Historically Informed Performance is a much-debated term, and both music historians and performers have difficulty defining it exactly. There are many ideas of what HIP consists of, but at its most basic level, it means performing music with special attention to the technology and performance conventions that were present when a piece of music was composed. For many years, this approach was applied primarily to music composed before 1750, from the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque eras. In recent years, however, the drive towards historically informed performance has made musicians reconsider how they perform Classical-and Romantic-era repertoire as well.
With instrumental music, being historically informed often means performing on instruments such as Baroque oboe, recorder, harpsichord, or viola da gamba. While some musicians (primarily string players) perform on antiques, most early music performers use instruments that were made relatively recently, by modern makers who have a variety of ideas about what an early instrument should be. Some makers try their best to make exact copies of surviving instruments in museum collections, some create their own designs based on historical principles, and some try to blend the two approaches. The particular tonal characteristics of early music instruments, as well as their inherent strengths and limitations, help to create a historically informed sound.
The most important element of historical performance is the musical style, which is ideally based on a knowledge of primary sources and other reference materials from the era of the music being performed – for example, the writings of Johann Joachim Quantz and Leopold Mozart. Of course, it is also based on modern pedagogy and performance conventions, since in many cases the early music performers of the 20th and 21st centuries have resurrected musical instruments and traditions that lay dormant for centuries. It might seem incongruous to hear a Medieval mass performed in a concert hall, or a Renaissance drinking song performed in a church, but neither of these are uncommon in the early music world!
The truth is that the majority of what we consider historically informed performance practices are speculative, and based on the best information available to the musicians and scholars of our era. Much has changed in the way that we perform early music since the beginning of the historical performance revival, and that was only 60 years ago. Those who perform early music, though (and there are more bright stars on the horizon all the time!), generally believe that the experience of the music for both performers and audience is a richer one when historical performance practices are taken into account.
Information courtesy of
Society for Historically Informed Performance
Historically Informed Timpani on Modern Instruments
When using modern timpani for the performance of period music, “Harder sticks, please,” “Those drums ring too long; can you mute them?”, “I need a shorter sound,” or even “Do you have anything smaller?” are familiar requests from conductors when the timpani sound is not quite what the music seems to require. The concern is not new. Felix Mendelssohn, while visiting the French opera, commented that their timpani were too “boomy” for his music, while Hector Berlioz, when visiting Germany, considered the German timpani to be lacking in “sufficient volume” of sound.53
Unlike modern string, wind, and brass instruments, modern timpani cannot manipulate their sound envelope quite as readily once the drum, head, stick, and playing spot have been chosen. Across the history of timpani, the sound envelope has changed dramatically. Many earlier drums likely produced a shorter, drier, less pitch-sustaining sound than modern pedal timpani, while modern instruments are built to project a long, pitch-centered tone rich with near-harmonic partials.
This creates a practical problem when period repertoire is performed on modern instruments. Modern timpani with modern heads are designed to sustain. Creating a naturally short sound envelope can be difficult, especially in fast articulated rhythms. Even with very hard sticks, the decay can remain too long for the rhythm, articulation, and transparency of the ensemble. In smaller ensembles especially, too much sustain can blur the character of the style rather than support it.
Historically informed timpani playing on modern instruments is therefore not solved by hard sticks alone. The player must control the length of the sound envelope, the amount of sound, and the color of the sound, in that order. Stick choice matters, but so do drum size, head type, damping, playing spot, room acoustics, ensemble size, notation, and the conductor’s stylistic approach.
The Real Question: What Sound Envelope Does the Music Need?
When replicating or approximating a period sound, one should focus first on the length of the natural sound envelope, then on the amount of sound, and finally on the color of the sound. For modern timpani, the issue is often not simply volume. It is the length of the sound. A modern timpano may produce a beautiful, centered pitch, but that very beauty can become stylistically inappropriate if the music requires a drier, shorter, more speech-like articulation.
This is where historically informed playing becomes an acoustical problem as much as a stylistic one. A modern drum can only be damped successfully for HIP if it is already behaving as one membrane. If the head is not clear, damping may shorten the sound, but it will not create a convincing pitch center. It will only make an unclear drum shorter.
