Timpani: Encyclopedia II - Timpani - Performance techniques

Timpani - Performance techniques

Timpani - 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. 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 fiddling with the tuning of the drum. For example, by playing closer to the edge of the head, the sound becomes thinner. A more staccato sound can be produced by beating the drum with the heads of the sticks as close together as possible. When playing rolls, the sticks are placed farther apart to cause as much of the head as possible to vibrate. There are many more variations in technique a timpanist uses during the course of playing to produce subtle timbral differences.

Occasionally, composers will ask the timpanist to strike the drum at specific spots. Béla Bartók writes a passage "to be played at the edge of the head" in his Violin Concerto.

Timpani - Tuning

Prior to playing the instruments, the timpanist must clear the heads by equalizing the tension at each tuning screw. This is done so every spot on the head is tuned to exactly the same pitch. When the head is clear, the timpano will produce a beautiful, in-tune sound. 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.

In performance, tuning is typically accomplished with a method called interval tuning. 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. Timpanists are required to have a very well developed sense of relative pitch.

Some timpani are equipped with tuning gauges, which provide a visual indication of the drum's pitch. They are physically connected either to the counterhoop, in which case the gauge indicates how far the counterhoop is pushed down, or the pedal, in which case the gauge indicates the position of the pedal. These gauges can be useful. 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 blind tuning changes, or tuning changes that do not allow the player to listen to the new pitch before playing it. Many good timpanists prefer to tune by ear and will rely on gauges only if absolutely necessary.

Timpanists are commonly required to tune in the middle of a piece of music, thus all timpanists must develop techniques to tune undetectably and accurately in the midst of other music.

Occasionally, players use the pedals to retune a drum while playing it. Portamento effects can be achieved by changing the pitch of the drum while it can still be heard. This is commonly called a glissando, though this use of the term is not strictly correct. The most effective glissandos are those from low notes to high notes and those performed during rolls. 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. 4 ("The Inextinguishable").

Pedaling refers to changing the pitch of the drum with the pedal; it is an alternate term for tuning. 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. In Samuel Barber's Medea's Meditation and Dance of Vengeance, the timpanist must play A♯–B–C♯–D in consecutive sixteenth notes. 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. Nocturne, by Benjamin Britten, contains a longer chromatic passage using the same technique.

Timpani - Muffling

Muffling or damping is an implicit part of playing timpani. Often, timpanists will muffle notes so they only sound for the length indicated by the composer. 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. Today, timpanists must use their ear and the score of the piece to determine the actual length the note should sound.

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. Timpanists are required to develop techniques to stop all vibration of the drumhead without making any sound from the contact of their fingers.

Muffling is often referred to as muting, which can also refer to playing the drums with mutes on them (see below).

Timpani - Special effects

• It is typical for only one timpano to be struck at a time. Occasionally, composers will ask for two notes to be struck at once. This is called a double stop. Ludwig van Beethoven uses this effect in the slow movement of his Ninth Symphony.
• Although timpanists only have two hands, it is possible to play more than two timpani at once. One way to do this is by holding two sticks in one hand much like a marimbist. Another is by adding the hands of more timpanists. 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. George Gershwin uses this effect in An American in Paris.
• Often, when one drum is struck, another will vibrate quietly. In orchestral playing, timpanists must actively avoid this effect, but many 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, rectangular pieces of felt or leather. The degree the head is dampened can be altered by placing the mute at different spots on the head. Barber specifies that the timpani be played con sordino in a section of Medea's Meditation and Dance of Vengeance. Mutes are also often used to dampen the sympathetic vibrations generated by external factors such as the sound produced by other instruments.
• 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.
• Robert W. Smith's Songs of Sailor and Sea calls for a "whale sound" on the largest timpano. This is achieved by putting water on the thumb and rubbing it from the edge to the center of the drumhead. Of course, care must be taken to prevent water damage.
• Another technique used primarily in solo work is striking the copper bowls of the timpani. Timpanists tend to be reluctant to use this effect at loud dynamic levels or with hard sticks, since copper can be dented easily.
• Occasionally a composer will ask for an upside-down cymbal to be placed upon the drumhead and then struck, usually rolled while executing a glissando on the drum.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Performance techniques", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki