Timpani sticks are expensive so you need to learn how to take care of them so that they will last a long time. A simple way to maintain your mallets is to trim the fuzz periodically when they need haircuts. Use cuticle scissors to give your mallets a haircut Trim the pieces of felt that […]
How to Change a Timpani Head
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Changing the heads on your timpani is a necessary fact of drum maintenance. If you are playing your drums regularly you should really change the heads a least once per year or more often if they become damaged with dents or holes. It’s really not that difficult to change the head, but it does become […]
How to Use a Drum Dial on a Timpani Head
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Drum Dials are terrific tools to use to make sure that your timpani head has even tension all the way around at each tuning lug. Having equal tension makes it easier to clear the head and to make the drum sound in tune with itself. Using a Drum Dial can be confusing at times because […]
How to Clear a Timpani Head
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Clearing a timpani head is to tune each lug on the drum to the same note. It’s an art unto itself and requires some experience, trial and error and patience. Watch this Video Demonstration Where I Clear a Timpani Head The first step in the clearing process is to ensure the head is mounted properly. […]
How to Locate and Eliminate Annoying Timpani Rattles
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Oh, Those Annoying Rattles! There isn’t a timpanist anywhere who hasn’t experienced the frustration of trying to locate an unwanted rattle on one of their drums. They can be tricky to find and fix, but if you know some of the notorious rattle traps you have a better chance at fixing them. Rattles on timpani […]
