Drumming is hardwired into our primal brain. Long before the first human sang a song or whistled a tune he or she thumped out a rhythmic pattern. He or she was drumming! Probably for no other reason than the sheer joy of doing it. If rhythm is hardwired in each of us then drums and drumming are a natural extension of the human condition and that must be why everyone loves drums and drumming. Mankind has been creating rhythm by banging on things for a very long time.
Percussion Instruments [165,000 years old] smashinglists.com
I believe that rhythm, and therefore drumming is hardwired into the human DNA.
The history of musical instruments dates back to the beginnings of human culture. Most early instruments were made in the Upper Paleolithic age.
A percussion instrument (a drum is a percussion instrument) is defined as any object which produces a sound by being hit with an implement, shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by any other action which sets the object into vibration. The human voice was although the first discovered musical instrument, but percussion instruments such as stones, sticks, rocks, and logs were almost certainly the next steps in the evolution of music especially the stones, they were cut in different shapes and designs to change quality and pitch of sound.
Give a child a pencil or a wooden spoon and 9 times out of 10 he or she will start banging something with it. Where does that come from? It’s hardwired into the brain that hitting things together will make some kind of sound. And does the child stop after one stroke? Not usually. They keep going until they wear out or you take the stick away. Why? Beause it’s fun! Drumming makes you happy!
Which is of course why I always say:
Drums Good… Make Happy!!