“The instruments of war have always been percussion. I'm not referring to tanks, battlerams and firearms, but musical instruments. Granted, the incessant thunder and crack of explosives is percussive, albeit erratic. The quick history lesson on the Bicentennial quarter reminds us that suckers with snares kept the beat of destruction. Tolkien's trolls thumped skin timpanis. Genghis had gongs. War ha”
