If music be the food of love, play on; Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, The appetite may sicken, and so die.In the British Army, music represented communications on the parade ground and the battlefield, rhythm while on the march and a boost to morale in the barracks.
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see http://www.qor.com/band/bhist.html
http://www.fifedrum.org/crfd/BD_1.htm