quicker than [third mood]”, or at 75bpm (Robbins 4). Robinson explains that this is in 2/4 and “contains one and a half seconds in a bar”, which also implies 75bpm (22).

So, like the 3rd mode, there is a form of Cut Time that is performed at the “normal” common time, 75bpm.

However, this 4^th Mode or Method is also associated with the quickstep. Robbins states:

“I should prefer beating this twice as quick as the last [inverted C], generally” (3-6).

This indicates that 2/4 sometimes takes on a pace of 120bpm, or the quickstep.

So the 4th mode can be performed both at the common time and at the quick time.

Performance of Long March

The fact that Robinson describes his basic beatings a “1^st Mode of Common Time”, “2^nd Mode of Common Time”, etc., heavily implies that he means each of these beatings should be understood as a specific type of common time. Thus, their naming indicates that each beating should be played with a certain tempo.

Both Robinson’s 1^st Mode and 2^nd Mode are Long March style. This suggests that it’s appropriate to perform the Long March at 60bpm and 75bpm.

Robinson’s 3^rd Mode is more like Ashworth’s Common Time march, which we would assume should be performed at 60bpm.

Robinson’s 4^th Mode, also called a quick time, is more of a quickstep style beating, like we see in Rumrille and other manuals.

In Robbins’ manual, his drum beatings are called the “1^st Method of Common Time”, etc. This naming is slightly different, but also implies these four beatings represent a specific type of common time, like in Robinson.

All four of Robbins’ Common Time are Long March style. This confirms what we see in Robinson – that the Long March style can be performed in 60bpm and 75bpm – but also suggests that the Long March style can be played in the 4^th Method, which can be played as a quickstep.

Conclusion

Overall, I think there is sufficient evidence to say that the Long March and Long March style beatings can be played both at the common time and at the quick time.

Based on what we see in 1812-era manuals like Ashworth and Rumrille, however, I think there is decent evidence to suggest that the Long March was more often a quick step or was beginning to shift towards being played only as a quick step.

Regardless of all this academic questioning, The Long March is an absolutely essential beating to learn and master as it is so widely played.

Once again, I would encourage you to learn other Long March style beatings and observe how they are structurally the same so that you can quickly learn and memorize a large collection of historic beatings.

Do you have thoughts on whether the Long March is a Common Time or Quickstep? Please contact me and let me know!

The post The Long March: The Perfect Rev War Cadence? first appeared on Historic Drumming.

If you want to develop your rolls and gain more control over your musical knowledge, you have to understand the underlying “skeletons”, or rhythm, of different kinds of rolls.

In the following article, I’ll talk about the types of roll skeletons that exist.

Additionally, I’ll explain how you can break down rolls into their skeletons to design effective drumming exercises.

The Four Underlying Roll Rhythms

All rolls can be described in musical terms as essentially fast rhythms. They are all one of four rhythms:

1. 32^nd notes in duple time
2. 32^nd notes in triple time
3. 64^th notes in duple time
4. 64^th notes in triple time

Most rolls in fife and drum music are 32^nd notes in triplet time – think of the tight 7-stroke roll or the quick movement of The Three Camps.

Overall, most rolls are in the first two categories and we’ll deal predominately with these two options.

The fourth rhythm, 64^th notes in triple time, are fairly rare, but are seen as tight, buzzed 5-stroke rolls in the 6/8s of Scottish pipe music.

What is a Roll Skeleton?

When you play a roll, you are playing two strokes on each hand (double strokes).

If you play a numbered roll – say, a 9-stroke roll – you might count it based on how many hand exchanges you need to perform.

In the 9-stroke roll, for example, you have five hand exchanges:

• 2 strokes on the right, 2 strokes on the left, 2 on the right, 2 on the left, and 1 on the right.
  • This totals 9 strokes, with 5 hand exchanges.

To find the skeleton, we focus on these hand exchanges.

