Tympani playing...

[jonthibault]

Something more positive than my last posts: I'm playing tympani in the LACC orchestra. I'm using the term "playing" very loosely. Does anyone have any advice vis-a-vis tuning and playing? I'm using French grip, but should I play 16th note triplets when I roll, or just play really fast, out of time?

Most of the tunes use G, C, and D, but one uses a B flat. Should I use another drum or tune the C between pieces? Is the best way to tune from a piano?

It's a cool instrument, and I'm struggling my way through the pieces slowly but surely.

[drumgod1]

Hats off to ya, Man! I love playing tympani and miss it from my college days!

For rolls, I would find the fastest subdivision that you can play it at & keep it in time, 32nd notes or 16th note triplets, whatever works.

For tuning from C to B flat, it kind of depends on how often you are playing the note. If you have to play it in a separate section than the C, I would go ahead and retune it. If it's the same one, use a different drum. I used a C to C pitch pipe to tune tympani when I played. You should be able to find one at a band instrument store for fairly cheap.

For quick tuning changes, you can make your own tuning gauges for the tympani. You will need a long string (one that doesn't stretch, nylon slides the best), a C-clamp, a fishing weight, pitch pipe, and a dry erase marker. Cut off a piece of string long enough to go from the tuning pedal over two lugs on the top with at least 6" left hanging over the top of the tymp when the pedal is all the way down. Attach one end of the string to the C-clamp and attach this to the tuning pedal, then attach the other end of the string to the fishing weight. Place the string over 2 lugs (just left or right of center) with the weight hanging from the second lug (farthest away from you of the two). Center the pedal in it's tuning and using the dry erase marker, make a black mark on the string centered between the 2 lugs it is draped over. From there, start using your pitch pipe to find different tunings that you will be using for the pieces on each drum. Where the mark on the string lines up for each pitch, place a mark on the tymp head (use the dry erase marker, you can wipe it off!) where each pitch you need will be and label it with the correct pitch. Move the pedal between each mark and make sure with the pitch pipe that you are correct. If this description is unclear, send me an email and I can draw a picture. Good luck!

Mike

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[jonthibault]

Wow. That's bitchin. Thanks. The reading I'm doing is pretty straight-forward (and fun), but I want to really nail each part perfectly. The other thing I'm having a little trouble with is counting, like, 35-60 measure rests. Sometimes I'll have a rest for 35 measures and then a one measure roll, then another rest for many measures. Some tunes are in "two" and the time goes by fairly quickly, but if I lose count at all it's a train wreck.

How do you approach so many rests?

Thanks.

[Nikk]

The idea with Timpani, guys is not to play a really fast subdivision. Everyone seems to think it is. The idea...is to find the sweet spot of the drum. Each size timpani resonates and sings at a certain speed of single-stroke roll. For larger drums, your roll will, most likely be a lot slower than on a larger one. You'll know you're rolling at the correct speed for the drum when your strokes seemingly disappear and all you can hear is a wave of sound. Fingers are employed for timpani rolls more than anything else.

[jonthibault]

Isn't it tough to stay in time, though, if you're not playing a subdivision?

[Nikk]

it may be slightly harder to stay in time but nonetheless...thinking of timp rolls as sixteenths or thirty-seconds is not the way to go. As drummers we have this need to put everything in perspective rhythmically. You sorta have to abandon that when dealing with timpani and the mallet instruments when rolling. Simply find the speed of roll at which the drum sings best. Remember, the concept of the roll is equivalent to a cello player playing long-bowed notes, or a trumpet guy playing long tones. The roll is the drummer's version of sustained tone. A few modifications concerning my last post...
Bigger timp=slower roll, smaller timp=faster
I also said that mostly fingers are used. This could be misleading. At FF dynamics and what not, you'll be using some serious arm action. The quiter the part, the more fingers. In practicing the general, all-purpose timp roll, think wrist and fingers. Think of the mallet as falling over th fingers (using french grip.) The mallet will do lots of the work for you.

[Nikk]

One more thing, sorry I'm totally not trying to sound like a know-it-all...I suck at timp in fact. But my teacher plays in the National symphony and has good knowledge of timp. For the counting thing about all the unberable millions of rest...get to know the phrasing. If it's four-bar phrases, count phrases. Divide the number of rests by the number of phrases. Or just write cues on the music. Doing that is a liscense to not pay attention at all. IE- "trumpets come in at 85." That way, if trumpets come in at 85 and you come in at 88, you really only have to count three bars. Let's hear it for laziness!!

[jonthibault]

Good stuff. Thanks.

[jonthibault]

That's weird. I tried to change my password and my name somehow got erased on all my posts. Anyway, thanks for the input. Tympani is pretty cool. I'm really getting into it.

Does anyone know of any good books or videos I can get?

[drumgod1]

On rolling, I tend to think of the amount of space I need to fill. Like Nikk said, you don't need to play 32nds all the time, just find the speed on each drum that sounds the best. Plus, make sure you pull the sound out of the tymps and not play through them. My professor used to yell at me as I was playing "LIFT! LIFT! LIFT!". That technique of pulling the sound from the drum has carried over to my playing on other percussion instruments. I used to hum the rolled note as I was playing it as a point of reference. Your just trying to fill up a certain amount of space, just like violin players bowing their instrument on long notes.

Hope this helps!

drumgod1