Inverse magazine ran an interesting article on ancient lore and how warriors intimidated their enemies using music and sound as weapons. Author Adrienne Mayor compiled the information while researching her book Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs. For thousands of years, armies have used these techniques to unnerve their opponents and gain the upper hand.

Bloodcurdling war cries and chants are a universal way to strike fear in an enemy. Germanic tribes had an especially effective technique that the Romans called the barritus. The chanting started out as a low murmur, then evolved into a roar, which the Germans amplified by holding up their shields to their mouths. The Celts used a war trumpet known to the Romans as a carnyx, a long bronze tube with a wide bell shaped like the jaws of a dragon. The loud, eerie sound it produced was so effective that the Romans began using it themselves.

The ancient Chinese described shaojian, screaming arrows that whistled through the air when shot by archers of the steppes. The arrows terrified opponents and their horses. The Chinese used gunpowder to create disorienting explosions, long before its use in the west.

In antiquity, cavalry horses were trained to endure the piercing pipe music that led armies to battle. The Kardians, who lived in what is now northwest Turkey, taught their horses to dance to pipes played at drinking parties in the seventh century A.D. Bad idea. A prisoner named Naris heard about the dancing horses in the Kardian barbershop where he worked. After he escaped with a piper girl, they led a Bisaltian army against the Kardians. The Kardian horses began dancing when they heard the pipe music, throwing off their riders, which allowed the Bisaltians to crush the Kardians.

Modern Music Weapons

In modern times, music has been used to induce stress and anxiety. The Soviet army blasted Argentinian tangoes during World War II to keep the Germans awake at night. American troops deployed rock music during sieges in Panama, Iraq, and Afghanistan. In 2022, Australian police bombarded anti-COVID-19 vaccine protesters with recordings of Barry Manilow songs on repeat to break up the crowd (which is unfair to Barry, as really any incessant repetition would suffice)! I wonder if they paid any fees to the appropriate performing rights society like ASCAP…