But, instead of playing the doubles, play just single strokes.

For the 9-stroke roll, for example, you’d play five single strokes: 1 on the right, 1 on the left, 1 on the right, 1 on the left, and 1 on the right.

This is the core of the skeleton.

To develop increased command of your tempo and rhythm, next you need a grasp of the underlying rhythm for the roll you’re working on.

32^nd Notes in Duple Time

These types of rolls can easily be counted “1e&a 2e&a”.

This represents the 16^th notes that form the rhythm. By doubling each stroke, you are playing 32^nd notes.

In the first measure, the bars on each note indicate that they should be doubled. Both measures are mathematically the same, just depicted differently.

Every numbered roll can be performed as 32^nd Notes in Duple Time.

Here are the skeletons for the major numbered rolls as 32^nd Notes in Duple Time.

32^nd Notes in Triple Time

These types of rolls are triplet based – think of Sextuplets or Ratamacues.

In these Sextuplets, when you double each stroke, you are playing 32^nd notes in triple time. (This is true whether you’re playing 2/4 or 6/8).

In the first measure, the bars on each note indicate that they should be doubled. Both measures are mathematically the same, just depicted differently.

Many numbered rolls are performed commonly as 32^nd Notes in Triple Time.

Here are the skeletons for the major numbered rolls as 32^nd Notes in Triple Time.

32^nd Notes in Complex Forms

A few commonly played rolls are in slightly more complex tuplets that we’ll touch on here.

Both 10-stroke rolls and 11-stroke rolls can have a Quintuplet as a skeleton. When doubled, these rolls are also 32^nd notes.

When performing the English Reveille (The Three Camps) at a slow, quarter note = 60bpm, this is how you’d play the 11s and 10s.

When playing the English Reveille at a quarter note = 120bpm and focusing on a rest between the 5s and 10s/11s, you’d play this form as well. (In this situation, because you’re playing so quickly, you could almost think about playing these as 64th notes).

If you want to know more about the different styles of performing 10s & 11s in The Three Camps, check out my practice guide “Performing the Three Camps, or Points of War“.

How To Use Roll Skeletons As Drumming Exercises

Ultimately, the real reason to understand the skeleton of a roll is to master your control over the rhythm and tempo of a particular piece.

Rolls must start in the correct place in the measure, or else they will begin too early or too late.

If you don’t have good control over the rhythm of the roll, you might play the roll too slowly, causing you to slow down the tempo. (Essentially, your hand exchanges move too slowly.)

Similarly, you might play the roll too quickly, causing you to rush to the end of the beat. (Essentially, your hand exchanges move too quickly.)

By practicing the skeleton, you will teach yourself how to perform the hand exchanges in order to correctly play the notated rhythm and, therefore, keep the tempo under control.

A great exercise is 2×2: two skeletons, followed by two rolls.

This example has two skeletons for triplet 5-stroke rolls (like in Three Camps) followed by two sets of 5-stroke rolls.

The skeletons get the rhythm established so your hand changes are already there by the time you start the rolls.

/-/-

Want more roll based exercises? Check out:

• Practice Guide: Double Stroke Roll
• Practice Guide: Three Camps

Want to improve tempo control? Check out my tips on improving tempo and experiment with using these ideas for your skeleton practice.

• “How do you improve your tempo?”

The post Roll Skeletons and Why You Should Understand Them first appeared on Historic Drumming.

To transition from one tune to the next, manuals instruct the drummer to play a long roll between tunes.

In Bruce & Emmet’s The Drummers’ and Fifers’ Guide, we see a much more complex series of rolls after The Dutch. Why? And where does this come from?

In this article, I’ll briefly discuss where the long roll appears to come from and will focus on the origin of the series of rolls after The Dutch.

American Reveille Sequence: Rolls Between the Tunes

In the earliest records of the American Reveille sequence, most of the tunes transition with The Cheer or The Roll.

