The Italian manuscript Il torneo, written by Bonaventura Pistofilo and published in 1627, was a collection of laws governing a tournament of knights coming from across Europe. Notably, the document also includes a section devoted to drum performance. In this section, Pistofilo employs syllables such as ta, pa, and ra to designate individual strokes, with dots placed above notes likely indicating accents. He further specifies sticking by using upward stems for the left hand and downward stems for the right.

To read more about the manuscript and to download the full document or just the section devoted to drums, visit the Historical Documents page. Happy drumming!