Drummer’s Call

The main purpose of the Drummer’s Call, or the Drum’s Call, was to assemble the fifers and drummers prior to the major camp duties, typically played 5-15 minutes prior to the major calls: Troop, Retreat, and Tattoo.

Because of this function, this beating also warns the men of the time and acts as a first call.

According to Bland, the musicians of the Main Guard beat it at the main guard tent (155). That means four drummers at the Main Guard tent on the Grand Parade.

Music for the Drummer’s Call

Most interpretations of this beating include:

• Considering the flam taps to be straight eighth notes
• Often drummers add an additional flam tap to fill the end phrase
• Sometimes drummers interpret the 9-stroke roll as a duple 32^nd note roll, rather than tuplet 32^nd note roll.

I disagree with those three observations and instead believe strongly that the 18^th Century English beatings should look like this:

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If you’d like to know more about how I interpreted the beating in Young Drummer’s Assistant this way, read more about “Drummer’s Call: The Drum Beating“.

Or, for more information about the Fife music for Drummer’s Call over time, read more about “Drummer’s Call: The Fife Music“.

Do you have any thoughts on the interpretation of Drummer’s Call? Contact me or comment below.

If you found learning about this Duty Call interesting, check out my discussions on the major duty calls:

• The Reveille
• The Troop
• The Retreat
• The Tattoo
• The March
• The Three Cheers