ARTICULATION

ARTICULATION refers to the characteristics of each note you play: staccato, legato, warm, bright, dark etc.

Focus on ARTICULATION by doing the following:

#1

Experiment with different sounds on the timpani. Try to make the drum sound staccato. What did you do? Try to make the drum sound legato. What did you do differently?

#2

The easiest way to change articulation is to change to a harder or softer mallet. If there is not time to change mallets, change your technique.

~ A loose, relaxed technique produces a dark, round tone with lower overtone.

~ A tighter grip and a snappy, quick stroke produces a brighter more pointed, articulate sound with higher overtone.

These things are true at all dynamics and is a separate issue from simply playing louder or softer. Try to achieve all four basic combinations:

BRIGHT PIANO

DARK PIANO

BRIGHT FORTE

DARK FORTE

CLICK HERE for a demonstration of Bright and Dark Articulations

CLICK HERE to play along ("I Play, You Play")

#3

In general, the drums will tend to sound brighter when you are playing louder. If you are to maintain a dark tone, you need to stay relaxed and perhaps even switch to a softer mallet. This would be similar to a wind player saying relaxed when playing loud to avoid a harsh sound.

#4

The timpani will sound more articulate when the heads are tighter (top of their range). They may also have a clearer pitch in the higher ranges. Sometimes these considerations are used when there is a choice of which drum to assign to a particular pitch.