The pedals tune the drums pretty quickly so it is very common to change pitch during a piece of music. Pedal timpani were invented to be able to change pitches relatively quickly to keep up with advancements in musical composition. Music written before 1820 or so remained close to one key throughout the work so the timpani could stay on either the dominant tonic notes and be okay. But, composers wanted to expand their harmonies and therefore the timpani had to evolve in order to keep up . Modern compositions like movie scores require the timpanist to play on 5 or 6 drums and quickly change notes constantly.
Practice singing the pitches that you want to tune your drums to. When you get better at singing the pitches you’ll get better at being able to tune the drums
Hi there! great vids! wonder if you can give some advice on the "hand tuned" timps. Recently bought a pair of premier academy times and would like some advice on tuning them whilst playing. Was practicing the blue danube and the tuning changes 6 times in the piece
I will try to produce a video about hand tuned drums sometime soon, but basically you just have to be quick, tune in small increments and always tune with two hands at once. So for instance, if you're drums have 6 tuning screws you should tune two opposite t-handles at once. I think that you will be able to learn how many turns will equate to a semi-tone or tone and be able to be fairly accurate by just making those turns. Certain music just doesn't work well with hand tuned drums. I use mine for early classical and baroque music that doesn't require note changes during the piece. If you have a break between movements or long periods of rest its possible (but still difficult) to make the changes. I don't think I would attempt to play the Blue Danube without a lot of practice. Good Luck!
There´s one thing I dont really understand. You have one "normal" note when passive, and another note when the pedal is pressed, right? Why would you need to tune quietly? do you need to tune in the middle of the song, using more than the 2 notes?? or you just use those two notes??
Each drum has its own range. The 29" drum can play notes from low F to C or D on some drums. The 26" drum can play from Bb to F. So, depending on the music you can set two pitches and change them while playing if necessary.
is the timpani pedal used while playing a song?? i mean when u play it, do you use the pedals during a song to change pitch?? or u just leave them as it is pre-tuned and hit other pitch drums?
@@adamp240 so you DO use the pedal IN BETWEEN the song? if so I imagine you only use the "main" tune and the "full pedal" alternative note, and not any note thats mid way right?
Each drum has a range so any note that’s within the drums range can be easily tuned. The 29” drum can easily play any note from F to D so it just depends on what the composer asked for in the music .
I'm in my school's symphonic band and was handed paprikash by Julie giroux for the timpani. This helped a lot, thanks!
The pedals tune the drums pretty quickly so it is very common to change pitch during a piece of music. Pedal timpani were invented to be able to change pitches relatively quickly to keep up with advancements in musical composition. Music written before 1820 or so remained close to one key throughout the work so the timpani could stay on either the dominant tonic notes and be okay. But, composers wanted to expand their harmonies and therefore the timpani had to evolve in order to keep up . Modern compositions like movie scores require the timpanist to play on 5 or 6 drums and quickly change notes constantly.
Practice singing the pitches that you want to tune your drums to. When you get better at singing the pitches you’ll get better at being able to tune the drums
Very useful, thanks
Hi there! great vids! wonder if you can give some advice on the "hand tuned" timps. Recently bought a pair of premier academy times and would like some advice on tuning them whilst playing. Was practicing the blue danube and the tuning changes 6 times in the piece
I will try to produce a video about hand tuned drums sometime soon, but basically you just have to be quick, tune in small increments and always tune with two hands at once. So for instance, if you're drums have 6 tuning screws you should tune two opposite t-handles at once. I think that you will be able to learn how many turns will equate to a semi-tone or tone and be able to be fairly accurate by just making those turns. Certain music just doesn't work well with hand tuned drums. I use mine for early classical and baroque music that doesn't require note changes during the piece. If you have a break between movements or long periods of rest its possible (but still difficult) to make the changes. I don't think I would attempt to play the Blue Danube without a lot of practice.
Good Luck!
There´s one thing I dont really understand. You have one "normal" note when passive, and another note when the pedal is pressed, right? Why would you need to tune quietly? do you need to tune in the middle of the song, using more than the 2 notes?? or you just use those two notes??
Each drum has its own range. The 29" drum can play notes from low F to C or D on some drums. The 26" drum can play from Bb to F. So, depending on the music you can set two pitches and change them while playing if necessary.
The piano was a bit flat, wasn't it? Good ears, Megan.
is the timpani pedal used while playing a song?? i mean when u play it, do you use the pedals during a song to change pitch?? or u just leave them as it is pre-tuned and hit other pitch drums?
Reuben Lalnunzira sometimes you need to retune mid piece as you need more than 4 (or however many timps you have) pitches
@@adamp240 so you DO use the pedal IN BETWEEN the song? if so I imagine you only use the "main" tune and the "full pedal" alternative note, and not any note thats mid way right?
thanks. really helped :)
Thanks, what are the two easiest notes to tune on timpani
Each drum has a range so any note that’s within the drums range can be easily tuned. The 29” drum can easily play any note from F to D so it just depends on what the composer asked for in the music .
@@freepercussionlesson thank you