The
European
Timpani
HEAD
MAINTENANCE
HEAD
MAINTENANCE :
When
the sound of a skin becomes ‘bad’ (a subjective assessment that
differs from player to player), then it is time to change. The amount of
use which each skin gets, and the quality of the skin, are the factors
which determine for how long it lasts – perhaps 1-2 years, possibly
three. Plastic skins can last longer, especially if they are on timpani
which are rarely used. For some players the age of the head is irrelevant,
and they will continue to use the skins as long as the sound is considered
good, whereas others change at regular periods, at least once each season
or more.
Michael
Vladar (Wiener Symphoniker) - ‘I
change the skins approx. twice in the season. 500 euro per skin, that is
an investment. I change the middle skins first, and mostly keep the skin
on the deep timpani a little longer.’[1]
Not
surprisingly it is the heads on the middle timpani in a set of 4 drums –
as these drums hold the notes that lie in the middle of the timpani’s
playing register – that will always wear out first. These timpani are
also used the most, either as the primary drums in the set, or as a
separate pair for classical and early romantic repertoire.
‘Our
natural skin heads become flatter in a short time if one plays in just one
place. To avoid this, use different places for playing piano and forte, or
to obtain a hard or weak sound.’[2]
- the late Richard Hochrainer, former timpanist of the Vienna Philharmonic
As
the skin is always struck in more or less the same place (the area known
as the beating spot) it will naturally exhibit more pronounced wear at
this position while leaving the rest of the head virtually untouched.
Many players then rotate the head through 180° to find a new
beating spot. This is possible with natural skins as, if the head is kept
wet during this process, it will adapt to its new position on the drum,
conforming to imperfections and differences in the lip of the kettle as it
dries. With plastic skins however, once the skin is initially placed on
the drum it will mould itself permanently to this position on the kettle
and cannot take any other shape. [3]
Nick
Woud - ‘If the head is out of
tune, we will take it off and wet it and put it on again. That works best
with calf.’
Clearing
a timpani head is the process by which minor adjustments are made to each
tension rod so that the tension on the skin is equal at all points of its
circumference. If the tension around the head differs then more than one
note will sound from the skin, producing a confusing and unclear
intonation. This is an important step in mounting a new head on a timpani,
but opinions differ as to how often this process needs to be repeated
throughout the life of the skin.
For
some this is an ongoing process, done before every rehearsal and concert;
others choose to never adjust the skin after it has been initially been
placed on the drum. On timpani, both machine and pedal, where overall head
tension is controlled by a central spider (the ring underneath the kettle
to which all the tension rods are connected), the tension around the skin should
remain equal, but knocks and bumps during transport, or perhaps
weather conditions, may affect one or more of the tension rods, and then
the head needs to be cleared again. For baroque timpani, where each
tension lug is adjusted individually, constantly clearing the head is an
integral part of changing the pitch of any drum. Regular clearing of
timpani heads, especially done using mechanical devices works better on
plastic skins also, whereas on calf Nick Woud says the same process will
‘destroy the sound’.