Different sizes of timpani have their specific range of notes that they can play and this video describes those ranges and what notes sound best on each drum
On the bass clef. The lines are G,B,D,F,A The spaces are A,C,E,G. I tune mine in R to L G, D, A, E. somewhat like a violin, but lower but if required, I will change the key.
Do you really say timp𝐀no in English, with stress on the a, but t𝐈mpani in the plural, with stress on the first i. I am not a native English speaker, but I would intuitively say t𝐈mpano, with stress on the i in the singular if the plural is t𝐈mpani. Do you see?: t𝐈mpano/t𝐈mpani or timp𝐀no/timp𝐀ni. What do you think?
You mentioned which drum the 32” is, but what are the other three? The smallest one may just be the standard 23” like I’d assume but I can’t quite tell. It may be a piccolo (20”). The two middle ones are 26” and 30”?
Hello. I've had a set of four Ludwig std copper timpani for a while, but I recently got a 20" timpano, and I put a new head on. I just use the Ludwig White extended collar heads for now, but may switch to "better" heads in the future. The problem is when I tune 20" drum, all my notes F-D hug to the same area in the pedal. In other words, a very tiny adjustment with my foot will go from G to an A . The frequencies are so tight together that I cannot even set the gauge indices to match the notes. I wonder if perhaps the head is just too new and needs some more time to stretch out. I seem to recall having this same issue in the past with one of the other drums [maybe the 23"], but it went away on its own, and all the notes on the other four are properly "spaced out". Have you had this problem? What are your thoughts? Thanks.
Hmmmm. Make sure that the lowest note is an F and not any lower than that. An F on a 20" drum probably won't sound very good because the 20 or piccolo is meant for notes G and above for the most part. So, my best guess is that you haven't tightened the head enough. I don't the that the head is to blame unless it is old. A lot of players love those Ludwig White heads. I prefer the Remo Renaissance so you might want to try that if you still have a problem with the range. Good luck and let me know what happens
@@freepercussionlesson Brand new head. I don't reuse heads here. I have the F tuned to toward the low end of the pedal, not quite "heal down" though. I'll tighten a little more, but then I'm going to let it sit and see what happens. The pedal action spring was completely wrong from previous owner when I got this drum. I've never had to mess with the spring in the past; just the head tension. I was thinking of trying Evans Strata, which I think are similar to the Remo Renaissance. I just haven't felt pressed to spend the money to buy 5 new heads and the time it takes to re-tune everything. :) I'll bookmark here and let you know what happens.
@@bigmalletman9453 I'm not a fan of the Strata heads at all. They sound great, but they are prone to being very sticky. Make sure your leave the drum at it's highest tension for 24 hours and see what happens. Not sure how the spring tension could cause your problem, but maybe so.
@@freepercussionlesson The spring tension isn't related to my tuning issue. Just extra information. Interesting about the Strata heads. I'll keep that in mind. I usually use Evans, but I do have an Remo Emperor Fiberskyn on my concert bass drum.
Thank you so very much. I'm writing for a contest and they request it to be timpanis 2 and 3 in a set of 4. I did not know it was thing.
Thank you for this!
how do you read the sheet music
Donato Leon its in bass clef, and it should tell you what notes to tune to
On the bass clef. The lines are G,B,D,F,A The spaces are A,C,E,G. I tune mine in R to L G, D, A, E. somewhat like a violin, but lower but if required, I will change the key.
Do you really say timp𝐀no in English, with stress on the a, but t𝐈mpani in the plural, with stress on the first i. I am not a native English speaker, but I would intuitively say t𝐈mpano, with stress on the i in the singular if the plural is t𝐈mpani.
Do you see?: t𝐈mpano/t𝐈mpani or timp𝐀no/timp𝐀ni.
What do you think?
Jordi Llach I don't know why I pronounced Timpano that way. Good catch
Timp🅰️no
You mentioned which drum the 32” is, but what are the other three? The smallest one may just be the standard 23” like I’d assume but I can’t quite tell. It may be a piccolo (20”). The two middle ones are 26” and 30”?
Sorry. I meant to list the standard sizes. 32,29,26,23
@@freepercussionlesson thank you for the info, and thank you for replying so swiftly despite the video being so old. I quite appreciate it.
Hello. I've had a set of four Ludwig std copper timpani for a while, but I recently got a 20" timpano, and I put a new head on. I just use the Ludwig White extended collar heads for now, but may switch to "better" heads in the future.
The problem is when I tune 20" drum, all my notes F-D hug to the same area in the pedal. In other words, a very tiny adjustment with my foot will go from G to an A . The frequencies are so tight together that I cannot even set the gauge indices to match the notes.
I wonder if perhaps the head is just too new and needs some more time to stretch out.
I seem to recall having this same issue in the past with one of the other drums [maybe the 23"], but it went away on its own, and all the notes on the other four are properly "spaced out".
Have you had this problem? What are your thoughts? Thanks.
Hmmmm. Make sure that the lowest note is an F and not any lower than that. An F on a 20" drum probably won't sound very good because the 20 or piccolo is meant for notes G and above for the most part. So, my best guess is that you haven't tightened the head enough. I don't the that the head is to blame unless it is old. A lot of players love those Ludwig White heads. I prefer the Remo Renaissance so you might want to try that if you still have a problem with the range. Good luck and let me know what happens
@@freepercussionlesson Brand new head. I don't reuse heads here.
I have the F tuned to toward the low end of the pedal, not quite "heal down" though. I'll tighten a little more, but then I'm going to let it sit and see what happens.
The pedal action spring was completely wrong from previous owner when I got this drum. I've never had to mess with the spring in the past; just the head tension.
I was thinking of trying Evans Strata, which I think are similar to the Remo Renaissance. I just haven't felt pressed to spend the money to buy 5 new heads and the time it takes to re-tune everything. :)
I'll bookmark here and let you know what happens.
@@bigmalletman9453 I'm not a fan of the Strata heads at all. They sound great, but they are prone to being very sticky. Make sure your leave the drum at it's highest tension for 24 hours and see what happens.
Not sure how the spring tension could cause your problem, but maybe so.
@@freepercussionlesson The spring tension isn't related to my tuning issue. Just extra information.
Interesting about the Strata heads. I'll keep that in mind. I usually use Evans, but I do have an Remo Emperor Fiberskyn on my concert bass drum.