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. […]
Timpani Ranges: What You Need to Know
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A typical set of timpani consists four drums of graduated sizes; 32”, 29”, 26”, 23”. These sizes of drums refer to a set of Yamaha balanced action drums and different manufacturers of timpani will have similar yet slightly different sizes. But, virtually all sets of four timpani consist of a large drum for low notes, […]
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 […]
Why the Timpani Pedal Slips and How to Avoid it
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Timpani pedal slips are a common problem for balanced action timpani like Yamahas and Ludwig Symphonic drums and what happens is that the head tension and the pedal spring tension aren’t in sink so the pedal won’t stay in place as you play or when you tune. Timpani Pedal Won’t Stay on Lowest note Here’s […]
How to Tune Timpani Using Piano Chords
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To tune the timpani the player will acquire the desired note from a tuning fork, piano, marimba, or some other pitched instrument and then try to tune their drum to that pitch. The younger player or a player that hasn’t had a lot of experience in tuning might find it difficult to ‘zero in’ on […]
An Introduction to Cross Sticking on Timpani
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When you have timpani music that requires you to play quickly from one drum to the next we often have to cross stick if the tempo is very fast. I’m talking about something like this where you play 4 sixteenth notes on the high drum starting with your right hand and then 4 sixteenth notes. […]