Evidence in American Fife Manuals

The first written record of a Reveille sequence appears in Hulbert (1807). A fife manual, his sequence is written out as one long fife tune. Between distinct tunes, he includes his version of The Three Cheers.

• Want to know more about the American Reveille sequence? Check out “The American Reveille: A British Origin?”

This is more or less imitated in both Robbins (1812) and Robinson (1818) where they also include the Reveille sequence as one long fife piece. Robbins, likewise, includes The Three Cheers between tunes, while Robinson includes only A Cheer between most tunes and places The Three Cheers before the final tune.

Here is an example of the end of the Reveille sequence in Robbins (1812). Note how the Three Cheers is performed before the Dutch. The Dutch is followed by The Three Cheers into The Scotch and Three Camps.

Evidence in American Drum Manuals

Contemporary drum manuals are also beginning to list a fuller Reveille sequence.

Ashworth (1812) and Rumrille (1817) pick the same sequence of beatings as the American Reveille and they both include rolls between each beating.

As we move forward into the American Civil War, fife and drum manuals continue to depict a drum roll between the majority of tunes in the Reveille sequence.

This is generally notated as a vague long roll, as seen in Kleinhanse (1853) and Nevins (1861).

Keach (1861) as a three-beat roll between all tunes; Howe (1862) has the roll between most beatings; Bruce & Emmet has a five-beat roll between beatings.

Even post-war, Strube (1869) uses a 7-beat roll between tunes.

This long roll seems to represent a very simple drum break, perhaps designed to give pause or weight to each individual tune.

We see in Hulbert that the corps marches while playing, but stands in place to perform the cheers. In this case, the cheers might act as a slight respite from the march.

Hulbert’s explanation of this marching performance might also suggest greater rest than is typically denoted in these drum and fife manuals.

The basic concept probably originates from the use of The Three Cheers played before and after beatings like the Tattoo, the Retreat, and the Troop. Here the tradition is somewhat augmented by playing between each individual tune.

The 8 Rolls: The Rolls Before The Scotch

Particularly noticeable in Bruce & Emmett’s version of the American Reveille sequence are the ornate series of roles at the end of the Dutch. These are a series of long rolls crescendoing to the middle and then decrescendoing until the end.

At first, these roles might appear to be particularly ornate and stylistic embellishments added by Bruce & Emmett, a typical critique of their manual.

However, we see that they are far from the first to use longer, more embellished rolls to mark near the ends of the sequence.

These longer rolls also appear in other mid-century manuals.

Both Klinehanse and Nevins include “The 8 Rolls” in this position; Strube later includes a similar ornate series of rolls as B&E.

Even in the earlier sources, we see Ashworth and Rumrille denoting the end of the sequence with a longer version of their rolls.

Because of their slightly different order of the beatings, they indicate to play the 8 Rolls after The Hessian, before The Scotch Repeat.

Where Did the Eight Rolls Originate?

While the Eight Rolls tend to be written at the end of the penultimate beating – after the Hessian in Ashworth and Rumrille; after the Dutch in B&E – we should actually think of the Eight Rolls as belonging to the beginning of The Scotch.

Want to learn more about The Scotch Reveille? Check out my page “The Scotch”, part of my discussion on the American Reveille sequence.

In the earliest drum beat manuals – Young Drummer’s Assistant (1780) and manuscript “Drum Beatings” (c. 1780) – we see that The Scotch Reveille actually commences four long rolls.

In both of these manuals, it’s fairly difficult to decipher precisely what is depicted by the notation.

However, we can make some educated inferences by looking forward to the 1815 British drum manual, The Art of Beating the Drum by Samuel Potter.

Potter’s manual was designed to merge the two separate English and Scottish duty calls into one united British duty. In doing so, he merged the English and Scottish reveilles into a sequence:

The Three Camps + The Rolls + The Scottish Reveilles + The Three Camps

Potter’s rolls before The Scotch are a series of longer rolls, some of which are notated with crescendos and decrescendos. The beating is also accompanied by flourishes on the fife.

