Bells, drums, and stones are found among the earliest archeological founds of musical instruments. Since second millennium B.C.E. percussion instruments have been used in China in religious, court, and popular music. Pure percussion music soon followed. The percussion music of Thundering Dragon (with five hundred instruments in all, including bamboo, wood, bronze, iron, and elephant-foot drums, gongs with voices of winds, tigers, and dogs, and bells and rattles), which builds primarily on the traditional popular music of China, combines depiction of nature with humor and virtuosity.
