There are basically two manufacturers of synthetic timpani head; Remo and Evans. Both companies produce fine products that will fit any timpani out there because they come in all sizes. Determining what size head you need is the most important step and there are a couple of resources that will ensure you buy the right […]
How to Wrap Timpani Mallets
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With a little practice and patience you will be able to wrap your timpani mallets with ease. Just remember to take your time and everything will work out just fine. My suggestion is to start by re wrapping some worn out mallets that you might have first and then graduate to building your own pair […]
How to Mute the Timpani
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It is sometimes necessary to use mutes when you are playing timpani. Mutes cut down on the resonance of the drums so that rhythmic clarity can be heard, to create a special musical effect or to have the timpani sound blend with a small orchestra that is playing early classical or baroque music. Timpani Muting […]
How and When to Play a Buzz Roll on Timpani
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It doesn’t happen very often but when you are playing timpani with wooden sticks for baroque and early classical music like Bach, Hayden, and Handel or sometimes Mozart and you come across a roll in the timpani part it makes sense to play a buzz roll instead of a standard hand to hand timpani roll. […]
How to Play Legato Drum Rolls on Timpani
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Take a look this video about legato rolls from drum to drum and give it a try. In this exercise above practice moving from drum to drum while rolling. You’ll have to switch your lead hand during the roll so that you can move to the next drum smoothly. Practice playing a slow tempo with […]
Drum Rolling Exercises for 4 Timpani Drums
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Here is another timpani roll exercise that involves moving between four drums instead of two. Left hand and Right Hand Lead Drum Rolls When you roll between drum and you’re looking for everything to sound smooth and legato you have to be able to switch from a RIGHT HAND LEAD drum roll to a LEFT […]
How to Play Tied and Separated Timpani Rolls
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In this next video I talk about the ending of a timpani roll. Sometimes you will see that the end note is tied to the rolled note and other times you will see or maybe hear that there needs to be some separating between the roll and the next note. It’s an important technique to […]
