Ever wondered how the hitting began? Follow Making Music's drum diary to the all important dates.

1623 It begins. First cymbals produced by Avedis Zildjian in Constantinople.

1885 America's first drum factory (Excelsior) opened by Joseph Soistman.

1907 The snare strainer patented, U. G. Leedy and Charles Wanamaker's device for moving the wires away from the skin.

1911 First all metal snare by Ludwig who formed two years back.

1921 Tom-toms take refuge on top of the bass drum for first time, and the low-hat or low-boy makes an appearance - two parallel cymbals 15in above floor.

1950 Slingerland introduce the Ray McKinley tom-tom holder - a curved bar with a sleeve that allows the tom-tom to slide down over it. Cymbal tilt holder also originated about now.

1960 Paiste cymbals from Switzerland start to become available.

1968 The ball and socket tom-tom holder allows greater flexibility on the R-M kit.

1975 Premier introduce cymbal boom stands.

1977 Percussion synthesis born (who's he?) with the Synare synth, but 1980 sees Simmons SDS5 appear though few knew how big it would be.

1981 Say hello to the new age and the first LM-1 Drum Computer from Linn.