Based on the structure and placement, it’s clear that these roles are the same as those depicted in YDA and “Drum Beatings”. Potter’s performance, and probably the 18^th century manuals, goes as follows:

The rolls seen here in these British manuals are very similar to the performance depicted in B&E and the official post-ACW version.

This performance also matches the description and concept of Ashworth’s and Rumrille’s eight rolls.

Conclusion

From this survey, we can clearly see that the longer, more embellished rolls used by B&E at the end of The Dutch are not mere extraneous embellishments added by Bruce and Emmett but, in fact, come from a longer original tradition in the Scottish duty.

In contrast, the shorter rolls or cheers used to separate each beating in the American Reveille sequence have a less absolute origin. They almost certainly stem from the longer tradition of The Three Cheers used for major duty calls.

If you’d like to learn more about the American Reveille sequence on the specific songs used within it, check out my various pages as I explore the possibility that the typical American sequence actually has British origins. I also break down many of the different beatings looking for their origin in other armies.

• The American Reveille: A British Origin?
• The Dutch
• The Scotch

If you would like to improve your double stroke rolls in order to better perform the rolls between tunes and the rolls before the Scotch Reveille, check out my practice guide improving your double stroke rolls.

• Practice Guide: Improve Your Double Stroke Roll

The post The Rolls in Reveille: Where Do the Long Rolls After The Dutch Come From? first appeared on Historic Drumming.

However, drum manuals, military regulations, orderly books, and General Orders of the era don’t support this long-held belief.

Instead, these resources indicate that the Long Roll had history of indicating a regimental assembly, usually in less formal circumstances like Roll Call and unit drill.

Read on to find out more about the Long Roll’s use as a daily duty beating and my theory how and why it became associated with the Alarm.

To Arms

The beating ‘To Arms’ appears to have two major, and intertwined, meanings.

To Arms to Reform the Battalion

The beating “To Arms” can indicate a calm reforming of the battalion after a break from drill, the march, etc. As Smith explains,

“to arms, is for soldiers who are dispersed, to repair to them”.

(Smith, 1779, entry: “Drum”).

Other manuals concur that ‘To Arms’ indicates to take arms or for the battalion to stand to their arms if they have grounded them (Military Guide 1772, I:230; Windham 1759, 192; Smith, 1779, entry: “Drum”).

To Arms to Signal the Alarm

Above, we see To Arms bringing the men to their arms and formed in a line of battle.

When To Arms is performed unexpectedly, it essentially signals the same thing, only now as a response to an Alarm.

Simes notes that:

“a sudden alarm is often occasioned by the neglect of sentries; and sometimes it has been done to try the readiness of the troops”.

(Military, Historical, and Explanatory Dictionary 1782, entry: “Alarm”).

We should understand an Alarm as:

“a sudden apprehension upon some report, which makes men run to their arms to stand upon their guard; it implies either the apprehension of being suddenly attacked, or the notice given of such an attack being actually made; generally signified by the firing of a cannon, the beat of a drum, &c.”.

(Smith, 1779, entry: “Drum”).

By “beat of a drum”, Smith almost certainly means To Arms.

The same procedure of the cannon firing, followed by the drums beating To Arms, is described by Dewees:

“the first gun in cases of alarm is a token, and when the second gun is fired all are in readiness to hear the third fired. The fife and drum majors have their musicians in readiness, and the moment the third gun is fired, the musicians instantly strike or beat up the air or tune ‘to arms,’ ‘to arms'” (208).

This is confirmed by Washington’s General Orders, which state that an alarm is signaled by the firing of three field pieces. To Arms should be immediately taken up by all drummers and continues until the whole line is formed (Oct 30, 1776, v. 6; Jan 20, 1777, v. 8).

