ping
bump for later
I’m surprised they had recording equipment back then. :-)
Last Summer I visited the Valley Forge Park in Pennsylvania. I got chatting briefly with the Tour (Rangers) Guides and the subject of the role of the Fife Drum was prominent.
Those instruments were considered to be weapons back then. Following battles, the victors would typically confiscate the fifes & drums at once of the losers.
The pitch and tones attainable by those musical ‘weapons’ were discernible at periods of poor visibility during heated engagements when smoke and noise were severe hindrances for Officers of the Continental Army.
The story is that a week or so following the departure from Valley Forge, at the Battle of Monmouth, the battle was won because of the fact that the 2 dozen or so tunes which all troops had to have memorized kept the Continental focused even as Washington's Officers failed miserably to lead.
Washington was not pleased. Understatement. Google away.
Weeks later at the Fort Ticonderoga rebuilt site, I had a similar chat there on the role of the Fifers and Drummers.
Fife and drum today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wycn7S9bciU
Does it include “The World Turned Upside Down”? Supposedly, this was played by the colonial troops at Cornwallis’ surrender. However, I have never been able to find the tune.