The Armed Forces all over the world have deep-rooted martial music traditions. Martial music is one of the many forms of music particularly composed to create "veer rasa." The essential qualities of the martial music have been described in great detail by Bharat in his sanskrit treatise on music titled Natyashastra. He described music as the God's creation capable of touching the heart and soul and arousing the emotions. Music aided by words and beats becomes a very potent medium arousing the emotions. The medieval rulers asked the court poets to write patriotic poems having powerful words. These poems were set to tunes and rhythmic support was provided by percussion instruments such as kettledrums, nagaras, dhols and tabors combined with wind - blown musical instruments like conch shells, flutes, bugles, trumpets and shehnai. The tunes were sung either by the court singers or by the soliders themselves in solo or choral voices.

The group of men who played the martial tunes were called as "Band". It included the woodwind instrumentalists and percussionists using equipment, dresses, insignia, marching patterns and formation signs of great dynastic influences. Subsequently the brass instruments were designed.

The military band received proper attention from 17th century onwards. The music-loving warriors like Louis XIV (1643-1715) and Frederick the Great (1740-1786) encouraged organising the military bands. Mr Lully was employed by Louis XIV to compose martial music. Lully's military band consisted of hautboys, bassoons and drums. In 1763, Frederick the Great added clarinets and horns to his military band. This was the time when British, Italian and French musicians were involved in experimentation with martial music under the patronage of their rulers.

The Royal Regiment of Artillery in 1762 is known to have had a military band consisting of 2 trumpets, 2 horns, 4 hautboys, 2 bassoons and drums. The military bands were invited to give public performances in fetes during the Napoleonic period. The origin of "Massed Band" can also be traced to this period when loudness of music had to be ensured to drown the ambient noise levels of large audience which gathered to hear in parade grounds or city squares. The infantry regiments of the Napoleon's Army held military bands using one piccolo, 17 clarinets, 4 bassoons, 2 serpents, 3 trumpets, 4 horns, 3 trombones, 2 side drums, one bass drum, one triangle, 2 pairs of cymbals and 2 turkish crescents.

The improvements in metallurgical technology helped the musicians like Sax and others in 19th century to improve the shape, strength, design and tonal quality of the musical instruments.

Earlier, the composition of military bands was different in different countries and regiments. An attempt was made in Britain to standardise the number of musical instruments. A typical combination in the early 19th century was one piccolo or flute or both, one oboe (a derivative of the old hautboy) one small clarinet, 12 to 14 ordinary clarinets, 2 bass clarinets, one alto saxophone, one tenor saxophone, 2 bassoons, 4 french horns, 2 baritones 2 cup honiums, 4 bombardons, 4 cornets, 2 trumpets, 3 tromobones, 2 drummers and rhythm instruments like cymbals, bells and metal triangles etc. It can be seen that the important part was clarinets. The clarinets performed a major role in playing the martial tunes due to their district sharp and creamy tonal quality. Another aspect to be noticed was that these instruments could be played while the bandsmen marched with the troops.

The drummers wore leopard-skins to make the dress look more exotic and also to carry on with a dress tradition in which the drums were initially played by the Negro Timebeaters of the past.

The Bagpipe is the oldest martial music instrument. It is in existence for 3000 years. The Roman forces brought the bagpipes to Britain and Scotland and showed a special affinity towards the same. An entirely different form of martial music emerged in which three types of Bagpipes, namely highland, lowland and northumbrian were used in preference to the woodwind and brass instruments. These bands were called as the "Pipes and Drums" which brought in an element of variety in martial music. The pipes and drums evolved their own martial music culture and developed tunes which were not played by woodwinds brass instruments. The tradition of donating a banner to the pipes and drums by distinguished senior regimental officers is noteworthy. These banners are suspended from the bagpipes while playing.

The military band is an important item of everyday regimental life. There are three types of bands ; the military band (using a mixture of woodwind and brass instruments), the brass band (using only brass instruments) and pipes and drums (using the bagpipes). Quite interestingly the bands owned by the police or civil organisations are also termed as military bands. The leader of the military or brass band is called a Bandmaster whereas the pipes and drums is led by a Pipemajor. The main objective of the martial tunes is to promote orderly marching, enliven the spirit, minimise fatigue and boredom, inspire the troops to fight and convey orders and commands. Earlier, there was no system to write down the musical scores and the court musicians had to rely on their memory to play a composition. Later, the Staff Notation System was invented which enabled the composers to write down the musical notes of a tune in a readable form. Martial tune scores are written in Staff Notation System on printed cards. These cards are clip-fixed to the musical instrument so that the bandsman can see and play.

Military bands wear attractive summer and winter uniforms. Pipes and drums wear stripes and checks of characteristic regimental colour combinations. These bands are part of ceremonial, attestation parades, official functions, officers' mess parties, regimental dinner nights, and unit celebrations/drill parades. They play regimental tunes, traditional marching tunes and folk tunes making these functions more colourful and enjoyable. It is customary for the senior most officer or the chief guest to visit the band in attendance and listen to some tunes.

Buglers do not normally form part of the military bands. They however, play a prominent role in regulating the daily rountines in the military camps by blowing a variety of"calls"

The histroic Indian martial tunes had a typical folk flavour. These tunes were passed on from one generation to the next and became a subject of study amongst the composers. A large number of Indian classical ragas have their origin in the folk music. Ragas shankara, hamsadhwani, hameer or mulkauns are said to be particularly well-suited to create an aura of veer rasa.

The traditional Indian folk music tunes and musical instruments (wind-blown and percussion) continued to hold their sway in the martial music heritage of India till the advent of the East India Company. Prior to this, the French, Dutch, Portuguese, Arab and Mughal presence on the Indian soil was established. These armies had brought with them their own martial music cultures.

After India gained independence, the British bandsmen were repatriated thereby creating a void. The Indian musicians were adept enough to carry on with the western traditional martial music tunes.

The Indianisation of martial music actual began with Dr Harold Joseph, who was the officer on special duty, military music, Ministry of Defence for more than a decade. He broke new ground by composing a number of quick march tunes based on Indian folk melodies. Later, some tunes were based on ragas. Indian musical instruments such as santoor, flute, tabla. and dholak have also found a place in band concerts if not while marching with the troops. However, dependance on western musical instruments and dress style continues.