From Williamson, we know that the drummers of each guard and the orderly drummers of each regiment beat To Arms on an alarm (193).

If ‘To Arms’ was clearly the proscribed beating to signal the Alarm, then was what the function of the Long Roll?

How Was the Long Roll Used Historically?

The Singlings, or Assembly, certainly refers to a regimental formation. It’s possible, though, that this beating was only used for formal occasions, such as Mounting the Guard, Dress Parade, Review, and Assembling for the March.

Instead, it appears that less formal assembles were signaled the Long Roll.

The Long Roll For Regimental Drill

Several military sources indicate the Long Roll turned the men out for formation and drill.

Grose states that some units have particular drum beats, adopted by their unit but not necessarily used throughout the army. He notes that some use:

“the Long Roll for turning out the regiment in camp or garrison”.

(Grose, 1786, v. 2, 254)

The 47^th Regiment of Foot appears to have adopted this; in their orderly books from the Saratoga Campaign, it notes

“The Guards to mount at 7 o’clock as usual; the Regt. will Parade at 9 o’clock & fall in on beating the long roll”.

(July 21, 1777)

Dewees recounts that he had to perform the long roll to form the men for drill twice a day. He explains the long roll was:

“a signal to summon the men on parade, preparatory to their going through with their maneuvers or military evolutions which generally consumed an hour or two. At three o’clock in the afternoon I had to play the long roll again for the exercising of the men with arms in hand – in learning the manual exercise” (344).

This practice appears consistent with British practices. Grimke’s Orderly Book includes an order that the troops will exercise in the morning and afternoon and that:

“The Comm. officer on the Right will direct the Signal for turning out – which will be the Long Roll followed immediately by three Ruffles”.

(Grimke, v. 14, no. 4, pg. 221).

Overwhelmingly, we see a common use in both the British and American armies that the Long Roll could be used for informally turning the men out for drill.

With this common practice in use, the Long Roll could not have also indicated an alarm.

How to Perform the Long Roll for Turning Out the Men

Usually, references are simply to “The Long Roll” as an ambiguous idea.

Grimke is the only description that provides some useful information. From his description of “the Long Roll followed immediately by three Ruffles”, we can attempt an interpretation.

Want to know what a ‘Ruffle’ is? Check out my discussion on The Ruffle and learn how I came up with this interpretation of Grimke.

The Long Roll for Roll Call

In addition to performing the Long Roll for drill, there are some references to performing it to assemble the men for Roll Call.

According to von Steuben, Roll Call should occur four times a day (87):

1. At Reveille
2. At Troop, under arms
3. At noon
4. At Retreat, under arms

British practices also agree that the men should always fall in under arms for roll call at Troop and Retreat (Williamson, 141).

For the most part, the roll call was to literally call the rolls and ensure all were present and accounted for. For the roll calls under arms, the function was also to conduct a brief drill and ensure that the men’s equipment and arms were in good working order.

The Roll Call, specifically after Retreat, was meant to issue orders for the following day. The Orderly Book of the 47th of Foot explains this process:

“The Rule to be invariable observed for the future by every regiment, is, to form every company in a circle at the evening roll calling upon the parade of each Regt. […] The Officers of Companies are to remain within their respective circles ’till the Whole of the Orders of the Day have been read and explained to the men by one of them.”

(Aug. 22, 1777)

Dewees recounts that he had to perform the long roll to form the men for Reveille Roll Call. He comments:

“I had to play the reveille at the break of day, at sun-rise the long roll, the signal for the men to form ranks and answer to their names. This is called roll call.” (344).

Unfortunately, he doesn’t remark on playing the Long Roll again for other roll calls, but it would make sense that the Long Roll was played for each roll call.

Interestingly, Dewees was a fifer and so what he means by him having to play the Long Roll is unclear. Perhaps he performed some kind of flourish like in the Three Cheers.

What are The Three Cheers? Check out my discussion of the Three Cheers / Rolls / Chords.

