Timpani
Hey! Welcome to the timpani page. What makes me qualified to teach you timpani? A lot of research and two years playing. The Timpani is also my favorite percussion instrument of all time. I hope you find these resources helpful! Happy playing!
Basics
Is it your first day on timpani? Then this is the perfect section for you!
What Mallets do I use?
- Soft:legattos, whole notes, long rolls, slow passages
- Medium: general playing, quarter and eigth notes, mix of rolls
- Hard: use for articulation, especailly stacatto passages.
My personal favorites are the vic firth corpsmaster ones!
How do I hit the timpani?
There are many differant grips for the timpani, so look them up and decide what is best for you. One thing is non-negotiable though, your stroke should start and end in the same position. This video helped me a lot!
It is also imporant where you strike. In the middle and rim of the drum, you will get a dead sound. The best place to hit is about a third of the way in from the rim of the drum.
How do I change the pitch
You chagne the pitch by pressing the peddle down or up. Using a tuner or training your ear can help so much with getting an accurate pitch. The tempurature can change the tuning, and the tuning gauges on the drums are almost never accurate. Please always check your tuning before you play!
How do I set them up?
Your drums should be spaced far enough where you have room to move around, but close enough so that you can hit them. From left to right, your drums should be in the order of 32", 29", 26", 23".
Maintenance
*please make sure your director is okay with this
As we all know, timpani are expensive!! So taking care of them is a top priority. I am not going to cover repairs here, but basic maintenance is nessesary for every timpani player to know.
- - do not use the timpani as tables! It can damage the heads and your tuning
- - Keep the heads and bases clean. I used a damp paper towel to clean all the surfaces. It helps keep the tone clear and the drums looking new.
- - In between every use of the timpani, place the dust covers on the heads. This prevents wear and tear on the heads.
- - When moving timpani, only use the support collumns, never push or pull from the rims.
More detailed matienence can be found here.
But What About in Indoor Percussion or Marching Band?
While I dont have any experience doing timpani for an outdoor season, I did timpani for 2 years in indoor percussion, and heres some things I learned!
Tuning
Try as hard as you might, you are not going to be in tune 100% of the time. "But just tuned a few seconds ago!" Wrong. They might have been in tune but now they could be crazy flat or sharp. It drove me insane, but bringing a tuner to every competition helped so much. I was able to frequently check if anything had shifted with just a tap of the head. If you have a good ear you can use a tuning fork too. I would also recommend tuning as close to your performance as you can. Training your ear is also helpful, especailly if you have clear intervals between the drums or if you need to know if the pitch is sharp or flat.
Matienence
Please please please make sure you are taking care of your timpani. If you notice a wheel is sticking, wd40 that thing. Always cover the heads when done playing and always make sure that it is secure when loading. Timpani are expensive. Do not treat them like trash and don't use them as tables. If your director has any extra notes on how to treat them good, please follow those exactly too. It helps so much in extending the lifespan of them..
Sound
If your director tells you something else, disreguard this. In my experience, I always sounded like the loudest one in the pit, when in actuality, no one in the audience could hear me. Play louder than you think you need to!!!!
Resources
If you are coming from cranston here are the exercises I used to warm up/improve
Other resources/exersises
The 8-8-roll exercise: This one is my personal favorite (i'm lying) but it does really help with developing an even roll. You go 8 on one hand, 8 on the other, and then roll for 16. As long as the roll is even, it doesn't matter how fast you roll.