HIP timpani sound is not a return to perfect historical truth. It is another managed compromise: modern instrument, modern room, modern ensemble, modern listener, and a historically informed sound goal. The task is to decide what the music needs and then adjust the available equipment intelligently.
Older Timpani Sound and the Center-Stroke Question
Most iconographic evidence, which remains open to interpretation, suggests that early 16th- and 17th-century outdoor/cavalry timpani were often struck dead center or slightly off center. Edmund Bowles 53 and John Michael Cooper 29 argue that much early timpani playing likely occurred at or near the center of the head, producing a shorter, more percussive envelope with less sustained pitch than modern playing.
Man playing kettledrums – engraving by J.C. Weigel
(1661-1726), from Musicalisches Theatrum
Playing spot is part of articulation. Moving toward the center shortens the envelope and reduces pitch clarity; playing in the normal modern playing area preserves more of the pitch-bearing preferred modes. HIP interpretation may therefore require deliberately choosing a less modern playing spot, especially when a shorter, more percussive sound is desired.
A Modern Analogy: Traditional Cuban Timbales
The following example is not historical evidence for European timpani practice, but it gives the modern timpanist a useful acoustic analogy. Some traditional Cuban timbaleros still use a center or near-center playing approach that produces a short, dry, percussive sound while retaining a strong sense of tonal center.
The video below shows a traditional approach to tuning timbales cubanos and playing the Cuban danzón. Notice where the timbalero strikes the timbales for the primary notes: near dead center on do and slightly off center for sol. There is still a strong sense of the key of F. When he strikes the timbales in the more modern or conventional rim-oriented location, the instruments produce a weaker, thinner sound. The voice of these drums, when struck near the center, produces a very short envelope that may help modern players imagine one possible aspect of earlier kettledrum sound.
| Tutorial on how to tune traditional Timbales Cubanos and play Cuban Danzón with Canelo Vasquez, drummer and director of the Super Lamas Group of Actopan. |
Below are other examples of traditional Cuban timbaleros playing a danzón in an orquesta típica style.
DANZÓN EN EL ZÓCALO DE VERACRUZ
The great master Polo, playing a danzón.
HIP Is Not One Sound
As with all instruments, timpani have undergone an evolutionary process. Their sound envelope differs from stylistic period to stylistic period. One size does not fit all. The mid-nineteenth-century Einbigler timpani that Felix Mendelssohn wholeheartedly endorsed would not have been appropriate for an early eighteenth-century Bach oratorio, just as they would not be efficient enough to power a full-sized orchestra of today. See The Evolution of Timpani Pitch.
Original instruments or accurate replicas are usually best for a strict HIP approach, and in a fully period ensemble all instruments involved should serve the same historical concept. But authentic period timpani are not always available. When modern equipment must be used, the player has to reverse-engineer aspects of the older sound world. The goal is not to imitate history perfectly, but to make modern equipment serve a historically appropriate musical function.
The methods discussed below are possible starting points for using modern instruments to approximate a historically informed timpani sound. Each creates a different color, resonance, sonority, and sound envelope. Much of the outcome will depend on the acoustics of the venue, the instruments, the heads, the sticks, the playing technique, the size and forces of the ensemble, and the conductor’s approach. Be flexible, open-minded, and willing to experiment as you develop your own personal approach. There is no prescriptive solution, only creativity, imagination, experimentation, and artistry.
Choosing a Historical Target
It must be stressed that timpani, including the heads, have gone through an evolutionary process, as have all musical instruments. It is impractical to define one period sound that fits all sixteenth- through nineteenth-century repertoire. See Evolution of Timpani Pitch. Since the actual performance sound of early timpani is open to speculation, even modern replicas are approximations and may not be appropriate for every situation if one is trying to create a specific or regional period sound.
The term Baroque timpani is often used too casually today, especially when describing modern replicas that include T-handles, chain or belt-driven tuning systems, and modern natural skin heads. These instruments may be useful and musically effective, but they are not automatically representative of all seventeenth- or eighteenth-century timpani practice.
