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Monday, January 20, 2014
Palen Music Center is dedicated to helping children experience excellence, personal growth, and joy through involvement in music. We carry out this mission by supporting area band directors through weekly service, support, educational programs, and quality products. This weekly Quick Note newsletter strives to highlight topics that are immediately helpful in the classroom. Comments, suggestions, ideas, and articles are always welcome.
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Replacing and Clearing a Timpani Head by Mark Wessels
WHEN SHOULD I REPLACE THE TIMPANI HEADS? WHAT SIZE TIMPANI HEADS SHOULD I ORDER? Begin by measuring the size of the bowl from one side to the opposite. In some cases (with especially very old models or with Dresden type timpani), the bowl will actually be smaller than the stated size. Next, check to see if the collar is “standard” size (next to the shell, as a drum rim) or “extended” (where there is 2" of head that extends beyond the bowl). If it is standard, order a head the size of your bowl measurement – if it’s extended, add 2" to the bowl size (therefore, a 32” extended collar timpani will require a 34” timpani head). When in doubt, remove the heads that are currently on the drum and measure them, or contact the instrument manufacturer of the drums with the model number to obtain the correct head size. TAKING OFF THE OLD HEAD It's best to unscrew the tension rods in the same manner that you do when putting a new head on the drum – one full turn on each rod, in opposites. Fully loosening one rod at a time places stress on the collar and could cause it to warp (it's not likely, but why take the chance?). After all the tension rods are detached from the receivers, you can slowly allow the pedal to return to the highest position and take your foot off. Remove the collar and old head. CLEANING AND GENERAL MAINTENANCE Check the counter hoop to see if it is flat and round. A bent or warped counter hoop is the number one cause for timpani not sounding true, not matter how much effort is put into tuning. Clean the instrument thoroughly inside and out with a damp cloth (yes, even the dust and spider webs on the base that have accumulated for years and years)! Tension rods and receivers should be wiped free of dust, debris and accumulated grease. Use a small bowl of water mixed with dishwashing liquid and Qtip where necessary. Dents in the bowl can be removed with a rubber hammer, though if the bowl integrity has been compromised, it'll only be a cosmetic fix. Use small strokes around the edge of the dent and work towards the center. Clean the bearing edge (lip) of the bowl. If you have older drums that have years of accumulated grease, you can lightly polish the bearing edge with #0000 steel wool or fine sandpaper using small circular strokes (don't sand or scrape horizontally). In most cases, simply wiping with a slightly damp cloth is sufficient. You may wish to apply a dry teflon spray which will lubricate the bearing edge (eliminating the annoying "creaking" sound when changing pitches). Just a light coating is necessary - don't over spray! Allow to fully dry before putting the new head on. Cork grease is a somewhat acceptable substitute if applied in a very, very light coating (a thick layer will cause the head to loose its resonance). MOUNTING THE HEAD Depress the pedal to the lowest position (hopefully, your student helper didn't leave...) and thread the rods until each is “finger tight” with the counter hoop. Don’t over tighten - just get each one with the same degree of light tension all the way around the drum. At this point, the head should be properly seated on the bowl with no wrinkles or waves. With your timpani tuning key (not pliers or crescent wrench), give each rod one half turn in a crisscross pattern (5 o'clock, 11 o'clock, 7 o'clock, 2 o'clock, etc), moving around the drum fully until there is a recognizable pitch. Press the pedal to the mid-point and play a soft stroke in the proper beating area (use a hard mallet for easiest pitch recognition). Listen for a pure tone and sustain. If the sustain is uneven (the pitch has waves in it) or does not have a decent resonance (length of sustain), it may be necessary to once again check the evenness of rod tension around the drum and adjust accordingly. Measuring the rods or using a tension measuring device such as a “DrumDial” might help, but these methods don't work 100% of the time. At this point, if you can't get the drum to sound a decent sustainable pitch, it's best to start over rather than kill yourself trying to fix the problem. If a warped head or rim (or bowl) is causing the problem then you can do your best, but it'll never sound great. Lower the pedal to the bottom position and continue to tune the drum up until it has reached the lowest note in the pitch range (* this is what I prefer. Others prefer to raise the pedal to the highest position and tune up until the drum has reached it's highest note in the drum's pitch range). GENERAL PITCH RANGES FINE TUNING, OR “CLEARING THE HEAD” Start by striking the drum softly in the proper area with your ear close to the drum head (play at a mid point between two rods, not directly on top of a rod). Listen carefully to the fundamental pitch (not the overtones) and hum the pitch to yourself. Next, strike the drum at a forte level and listen to the sustaining pitch. If the loud stroke sounds flat (lower) relative to the soft strokes, one or more of the tension rods directly across from your beating area is flat. If the loud stroke sounds sharp (higher) than the soft strokes, it's the opposite. If this is the case, you'll need to find the offending tension rod (ACROSS FROM THE BEATING AREA) and make the adjustment with a quarter turn. Strike the drum softly 2-3 times, listening for the fundamental pitch – then forte. If the forte stroke sounds the same pitch, then this area of the head is clear. Move over to the next “channel” and compare to the first. Repeat the process until the drum is clear and sustains a true pitch from soft strokes to loud. Try not to spend more than 10 minutes fine tuning any timpani without a significant break. Ears are easily fatigued and after a