Given to us by the ancient Romans, the drum is a musical percussion instrument that is made out of a hollow cylinder or hemisphere of wood or metal, over each end of which, or sometimes over one end only, a head (drum skin) is held taut by means of a mechanical fixtures involving cords, hoops and screw rods. The drum is played by beating the head (or heads) with one or more sticks.

The principle types of drums are the bass drum, the snare drum, the kettledrum and the trap drum. With the exception of the kettledrum, all of these drums cannot be perfectly tuned and are only used to mark the time (rhythm) in music. A kettledrum can participate in an orchestral harmony whereas the other drums are only used as rhythm instruments.

Drums of various forms were used in ancient Egypt and India. Various primitive tribes used a type of drum called a tom-tom. The drum was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans mainly as a tympanum (small kettledrum). The chief use of drums in Greek and Roman cultures was for the worship of the nature goddess Cybele and Baccus, the god of wine.