With that in mind, how does one begin to approach HIP? Do you need drums that employ Schalltrichter? What size of Schalltrichter is appropriate? What type of heads are appropriate? What sticks should one use? Where does one draw the line with HIP? Wherever one feels comfortable, both financially and musically.
Period instruments and true replicas can be expensive, so alternative solutions are often necessary. It is all about the interpretation, the sound, and the effect the timpanist, or sometimes the conductor, wants to create. First and foremost, the player needs a clear mental and aural concept of the sound. The artist then adjusts the instruments, sticks, technique, damping, and interpretation to fit the acoustics of the environment and the stylistic approach of the conductor. One may be able to pull a set of ornate wooden sticks out of the bag and satisfy the conductor’s request for a “period” color, but the true artist digs deeper.
Notation, Sources, and Interpretation: Beethoven 5
Understanding how to stylistically interpret the music is just as important as the concept of the sound, and look, that one wants to create. Slashed note stems, indicating a specific rhythmic subdivision of the beat, and tremolo markings are often found in the same piece in much sixteenth- through nineteenth-century timpani literature. A classic example can be found in the last measure of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Is there a real difference between the sound of the two indications? Deletions and revisions in the manuscript suggest that Beethoven’s notation was not completely straightforward. What did Beethoven intend? What sound was he looking for?
Final measure of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5
This notation makes little sense to the modern timpanist when playing on modern timpani, but when this work was first performed in 1808, the orchestra was smaller, the timpani were smaller, and the heads were thicker. Those drums produced less resonance and sustain than modern pedal timpani. A note with a tremolo marking could be interpreted as a multiple-bounce roll, that is, a buzz or press roll rather than the modern hand-to-hand interpretation. That interpretation may seem antithetical to modern timpani technique, but it may have been musically appropriate for the instruments and style of the time.
How to interpret this notation remains a point of contention among world-class timpanists today. Some believe it should be one continuous hand-to-hand roll, sustaining the sound just as the other instruments are doing. Others believe it should be two rolls: a slower hand-to-hand roll followed immediately by a hand-to-hand roll as fast as possible. Still others prefer a different type of “two rolls” interpretation: a fast hand-to-hand roll or Wirbel followed by a multiple-bounce or double-stroke roll to sustain the sound. Yet another interpretation is a fast hand-to-hand roll with a subito fortissimo accent on the half note with the trill, as in the Harnoncourt interpretation below. Each interpretation can work, but the instrument, acoustics, edition, ensemble style, and performance-practice preferences will often determine the best solution.
One might think that looking at critical or Urtext editions of this symphony would solve the problem. An Urtext edition aims to represent the composer’s text as faithfully as possible, but it still depends on editorial decisions about conflicting or ambiguous sources.
Two recent Urtext editions by renowned Beethoven scholars present conflicting interpretations of the manuscript. Jonathan Del Mar’s Urtext edition, published by Bärenreiter, has the final timpani event simply as a whole-note trill.
Clive Brown’s Urtext edition, published by Breitkopf & Härtel, follows the traditional notation of a slashed-stem half note and a trilled half note. Can both be defensible? There may be more than one reasonable solution, and the performer should understand the source problem before choosing one. See Urtext Myths 3 – You’re seeing exactly what the composer wrote: By Kenneth Woods.
No matter how one decides to interpret the measure, the decision should be informed rather than automatic. This author rather enjoys the Nikolaus Harnoncourt rendition below. However, when performing this symphony, the author prefers to play a simple roll as in the Jonathan Del Mar edition, regardless of what appears in the part.
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 / Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Concentus Musicus Wien, dir. Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Interpretation
Music is an interpretive art form. There are few fixed rules in interpretation, and there is no single definitive method for interpreting a composition the “right” way. Differing philosophies about artistic value are often matters of opinion, taste, scholarship, and context. It is no different with contemporary HIP interpretation. When interpreting HIP, one should examine the standards, instruments, notation, and conventions that existed at the time, and then make interpretive choices based on scholarship, creativity, imagination, experimentation, and artistry.
Below are a few examples of contemporary HIP interpretation by various timpanists.
The opening of the video below, Schumann’s Symphony No. 4 in D minor with David Zinman conducting the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, is a good example of HIP-influenced practice on modern timpani.
