Drums made from large copper bowls (hence the English name kettledrum), with heads of calfskin or plastic, which can be tuned to various pitches by means of hand-screws or, in modern instruments, pedals. They are normally played with two felt-headed sticks, but other types may be specified. As military instruments, two timpani were carried on horseback at either side of the rider. Since the 17th-c they have been regular members of the orchestral percussion section.
They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet. Timpani evolved from military drums to become a staple of the classical orchestra in the 17th century. A musician who plays the timpani is known as a timpanist. The German word for timpani is Pauken, and the French is timbales.Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, second movement (excerpt) (file info) — play in browser (beta) The scherzo from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony highlights timpani as an independent voice. Also sprach Zarathustra (excerpt) (file info) — play in browser (beta) Richard Strauss' symphonic poem Also sprach Zarathustra opens with a fanfare, which depicts daybreak, featuring solo timpani interjections. See media help.
The instrument
Walter Light pedal and chain timpani set up in three different combinations. Most timpani have six to eight tension rods.The shape of the bowl contributes to the tone quality of the drum.
Timpani come in a variety of sizes from about 84 centimeters (33 inches) in diameter down to piccolo timpani of 30 centimeters (12 inches) or less. A 33-inch drum can produce the C below the bass clef, and speciality piccolo timpani can play up into the treble clef.
Each individual drum typically has a range of a perfect fifth to an octave.
Machine timpani
Changing the pitch of a timpano by turning each tension rod individually is a laborious process. Any timpani equipped with such a system may be called machine timpani, although this term commonly refers to drums that use a single handle connected to a spider-type tuning mechanism.
Pedal timpani
By far the most common type of timpani used today are pedal timpani, which allow the tension of the head to be adjusted using a pedal mechanism.
There are three types of pedal mechanisms in common use today:
The ratchet-clutch system uses a ratchet and pawl to hold the pedal in place. The timpanist must first disengage the clutch before using the pedal to tune the drum. In the balanced action system, a spring or hydraulic cylinder is used to balance the tension on the timpani head so that the pedal will stay in position and the head will stay at pitch.Any pedal drums that are tuned using the spider system can be called Dresden timpani, though the term is most often used for drums whose design is similar to the original pedal timpani built in Dresden (see below). A Berlin-style pedal is attached by means of a long arm to the opposite side of the drum, and the timpanist must use his entire leg to adjust the pitch.
The drums most professional timpanists use are Dresden timpani, commonly with a ratchet-clutch or friction clutch pedal. Most school bands and orchestras below the university level use cheaper, more durable timpani. The mechanical parts of these timpani are almost completely contained within the frame and bowl of the drum.
Chain timpani
On chain timpani, the tension rods are connected by a roller chain much like the one found on a bicycle, though some manufacturers have used other materials, including steel cable. Though far less common than pedal timpani, chain and cable drums still have practical uses. Professional players may also use exceptionally large or small chain and cable drums for special low or high notes.
Other tuning mechanisms
A rare tuning mechanism allows the pitch of the head to be changed by rotating the drum itself. Jenco, a company better known for mallet percussion, made timpani tuned in this fashion.
Early 20th century German travel timpani are tuned with a handle, or less commonly a pedal, that connects to the base, which raises and lowers the bowl, adjusting the tension against the stationary head.
Timpani heads
Like most drumheads, timpani heads can be found made from two materials: animal skin (typically calfskin) and plastic (typically PET film).
Timpani sticks
Timpani are typically struck with a special type of drumstick fittingly called a timpani stick or timpani mallet. Timpani sticks are used in pairs.
Although it is not commonly written in the music, timpanists will change sticks – often many times within the same piece – to suit the nature of the music. Thus, most timpanists own a great number of timpani sticks.
Timpani in the modern ensemble
A set of timpani
A standard set of timpani consists of four drums: roughly 80 cm (32 in), 75 cm (29 in), 66 cm (26 in), and 61 cm (23 in) in diameter. A great majority of the orchestral repertoire can be played using these four drums. However, Igor Stravinsky writes for the B below middle C in The Rite of Spring, and Leonard Bernstein requires the timpanist to execute both a top-line bass clef A flat and the B flat above it on the same drum in the Overture to Candide. Many professional orchestras and timpanists own multiple sets of timpani consisting of both pedal and chain drums allowing them to execute music that cannot be performed correctly using a standard set of four or five drums.
Many schools and ensembles that cannot afford to purchase equipment regularly only have a set of three timpani.
