on the drum
(idiomatic) Money in the form of paper currency or coins, paid immediately at the time and place of a transaction, especially to a soldier as pay or bonuses.
The world is just a barrel-organ which the Lord God turns Himself. We all have to dance to the tune which is already on the drum. Reinhard Heydrich
You have taken far too much trouble over your opera. Here in England that is mere waste of time. What the English like is something that they can beat time to, something that hits them straight on the drum of the ear. George Frideric Handel
It's interesting. I've known quite a few good athletes that can't begin to play a beat on the drum set. Most team sport is about the smooth fluidity of hand-eye coordination and physical grace, where drumming is much more about splitting all those things up. Neil Peart