Instrument: Timpani 

Judging by how the video ended, I'm just gonna assume that Mr. Smith kept playing indefinitely, until a whole squad had to drag him away from the timpani while he was resisting fiercely.

I’m a timpanist. This dude is Is like the philosopher of timpani

he absolutely loves his instrument :D

0:29 a wild fourth drum appeared!

This guy looks like both my grandparents at the same time.

He convinced me, I'm buying a timpani

These videos aren't just great for kids. I've been playing music professionally for years- even bothered to get a college degree in music- and I'm learning a ton from watching. Unfortunately, I don't own every single orchestral instrument, and I'm not at liberty to go rummaging around the local symphony orchestra's rehearsal space playing around with their instruments. So I'm enchanted to discover your thoughtful, thorough, and polished videos. Thank you, thank you, thank you! What a great resource :)

The beauty of an orchestra is that everyone think they are the most important part of the orchestra.. and they really are!

that sustain is crazy for a drum

What a nice guy.

As a fledgling composer who only plays piano, videos like these give me a better idea of an instrument's limits for my pieces. Thank you

I’m proud to say I’ve become a timpanist since the last time I watched this.

What a marvelous tutorial on this instrument. Andy must be glorious teacher.

I _love_ the tension that the Timpani creates in musical pieces! This instrument really stands out and sets the mood.

I always wondered what was so significant about the timpani that caused many to love it. After seeing this video I thinkk I understand.

So Timpanies created that BOOOiiiinng Sound

I am our high school band timpanist and I absolutely love the timpani. I just fell in love with them and there really is something very magical about playing the Timpani. It adds a whole other dimension to the concert band.

I like that you emphasize that there isn't a set way of playing the timpani. I've been told my technique is bad, but I know for a fact that it produces a good sound, so that's what I'm sticking with.

3:08 for cartoons! :P

I find these videos relaxing at the end of a busy day. Even when the instruments are extremely loud.

3:08 when you get a _little_ too excited

what a perfect example of someone who is dedicated to and loves his craft

1:17 the only thing I came here for

as a person who lives in the USA. it always kinda shocked me that we dont have a comprehensive music program starting k-12. everyone should be able to play something even if they are bad at it. and everyone should have an instrument. we spend so much time teaching kids in school math. having them rewrite the same thing over and over again but in music you use math all the time. why are we having these kids busy work when we could teach them to play. this was cool. thanks

As a composer, these videos are always a great help. It is a nice reminder to hear certain things on certain instruments in order to get a better 'picture' of how it will sound in an ensemble I am writing for.

Excellent presentation. As a composer I enjoy watching these videos.

One interesting thing about timpani is that their sound is missing the fundamental frequency. For example, at 6:45, the A drum sound contains harmonics of 110, 165, 220, 275 Hz, but the 55 Hz fundamental is missing (it's about 30 dB lower than 110 and 165). The ear recovers the missing fundamental. This is an interesting phenomena of hearing. The second and fourth harmonics (110, 220 Hz) oscillation modes have circular symmetry, but the third and fifth have mirror symmetry, this is why when you hit in the center, third and fifth harmonics are very low, and the pitch appears an octave higher.

I can't tell what's more amazing, his skill or the fact that he can still play with that watch on his wrist.

I absolutely adore the timpani as a percussionist. (My band doesn’t split percussion from timpani). This was one of the first videos I watched when I first started out and it told me so much. Then i forgot it existed and now it pops up in my recommendations, still as helpful as ever. This man also clearly loves the timpani. There’s something really special there when you connect to your instrument. Loved this

I respect your passion for the instrument. I really enjoy it too. It sounds powerful to me. I want one. I guess I want too many instruments. If I bought all the instruments I want I'd be broke for sure. Thanks for the knowledge about the timpani. I learned something today.

My percussion teachers referred to the tympanist as the 2nd conductor of the orchestra. Very nice playing I WISH I could get a job as a percussionist.

I can tell he's really passionate about the timpani. I'm so fascinated with the timpani especially after hearing composers like Bartok, Prokofiev and Shostakovich

At the end of the video ,Andy plays the beginning of the last movement of Beethoven s 5th Symphony with perfect hand dampening technique. BRAVO !

4:48 breaking young people's dream and dissing violins and cellos LOL

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I love this guy! he's so cool and he seems so passionate about his instrument!

One of my favorite instruments, powerful and primordial.

I love how this guy explain, you can tell he has true passion for what he does

After 35 years of journalism I'm back to percussions but unfortunately too old for timpani that I always look at with a little jealousy. So I console myself on latin timbales :) Thanks for this very nice video!

This is a God-level instructional vid of sorts, by a very knowledgeable human being who knows how to deliver it poetically. I'm floored. Absolutely geeking out to this! 🥰

1:36 tominic, tonic, and dominant 😅❤️

I don't even play any instrument...but I love music... I already watch all the videos with my son ,he plays violín and this is really interesting,really nice videos.

I've never played an instrument, but this was fascinating!

I absolutely love the timpani in the first movement of Beethoven's 9th symphony. I think it's a crescendo note striking through the orchestra like lightning. It's a very aggressive, dove, powerful and intensive sound and it really adds to the piece.

tone is fabulously nuanced

I love the timpani. What lovely notes they make.

