Man has beaten hollowed wood or a stretched skin to make music and send messages since before history began. Today, drums are used to add rhythm to many different styles of music, and the drummer is a key member of any jazz or rock band. Certainly he’s the most exciting to watch. He sits at an array of percussion instruments called a drum kit. His hands and feet are constantly on the move, beating out a variety of rhythms He uses mallets or his hands to play mellow notes on small and large tom-toms. He uses sticks to strike brass cymbals set high on stands. And he uses his sticks to beat a buzzy drum with wires stretched across its base, called a snare drum. His big bass drum, lying on its side, produces deep thuds when he presses a pedal connected to a felt-covered beater. He uses his other foot on another pedal to clash a pair of cymbals called a hi-hat. In ancient times, people believed that drums had magic properties. JimJAZZ mouse thinks Dylan makes magical sounds today.