Schumann Symphony No. 4 in D minor
David Zinman, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Principal Timpanist David Herbert explains his HIP approach to the opening of Haydn’s Symphony No. 103, Drumroll, using modern timpani.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Principal Timpanist David Herbert
J. S. Bach – Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Weihnachtsoratorium
Christmas Oratorio – BWV 248
Traditional Grip / Wood Sticks
Concentus Musicus Wien
Reverse Engineering Period Sound on Modern Drums
Much of the interpretation and aesthetics of period performance may be visual as well as aural. Ornate wooden sticks, late-nineteenth- or early-twentieth-century hand-tuned timpani, and wooden floor stands may look the part, but the sound still has to be adjusted. Based on extant examples, period timpani from the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries were often smaller in diameter and shallower in depth than modern twenty-first-century instruments, and they were equipped with thicker heads. The size and depth of the narrow-collared bowls produced less projection. The mechanics and construction produced less pitch definition. The heads produced less resonance and sustain. The sticks and playing techniques, including playing spot, were also different. Consequently, early timpani produced a sound quite unlike modern drums. Using modern instruments for HIP therefore requires some reverse engineering if the player wants to approach a plausible period sound, which may not always be palatable to modern ears.
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Courtesy of The National Music Museum: Pair of timpani, German states, 18th century. Bowls hammered from sheets of copper. Animal skin heads tucked around iron hoop and tightened by iron tuning rods (six and seven, respectively). Rods received by nuts mounted on decorative iron shields nailed to the bowls. Large internal funnels (schalltrichter) above each vent hole. Three-legged, one-piece, integral stand. Diameters: 61.5 cm and 63.5 cm. Bowl depths: 30 cm and 30 cm. |
18th-Century Kettledrums
Lobkowicz Family Collection
The sizes of modern American timpani now considered standard are 32″, 29″, 26″, and 23/24″, and they are usually equipped with Mylar™ heads. The standard sizes of modern European timpani are approximately 58 cm, 66 cm, 74 cm, and 81 cm, and many European timpanists prefer natural skin heads. If one is using natural skin heads such as calf or goat on modern instruments, it may be somewhat easier to emulate some qualities of period timpani, though the instrument itself remains modern.
More often than not, controlling the length of the sound and the amount of sound will go a long way in defining a HIP interpretation. The color of the sound is important, but envelope and volume usually do more to approximate a period effect.
An excellent example of controlling the length and amount of sound is demonstrated by Adrian Bending performing Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Gabrieli Consort & Players. The timpani used for the authentic period performance are 21″ and 23″ drums with English white calf heads made by Pete Woods of www.henrypotter.co.uk. Notice the sticks Adrian is using as well. Even when using period-instrument replicas with modern heads, one still has to control the sound.
Adrian Bending with the Gabrieli Consort & Players
Damping Methods
The amplitude of sound diminishes over time due to resistance. The decay of amplitude over time is called damping. For timpani, there are five possible reasons for energy loss resulting in the damping of the sound emitted from the instrument.47 48 50
1) radiation of sound
2) mechanical loss in the membrane
3) viscothermal loss in the confined air inside the bowl
4) mechanical loss in the kettle, or bowl, walls
5) mechanical loss in the frame and external parts
For generating a shorter sound envelope, the methods below focus primarily on mechanical loss in the membrane. The following information can be used as a starting point for emulating various types of period timpani sounds through damping, including gel dampers such as Moongel Damper Pads, while using modern instruments with Mylar™ heads.
A center mute primarily reduces center-active motion and shortens the envelope without necessarily destroying the preferred diametric modes that carry the pitch. The author prefers different sizes of circular gel-disc mutes placed directly in the center of the head to reduce the energy of mode (0,1) and related inharmonic concentric activity. The concentric modes do not normally define the principal tone, but they contribute to attack, body, resonance, and the overall sound envelope. For the science behind how timpani heads vibrate to produce pitch, please see the sections Vibrating Circular Membranes, Membrane Modes, and Preferred Modes.