point, you'll start second guessing yourself and possibly do more harm than good. PEDAL ADJUSTMENT Start with the pedal fully depressed into the highest position and remove your foot. If the pedal moves back (down), apply more spring tension by dialing the tension knob clockwise (checking every couple of turns until the pedal remains in the top position). If the pedal remains steady in the upper position, but won't stay in the lowest position, the spring is too tight. Return to the upper range position and gradually DECREASE the spring tension by dialing the knob counter clockwise. It's important here to note that there is a finite amount of thread space on the rod which secures the pedal spring. Over-dialing the knob can damage your spring (if too much tension is applied), or separate the rod from the pedal altogether. TURN THE KNOB IN SMALL INCREMENTS UNTIL THE DESIRED TENSION IS ACHIEVED! You'll definitely know if you've turned it too much... that loud gunshot you'll hear means that the drum needs to go to the shop to get fixed. In many cases, you'll have to adjust the pedal where the spring tension works in “most” of the pitch range. At this point, you can adjust the pressure pads using a drum key. This is the mechanism under the base of the timpani that squeezes two small “brake pads” against the pedal rod – which is accessed through the small hole in the side of the base under the pedal. Apply just enough tension on these pads to allow the pedal to retain it's position through the full range of the instrument – but not so much that the pedal doesn't move freely. If this adjustment mechanism doesn't secure the pedal, carefully turn the drum on its side to inspect it. 9 times out of 10, one (or both) of the brake pads are missing! You should replace them by ordering a new part from the manufacturer. In a pinch, you can find a rubber-like substitute at a hardware store and cut it to size. FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS Don’t simply accept bad sounding, out-of-tune drums which cannot obtain a true pitch. Only if you properly maintain your instruments and tune them frequently can you (or your student) be successful at becoming a true musician on the timpani! Article source: http://www.vicfirth.com/education/articles/replacing_timp_heads.html Why I Choose To Teach In a Small School by Chris Sprague Note: We wish Chris Sprague and the Bradleyville Band good luck as they prepare to perform at the Missouri Music Educators Association state convention on Thursday at 12:30pm.
Since I am the only music teacher in the district I have the same students in my classroom from the time they are in Kindergarten through graduation. That means I have thirteen years to be a positive influence in the development of a young person’s life. For some of my students I may be the only stable adult in their lives. They know that no matter what else is going on in their lives they will be able to walk in my room and know that there is routine, respect, and reasonable expectations. Being the only music teacher has the advantage of being able to be in complete control of my curriculum. I still teach with national and state frameworks in mind, but I get to decide how and when to introduce the concepts I want my students to learn. If there are gaps in their knowledge I don’t have to rely on anyone else to change a teaching method, and I can address those gaps in any way I choose. It is easy to customize instruction to each individual rather than teaching to the median and hoping that every student “gets” it. Small schools tend to be the center of their community. There exists a strong sense of pride and sense of personal ownership and involvement from students, teachers, administration and community members. This encourages strong personal interaction as well as closer working relationships among school staff. We all must work together to succeed, and everyone pitches in to make things work. One evening the superintendent, elementary principal, two janitors and I worked to clean up the art room when it flooded during a rain storm. No one is above doing any job regardless of what their job description says. One of my favorite things about my teaching situation is the cross-age mixing of my performing groups. It is so rewarding to watch the older students teach the younger students. In our grade 7-12 band my older students constantly mentor the younger students and reinforce what I’m teaching from the podium. Not only are the younger students gaining knowledge, but the older students gain leadership skills they may not get in a classroom with similar-aged students. Recruitment is not a problem as the younger students see those role models day after day and aspire to be “as good as Johnny” when they get older. Discipline is also not much of an issue as students are taught how to behave in my classroom from the time they walk in my door at age five. You CAN have successful music programs in small schools. The students in our small districts deserve excellence in their music education just as their peers in larger districts. It is a different mindset in some ways than being in a larger district, but the rewards can be just as fulfilling. Palen Music Center is so proud to support Chris Sprague in her efforts to bring quality music education to the students in Bradleyville. She exemplifies everything that a teacher should be. She provides her students with a wealth of knowledge, a loving embrace, and when needed, a swift kick in the rear. There is no secret why she has been so incredibly successful in Bradleyville. We love you Chris! If you have comments or questions for Chris, she can be reached by email at [email protected]. |
In order to reach your full potential on playing the timpani, the instrument must be in good working condition, with heads that are in tune. This article will briefly describe the process for changing a timpani head and tuning (clearing) it so that it produces a pure characteristic sound.
After twenty-one years in education I have finally pinpointed why I have chosen to stay at the same small school for eighteen of those years. My school serves approximately 230 students in the same K-12 building. While this has its disadvantages the positive aspects far outweigh the negatives.