Long Roll: Reassemble on the March

Finally, there are references to the Long Roll’s use to reform the men on a march:

“The Long Roll, after a halt, is the signal for the whole to form, and continue the march”.

(1836 US Army Regulations 36).

British publications indicate that To Arms was the prescribed manner of reforming the men in this manner, but the Long Roll may have been informally adopted by both Americans and British musicians.

It’s unclear when the Americans adopt this practice and it may have been long after the American Revolution.

How does the Long Roll come to mean the Alarm?

There does appear to be some connection between the Long Roll and To Arms, though it’s unclear how far back that relationship goes.

The American use of the Long Roll as an informally assembly clearly ends by 1841.

In the 1841 US Army Regulations, To Arms appears to have been replaced with a Long Roll. It states:

“The Long Roll is the signal for getting under arms, in case of alarm, or the sudden approach of the enemy” (62).

Additionally, the practice of beating a Long Roll to reassemble on the march is forbidden. It notes:

“The long roll will never be beaten but when the whole of the troops are to form suddenly to meet the enemy” (69).

But then in the 1863 US Army Regulations, To Arms is:

“the signal for getting under arms, in case of alarm; it is preceded by the long roll” (36).

The phrasing in this definition is confusing and could mean one of two things:

1. To Arms is always preceded by a Long Roll and always indicates an alarm
2. When there is an alarm, the beating is preceded by a long roll. When used to simply reform the battalion, there is no long roll.

The latter makes considerably more sense.

European Use of the Long Roll for the Alarm

Additionally, several European drum sources indicate that the Long Roll signaled the alarm.

In Winter’s Kurze-Unweisung das Trommel-Spielen (1777), a German drum manual, we find a beating titled “Feur Larmen”, or Fire Alarm.

This beating consists of a long roll, crescendoing and decrescendoing throughout.

Here, we see a clear link between an emergency – a Fire – and the Long Roll. This beating does not suggest that the Long Roll indicated a sudden attack by the enemy, however.

Similarly, in the Swiss ordonnance from 1788, we find the beating “Der Allarm”, or the Alarm. The instructions are to play a long roll until given the signal to stop. It’s unclear in this ordonnance whether this Alarm indicates the same Fire Alarm as Winter, or a general alarm.

Likewise, the Dutch beatings, shown in Rauscher’s Marchen en Signalen (1815), show the alarm as a series of long rolls crescendoing and decrescendoing. Titled “Allarm”, it’s unclear whether this is a general alarm or a fire alarm.

Regardless, there is clear evidence that these various Germanic armies used the Long Roll around the turn of the 19^th century to indicate an alarm.

It’s possible that German influence on the mid-19^th century American transitioned the use of the Long Roll from an assembly to an alarm.

It’s also likely that this confusion from mid-19^th century American usage and from European usage influenced re-enactors.

Conclusion: How to Use the Long Roll in the Revolutionary War

This study seems to confirm that the Alarm should be signaled by the beating ‘To Arms’.

Possibly, a Long Roll prior to To Arms is most appropriate as a means of distinguishing between a reformation and an alarm.

My recommendation: If playing a Long Roll into To Arms, I would suggest following the German style of crescendoing and decrescendoing for added urgency and challenge.

The Long Roll, instead, can be used to assemble the regiment at any time for drill or other non-ceremonial assembles.

The Long Roll should also be performed prior to Roll Call to form the men.

Want to learn more about The Long Roll? Check out:

• Roll Rudiments and Their History
• Performing the Double Stroke Roll
• Understanding Roll Rhythms
• When Did Drummers Start Rolling?
• The Ruffle

Learn more about English and American Duty Calls:

• 18^th Century British & American Drumming

Want to get better at your Double Stroke Rolls? Check out:

• Double Stroke Roll Practice Guide

The post The Alarm: A Long Roll or To Arms? first appeared on Historic Drumming.