Ditto to Cristena's comment. We also homeschool and the kids are going through "Meet the Orchestra" by Ann Hayes, a fantastic book with great illustrations and eloquent descriptions of the instrument and their various sounds. We have all very much enjoyed these introductory videos by Philharmonia. It's quite wonderful when my children get excited for the idea of an instrument which "honks like a goose with a bad cold" and then have the chance to actually hear an oboe playing. The time you all have invested in creating these videos is helping to musically inspire a new generation of performers and I just can't thank you enough!

I just came here because I just randomly wondered what these drums were called. I enjoy hearing them in orchestras. You learn something new everyday.

Loved this guy. Didn't knew about this instrument, surprised it had pedals, lol.

Hi, my name's Andy Smith. I'm gonna give you a short tour of the timpani of the orchestra. The modern timpani bridges the gap between the double bass section and the percussion section, in that modern timpani are written to be partly a bass instrument, and partly a percussion instrument. So that as well as playing a little bit of Beethoven Five, (timpani playing Beethoven's Fifth Symphony) it's the opening of the last movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, which is just a rhythm on two drums. But then you get exciting things that are written for two drums, which have a completely different meaning. For example, in the Sunrise section of Strauss'Also Sprach Zarathustra, the timpanist, he goes, (singing) and then everybody's waiting.And the timpanist goes, (timpani playing Strauss'Also Sprach Zarathustra) and really has a chance to show off. And that makes a differenceto the whole opening of the piece. The instrument isn't just playing tonic and dominant, for the sake of playing tonic and dominant, it becomes part of the orchestra texture. You might want to ask how timpani work. Well,centuries ago, the instrument didn't haveall this framework that you can see down here. (tapping sound) All this here. That wasn't there. It was just a bowl with a piece of skin,usually calf skin or goat skin, stretched across. When you tighten it up,it made a higher noise, and when you loosened it,it made a lower noise. And the timpanist in those days,to tune them, would have to turn all the keys to get the instrument even,so it rang nice, and, (timpani sounds) so you get a nice pure note. If all these keys were not　in tune with each other, then you would get a note that was, that would wobble,and wouldn't sound very nice.But this sounds really clean. (timpani sounds) (sings) There's no doubt as to　what note I'm playing. The way the instrument tunes　is a little bit like an umbrella, in that when you open　and close an umbrella, just pushing one central bit of it opens and closes the umbrella. In the same way, although it works in an opposite sort of way, because of the tension on the bowl,the instrument actually gets tighter as you push the umbrella (timpani sounds) up, and looser as you let (timpani sounds) the umbrella down. Modern composers like,well, I call them modern composers, but I mean Stravinsky, Janáček, and Bartok, people who realised the potential of this type of tuning system,wrote an awful lot for it, even for the timpani playing tunes. So that's how it comes. So you can go... (timpani playing a tune) So you can actually play tunes and notes by tuning the instruments. Whatever sound you make on the timpani, it will be individual, because no two timpanists play in the same way. And no two timpanists hit the instruments in the same way. But whatever it is you do, you will alter the tutti sound of the whole orchestra. And that is really crucial. And therefore, you know,I have people come to concerts who come and say, "Whoa the drums were great in that!" And I say, "Well what about the rest of the orchestra?" "Oh they were great too! But you did something that elevated it to a different level." And that's the art of playing the timpani. Students often ask me what the key to success is. And there isn't one, because each individual timpanist has an individual style. It's not like playing the cello or playing the violin. There isn't a set way of playing the timpani, and therefore I help them to develop their own style. The school of violin playing is something that's totally different. It's evolved over centuries. But what has evolved over centuries here, are the instruments. So the instruments, from being hand-tuned drums, they're now pedal drums, you can play tunes, do all sorts of wonderful things with them. And you have a huge range, going from effectively a bottom C below the bass clef, right up until somewhere in the treble clef, above middle C. Up to an E or an F. (orchestra playing) So now, I'm gonna take one pair of sticks and show you how you can make a variety of sounds with just one type of stick. If you play near the edge, you get a thin, but very clear sound. (timpani playing) But you don't get a lot of tone. You get the pitch, but not a lot of tone. If you move further into the skin, towards the middle, what I call the normal playing area, you get proper sound. (timpani playing) If I go towards the middle, then you get this. (timpani playing) All with the same stick. Now also, if you hit the drum in a certain way, and let it ring, (timpani playing) you get a nice round sound. But then if I use my other hand, I can cut the sound short by going, (timpani playing) and you get a totally different sound. And so, the variation of sound that you can get from just one pair of sticks,is enormous. Absolutely enormous. And it's really important to realise that when you play the timpani,you're actually playing as much with your hands as you are with the sticks. (timpani playing) - [Narrator] If you've enjoyed learning about the instruments in the orchestra,why not try our iPad app,The Orchestra, featuring Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra. Fully interactive video playback lets you view the orchestra from all angles. And the revolutionary BeatMap shows you who is playing, and when. (orchestra playing Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique) Follow along with synchronised scores, hear the inside scoop in audio commentaries, and get a 360 degree view of all the instruments. Available for download in the App Store on iTunes.

we had a girl in my high school band that played Tympani but she couldn't tune the damn thing lol

That was a fascinating presentation. Cool expert! Thank you Andy Smith

I'm a metalhead who can play the classic drum set proficiently, guitar, bass and a bit of piano. I also write rhythms for hip hop, and can play some blues on the guitar as well. I say this because as someone from outside looking in, this was amazingly interesting. Thank you for the video :)

As a starting composer. I had no idea of the existence of the timpani, thank you I could not have had a better introduction for this instrument, it was a delightfull presentation :3.