The drums are set up in an arc or horseshoe around the performer. Traditionally, North American timpanists set their drums up with the lowest drum on the left and the highest on the right, and German and Austrian players set them up the opposite way.
Timpanists
Throughout their education, timpanists are trained as percussionists, and they learn to play all instruments of the percussion family along with timpani.
Most pieces of music call for one timpanist playing one set of timpani. However, occasionally composers seeking a thicker texture or a greater palette of pitches ask for multiple players to perform on one or many sets of timpani. Using two timpanists is relatively common in late Romantic and 20th century works for large orchestras, although the early Romantic composer Hector Berlioz took multiple timpanists to the extreme in his Requiem, which calls for eight pairs of timpani played by ten timpanists. See media help.
Timpani concertos
Although it is not common, there have been concertos written for timpani. The 18th century composer Johann Fischer wrote a symphony for eight timpani and orchestra, which requires the solo timpanist to play eight drums simultaneously. In the year 1983 William Kraft, a well regarded percussionist and composer, was commissioned by Thomas Akins of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra to compose a timpani concerto. The resulting work, Concerto for Timpani and Orchestra was premiered March 9, 1984 and subsequently won second prize in the Kennedy Center Friedheim Awards. In the year 2000, American composer Philip Glass wrote his Concerto Fantasy for two timpanists and orchestra, which has its two soloists each playing seven timpani.
Performance techniques
Striking the drum
For general playing, a timpanist will beat the head approximately 4 inches in from the edge. Beating at this spot produces the round, resonant sound commonly associated with timpani.
A timpani roll is executed simply by rapidly striking the drum, alternating between left and right sticks. In general, timpanists do not use multiple stroke rolls like those played on the snare drum.
The tone quality of the drum can be altered without switching sticks or adjusting the tuning of the drum. A more staccato sound can be produced by beating the drum with the heads of the sticks as close together as possible.
Occasionally, composers will ask the timpanist to strike the drum at specific spots.
Tuning
Prior to playing the instruments, the timpanist must clear the heads by equalizing the tension at each tuning screw. If the head is not clear, the pitch of the drum will rise or fall after the initial impact, and the drum will produce different pitches at different dynamic levels. Timpanists who are not blessed with absolute pitch obtain a reference pitch from a tuning fork, pitch pipe, or even a note played by another instrument in the course of the performance, then use musical intervals to arrive at the desired note. For example, to tune the timpani to G and C, a timpanist may sound an A with a tuning fork, then sing (or think) a minor third above that A to tune the C, and then sing a perfect fourth below the C to tune the G.
Some timpani are equipped with tuning gauges, which provide a visual indication of the drum's pitch. However, every time the drum is moved, the overall pitch of the head changes, thus the pitches must be re-marked on the gauges before every performance. Gauges are especially useful when performing music that involves fast tuning changes that do not allow the player to listen to the new pitch before playing it.
Timpanists are commonly required to tune in the middle of a piece of music;
Occasionally, players use the pedals to retune a drum while playing it. One of the first composers to call for a timpani glissando was Carl Nielsen, who used two sets of timpani, both playing glissandos at the same time, in his Symphony No.
Sonata for two pianos and percussion, first movement (excerpt) (file info) — play in browser (beta) This segment of Bartók's Sonata for two pianos and percussion features pedal glissandos during a timpani roll. See media help.Pedaling refers to changing the pitch of the drum with the pedal; In general, timpanists reserve this term for passages where the performer must change the pitch of a drum in the midst of playing – for example, playing two consecutive notes of different pitches on the same drum. There is no way to place this passage across a common set of four drums, thus the timpanist must use the pedal to change the notes while playing.
This chromatic passage from the Intermezzo interrotto movement of Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra requires the timpanist to use the pedals to play all the pitches. Concerto for Orchestra (excerpt) (file info) — play in browser (beta) In this passage from the Intermezzo interrotto movement of Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra, the timpanist plays a chromatic bass line, which requires using the pedal to change pitches. See media help.Muffling
Muffling or damping is an implicit part of playing timpani. However, early drums did not resonate nearly as long as modern timpani, so composers often just wrote a note when the timpanist was to hit the drum without worrying about the sustain.
The typical method of muffling is to place the pads of the fingers against the head while holding onto the timpani stick with the thumb and index finger.
