Timpani Notes

Timpani (also called kettledrums) are the pitched percussion instrument of the orchestra: they do not just make noise, they play notes. Each timpano is a bowl with a drumhead, and its note is changed with a pedal that tightens or loosens that head. A full set is five drums, and together they cover D2 to C4, almost two octaves. Timpani are not transposing instruments: the notes are written where they sound, usually in bass clef.

It is not normal for a drum to give notes: on a drumhead the vibration modes do not form a harmonic series, so a stroke sounds without a clear pitch. The timpano manages it because the enclosed air in the bowl and the striking point leave its main modes in nearly harmonic proportions (the harmonic series page explains it in detail).

The practical question is not "what fingering does this note have?", because no fingers are involved, but which drum it goes on and where in that drum's range it falls. That is what the range table below answers.

Which timpano does this note go on?

Pick any note in the range and the head of the drum it belongs on lights up over the photo of the full set. If it also fits on another drum, that head lights up with a dashed outline: the note fits there, but it does not sound as good. Below you can see where in its range the note falls. Press ▶ to hear the note.

Concert timpani, Berlin model. Photo by Lefima GmbH, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Standard ranges; they vary somewhat with the maker, model and head. Sound generated with MuseScore. If you need to tune for real, there is the timpani tuner with microphone.

The range of each timpano

As a guide, each drum covers about a perfect 5th and overlaps with the next, so many notes can be played on two different drums. That is where you have to choose well.

The third column matters more than it seems, because a timpano does not sound equally good across its whole range. Near its lowest note the head is slack: the note loses definition and the attack blurs, and it is hard to tell whether the passage is in time. Near its highest note the opposite happens: the head is so tight that the sound chokes and stops projecting.

Hence the practical rule: when a note fits on two drums, choose the one that puts it in its middle-to-upper part. A C3 sounds much better on the medium drum, where it sits comfortably, than strained at the top of the large one.

Types of pedal, and why they get confused

Most explanations mix two things that are really independent: whether the pedal locks or not, and how it moves under the foot. One timpano combines one option from each group, and that is where the confusion comes from when comparing models.

Whether the pedal locks or not

• Ratchet-clutch (the Dresden system). The pedal is mechanically locked and does not move by itself. To change the note you release the clutch, move the pedal and lock it again. It is slower to change, but the tuning does not drift however hard you play. It comes from the German tradition and is still fitted to high-end instruments.
• Balanced action (also called a floating pedal). A spring (or a similar mechanism) offsets the tension of the head, so the pedal stays where you leave it with no lock. You can change notes on the fly, which is what you need when a work asks for consecutive changes or a glissando. It is the most common type, from the conservatory to many professional models, because it is much easier to handle.

How it moves under the foot

• Short, accelerator-style pedal. It is hinged just behind the heel, so it is worked by the ankle alone, pushing with the ball of the foot like a car's accelerator. This is the format of the Dresden system.
• Pivot arm (Berlin type). A long arm pivots on a bar on the far side of the bowl. The movement comes from the whole leg: sometimes the knee ends up above the rim of the drum.

In every design, pressing the pedal tightens the head and raises the pitch; releasing it lowers the pitch.

The fine tuner: the crank

From mid-range models upward there is a third element, different from the two above: a fine tuner, a small crank or handwheel that adjusts the tension of the whole head at once, moving all the tension rods together a little.

It is not used to choose notes while playing, which is the pedal's job, but to shift the whole range of the drum up or down with the pedal still. In other words, it does not replace the pedal, it recalibrates it. With the pedal in the position of least head tension, the drum should give exactly its lowest note; if it does not, that is corrected with the crank, not by pedaling.

It is needed more often than you would think, because the head stretches with use and because temperature and humidity move the tuning: a drum that was in tune at rehearsal may have drifted by the concert.

Timpani and the rest of the pitched percussion

Timpani are not the only percussion that gives notes. The mallet instruments (xylophone, marimba, vibraphone and glockenspiel) solve the problem the other way around: instead of one drum per note, all the notes are laid out in front of you, arranged like a piano keyboard. And the tubular bells share something deeper with the timpano: in both, the note you hear is a fundamental that the ear reconstructs.

Mallets: the other half of the sound

On timpani the mallet changes the sound as much as the drum itself. They are not an accessory: a timpanist carries several pairs and changes them within the same work, sometimes in the middle of a movement.

The head is almost always a wood or cork core covered in felt, and what tells them apart is how many layers they have and how tightly they are pressed. That gives the usual families:

• Soft. Thick, loosely pressed felt. They give a round sound with a lot of body and little attack. They are the ones for rolls, pianissimo and sustained passages, and they work best on the low drums.
• Medium, or general. The middle point and the default choice: they serve for almost everything and are the ones you learn on. If you only have one pair, make it this one.
• Hard. Thin, tightly pressed felt. The attack is heard clearly and the rhythm is defined: they are for marked and staccato passages and are welcome on the high drums.
• Wood, or minimal felt. A dry, cutting sound with almost no body. They are used as an effect, when the score asks for them expressly.

The shaft also counts, though less: they are made of hardwoods and bamboo, and it determines the weight, the balance and how much the mallet rebounds in the hand.

And here is a detail that connects with range: if you need definition in the low register, exactly where the timpano loses it, a somewhat harder mallet brings it back. The reverse also holds: a hard mallet on a high drum can sound dry and unpleasant.

This instrument is one of the seven pitched percussion instruments, where you can compare it with the rest: range, material and transposition of all of them in one table.