I got the honor of playing these 2nd year of HS. That was the year I feel in love with the and found my instrument. Haven't touched one since.

So revelatory and soothing. Thank you, Mr. Smith.

This is the sort of stuff I love about the internet/RU-vid etc thanks 👍🏻

As a former timpani player, I also have to had that when you play outdoors, beware of the temperature. If it gets a little colder, then, you'll have to adjust your tuning because cold makes your skins tighter. You have to lessen the tuners a little. When it gets hotter, the tuning will need to be adjusted a little tighter. ALWAYS LISTEN CAREFULLY TO YOUR SOUND!

Geezus, what a fantastic channel.

He's so talented

I have always loved hearing a good timpani player and was intrigued by Andy Smith and his instructional video. Thank and a double 👍 👍!

My favorite instrument.

He is great at explaining things.

I remember being told by one of my first teachers 40+ years ago that "tympani" is plural and that "tympano" is the correct term when referring to a single drum. Wonderful introduction. Now I need to go listen to "March to the Scaffold" again.

Great to see you on RU-vid Andy! You've still got it!! Cheers from Evan down in Melbourne.

Get involved in our #popupplanets! We want to see you playing your favourite extract of Holst's The Planets and you have a chance to win a pair of tickets to our concert in London on Saturday 1 Oct: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-9UY29P2CW1o.html

Andrew Smith is brilliant!

Thank you so much! I homeschool my children and today we are learning about different instruments. Mr. Smith made this video very interesting to my children and made them very excited to learn more about an instrument they had never heard of. Thank you again so much!

love this explanation of the timpani, thank you soo much for sharing

Respect. I loved playing tympani when studying in college.

This 8 minutes vid opened my eyes. I'm amazed by the detail yet clean explanations. ;D thanks for showing the variety of sound timpani can make with "just one pair of sticks"! :D I never heard anyone explained it so well.

Beautiful video. Thanks to you folks and to Mr. Smith.

In high school the tympani was my favorite instrument. And I wish I had kept playing them.

these videos are really good for me as someone who is trying to teach myself composition. knowing how the instruments look, work and sound is just invaluable. thank you!

The timpani does not get the glory it deserves. The ability to play powerful percussion COMBINED with the bass tonic note (among others) brings a moment of AUTHORITY to a piece that nothing else can. Very, very key part of the orchestra.

We have a new instrument film - EUPHONIUM - coming out on 23 Feb 2018 - make sure you subscribe to be the first to see it! TRAILER: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-U1nNyGLD170.html

Nice and helpful content!! Here I'm studying music and don't have access to all instruments. But now that you've created this type videos, I have access not just to the instrument, but also a professional player who examines it :)

Great introduction to timpani in the orchestra :)

Amazing, truly incredible to know there is so much more to the timpani!

I’ll be honest, I am just now in band and received a note saying I made timpani. I want all the tips I can get, and this helped me a lot!

I learned a lot more about timpani in this video. I didn't know that players could tune the drums and play them simultaneously. :o

These videos have really influenced my composing. Thanks so much for putting these up and letting the players tell their stories!

Honestly the timpani seems like the most fun to play

I want a timpani for Christmas

Im percussion just joining band in 6th grade. Thank you for teaching me about the timpani. =D

I can remember talking to Andy Smith after a performance at the Festival Hall a good few years back. he's an excellent timpanist. but I think he's retired now..

7:17 Beethoven 5th symphony: opening of 4th movement ;D

Oh, by the way, I love this series videos! Very intimate/informative! Awesome! Thank you Andy for a wonderful timpani video!

If I played percussion, this would probably be my favourite instrument to play. It just sounds so epic

These videos have earned you a subscription from me :) Very well done! Can't wait to see all of these.

Thank you for the Samples and the great Tutorial (:

Shostakovich's 11th symphony second movement near the end has an amazing timpani part

This channel is epic for orchestra tips and advice i miss playing Trumpet from highschool :( makes me sad i cant play it again

Thanks. These sounds make a great fit in my timpani sample library. Exactly what I needed and for free 😀.

as some kid who plays a less proper instrument in that I play the bass guitar I gotta say that timpany and double bass (obviously) are my favorite orchestral instruments

Awesome!

Loved this presentation! Go Andrew! Very interesting and informative - especially about playing as much with the hands as with the sticks. This was the most interesting orchestra instrument tutorial I have seen so far. Great!

nothing adds drama like the timp😊

I played the timpani in High School and I loved it.

All these series of videos are amazing ! Congratulations !