The drum sling, often referred to as a carriage or belt, goes either around the neck or over the shoulder to allow the drummer to carry the drum. While many mid-19th century armies use a clip or hook to attach the sling to the drum, early slings appear to use a knot.
Want to learn more about neck slings v. shoulder slings? Check out my blog article that discusses the benefits and authenticity of neck slings.
Sling / Carriage Attachment System
Most images show the overlap of the two slings even with the counterhoop, thereby making it impossible to see how the sling attaches to the drum, but there are a few that show some sort of leather strap that extends from the bottom of the sling to the counterhoop.
The 7th Regiment Drummer and Drummers in the Royal Procession show a clear buff leather piece extending from the joining in the sling that attaches to the drum.
Note the leather tab that attaches to the counterhoop.
Note the leather tab that appears to be sown onto the sling and attaches to the counter hoop.
The 7th Regiment Drummer’s leather piece appears to be sown on. This is similar to the tie hanging from the end of the sling on Austrian Drummers.
Notice how a tie comes out through two holes in the leather, which is similar to the extant British sling below:
The Knot System
The hanging piece of leather or cord seems to be comparable to the adjustable leather strap on a Civil War-era drum. Instead of a hook, however, the more likely attachment method was a knot.
Robinson (1818; American) explains that “the hook of the belt hooked in the cord at the upper hoop” (5).
Both of these sources indicate that the sling attaches to the cord (the rope) at the upper hoop.
Note: period drums did not have a D-hoop or similar fixtures on the counterhoop to connect the sling; instead, the hook attaches directly to the rope.
The Buff Leather Knot
Similarly, Tamplini (1850; British) states that at the end of the carriage there is “a hook, or buff leather knot, must be fixed; to this the drum is hung, under the hoop of the batter head” (10).
The reference to the “buff leather knot” appears to be an older method of attaching the drum and one that continued well into the 19th century for the French and into the 20th century for the Swiss.
How the knot works can be seen in the French image “Un tambour et une épée” by Jeaurat de Bertry Nicolas Henry (1757). Look at the bottom right corner.
The knot system is described specifically in Fritz Berger’s Méthode Baloise de Tambour (1936), a modern Swiss source: “On the brassring (k) a small leather strap with three or four knots is fixed (l) thus enabling a convenient holding of the instrument” (5).
This same style of sling, with a brass ring that has a leather piece knotted to it and then attached via knots can be seen in a mid-19th century French painting, Drummer Boy by Thomas Couture c. 1857. This painting is particularly interesting for its clear view of the back of the sling, showing how the brass ring attaches to the leather sling.
Want to know more about the History and Construction of Snare Drums? Check out:
- History of the Snare Drum
- Snare Drum Construction
- Snare Drum Materials
- Animal Hide Drumheads
- Authentic Drumsticks
Want to know more about neck v. shoulder slings? Check out:
- Neck Sling v. Shoulder Sling: Which Should You Use?
Want to develop your grip technique? Check out this practice guide for developing an authentic right-hand grip.
Do you have any period resources about drum slings or their attachment system? Contact me or comment below.
I have a Scots Guards side drum of 1913 with no carry hook and no sign that one was every fitted. Potters at Aldershot told me this was common to Guards Brigade bands at this period. Incidentally, a Guards side drum was 15.5 ins diameter compared to 14.4 ins used by most other regiments. A “drummers knot” was used to link the carry sling to a pair of ropes just below the top hoop. It was described as a short length of rope spiced onto a hook that attached to a ring on the sling. This allowed the drum to be quickly detached. No illustrations have been yet found but I have seen photographs that give some evidence of this – but they are not very clear. I hope you find this useful.