Muffling is often referred to as muting, which can also refer to playing the drums with mutes on them (see below). Although timpanists only have two hands, it is possible to play more than two timpani at once. Hector Berlioz achieves fully voiced chords on timpani in his Requiem ("Grande messe des morts") by employing eight timpanists, each playing a pair of timpani. When the timpani are struck directly in the center of the head, the drums have a sound that is almost completely devoid of tone and resonance. In orchestral playing, timpanists must actively avoid this effect, but composers have exploited this effect in solo pieces, such as Elliot Carter's Eight Pieces for Four Timpani. Sometimes composers will specify that timpani be played con sordino (with mute) or coperti (covered), both of which indicate that mutes should be placed on the head. Timpani mutes are typically small pieces of felt or leather. Barber specifies that the timpani be played con sordino in a section of Medea's Meditation and Dance of Vengeance. Composers will sometimes specify that the timpani should be struck with implements other than timpani sticks. It is common in timpani etudes and solos for performers to play with their hands or fingers. Leonard Bernstein calls for maracas on timpani in both the "Jeremiah" Symphony and Symphonic Dances from West Side Story. Edward Elgar attempts to use the timpani to imitate the engine of an ocean liner in his "Enigma" Variations by requesting the timpanist play with snare drum sticks. However, snare drum sticks tend to produce too loud a sound, and since this work's premiere, the passage in question has been performed by striking the timpani with the edges of coins. Another technique used primarily in solo work is striking the copper bowls of the timpani.
History
Pre-orchestral history
Arabic nakers, the direct ancestors of timpani, were brought to 13th century Europe by Crusaders and Saracens. This form of timpani remained in use until the 16th century.
In 1457, a Hungarian legation sent by King Ladislaus V carried larger timpani mounted on horseback to the court of King Charles VII in France. This variety of timpani had been used in the Middle East since the 12th century. This practice continues to this day in sections of the British Army, and timpani continued to be paired with trumpets when they entered the classical orchestra.
Over the next two centuries, a number of technical improvements were made to timpani. This allowed timpani to become tunable instruments of definite pitch.
Timpani in the orchestra
Jean-Baptiste Lully is the first known composer to score for timpani, which he included in the orchestra for his 1675 opera Thésée. In music of this time, timpani are almost always tuned with the tonic note of the piece on the high drum and the dominant on the low drum – a perfect fourth apart. Interestingly, timpani are often treated as transposing instruments in the music of this period: the notes were written as C and G with the actual pitches indicated at the top of the score (for example, Timpani in A–D). Erschallet, Trompeten!", which translates roughly to "Sound off, ye timpani! Naturally, the timpani are placed at the forefront: the piece starts with a timpani solo and the chorus and timpani trade the melody back and forth.
Ludwig van Beethoven revolutionized timpani music in the early 19th century. For example, his Violin Concerto opens with five timpani strokes, and the scherzo of his Ninth Symphony pitches the timpani against the orchestra in a sort of call and response.
Until the late 19th century, timpani were hand-tuned; Thus, tuning was a relatively slow operation, and composers had to allow a reasonable amount of time for players to change notes if they wanted to be sure of a true note. The first pedal timpani originated in Dresden in the 1870s and are called Dresden timpani for this reason. However, since vellum was used for the heads of the drums, automated solutions were difficult to implement since the tension would vary unpredictably across the drum. By 1915, Carl Nielsen was demanding glissandos on timpani in his Fourth Symphony – impossible on the old hand-tuned drums. Many of his timpani parts require such a range of notes that it would be unthinkable to attempt them without pedal drums.
Timpani outside the orchestra
Later, timpani were adopted into other classical music ensembles such as concert bands. In the 1970s, marching bands and drum and bugle corps, which evolved both from traditional marching bands and concert bands, began to include marching timpani. Marching timpani were heavy and awkward to play, as the drumhead was almost at the player's chest. Often, during intricate passages, the timpani players would put their drums on the ground by means of extendable legs, and they would be played more like conventional timpani, but with a single player per drum. In the early 1980s, Drum Corps International (DCI), a drum corps governing body, allowed timpani and other percussion instruments to be permanently grounded. This was the beginning of the end for marching timpani: Eventually, standard concert timpani found their way onto the football field as part of the front ensemble, and marching timpani fell out of common usage.
As rock and roll bands started seeking to diversify their sound, timpani found their way into the studio. Starting in the 1960s, drummers for high profile rock acts like The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Beach Boys, and Queen incorporated timpani into their music.
Jazz musicians also experimented with timpani. In 1964, Elvin Jones incorporated timpani into his drum kit on John Coltrane's four-part composition A Love Supreme.
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