Method I
Place the pitches on the higher two drums, for example 26″ and 23/24″, and place a gel damper or another mute in the direct center of each head. You need very clear heads if you still want a pitch component to the sound. The lower range gives the drums a “slack” sound without many high overtones. The damping diminishes much of the sustain and produces a drier sound, while still preserving pitch if the heads are clear. If a sound made mostly of percussive attack transients and drum color is desired, with less focused pitch, the drums can be slightly detuned at each lug point. This may seem counterintuitive, but a dry, slack, percussive sound without a strong pitch center may approximate some characteristics associated with very early timpani. A controlled, slight loss of clarity can be used as a color effect, but it should be used deliberately. If the head is too uneven, the drum will stop sounding stylistically dry and will simply sound poorly tempered.
Method II
Place the pitches on the center drums, usually 29″ and 26″, and place a gel damper or another center mute in the direct center of the head. Add suede mutes or split a gel damper and place it near the edge where the head meets the bearing edge. Experiment with the placement of the side dampers and with various lighter weights of hard sticks. Creating a damping pattern inspired by a pseudo-backbone on Mylar™ can work well. See below.
Method III
Place the pitches on the lower drums, usually 32″ and 29″, and damp in a similar fashion to Method II. The higher range on the lower drums will give a somewhat drier sound with less ring. Again, experiment with the placement of gel dampers or mutes of your choice, and with various weights of hard sticks. Using larger damped drums can work well for larger ensembles when one wants to emulate the effect of early English “Double Drums,” or when playing with a large brass complement where volume is needed but long sustain is not.
The author uses different sizes of clear, circular gel-disc mutes made from material similar to Moongel Damper Pads, which he uses regularly in the dead center of the head. The gel discs are slightly thicker than the Moongel Damper Pads. The circular shape better conforms to the shape of the center-active concentric modes and damps the overtones created by these modes, without necessarily sacrificing the pitch-producing preferred modes. The sound is considerably drier and less resonant.
It is extremely important to have different sizes of circular gel-disc mutes to reflect the sizes of the drums and different acoustical environments. Too large a gel on a smaller drum may make the drum sound dull, while too small a gel on a large drum may have little noticeable effect. Room acoustics matter. A damping setup that works in a dry studio may sound dead in a carpeted church or still too resonant in a lively stone hall. Experimentation is often needed to find the right combination for the room and ensemble.
Pseudo-Backbone Damping on Synthetic Heads
Damping Mylar™ Heads with Moongel Damper Pads
A pseudo backbone is not a synthetic version of a real skin backbone. It is a linear damping pattern inspired by backbone placement, used to shorten sustain and create directional playing zones on a synthetic head. Synthetic heads can be made drier with damping, but they still carry modern film behavior: collar memory, tension history, impact marks, and a longer natural sustain than many period-style skin heads.
When using both split and large Moongel Damper Pads, place them on the drums so that they bisect the drum, creating a pseudo-backbone placement that allows a playing spot on either the shoulder/hip side or the belly side of the damping plane.
Pseudo Backbone II (belly)
Creating a pseudo backbone and playing on the belly side of the damping plane can project the principal tone while limiting some of the higher overtones and slightly reducing resonance and sustain. This can be useful for a Classical-period sound.
Pseudo Backbone III (shoulder/hip)
Creating a pseudo backbone and playing on the shoulder/hip side of the damping plane can help project the principal tone while reducing higher overtones, resonance, and sustain. This can be useful for emulating an earlier, drier Baroque-period sound.
Michael Baker, Principal Timpani/Percussion in Halifax, Nova Scotia, uses tape on his drums as a damping method. Below is Michael’s taping method to damp modern 26″ and 24″ Light Mark XIV timpani for a performance of Handel’s Messiah.
Some players prefer to use suede mutes for damping. For more information on how to make and use suede mutes, please visit How To Make Duff-Style Suede Timpani Mutes by Dwight Thomas.
There is no consensus about the best way to damp a drum, the best location to place a damper, the material to use as a damping device, or how much to damp. Along with using different sizes of circular gels in the center of the drum to reduce center-active partials, the author also uses suede mutes at the edge of the drum to address resonance issues. The key is to pay close attention to the acoustics of the room, the instruments, the size of the ensemble, and the musical style, then make adjustments tastefully. Sometimes little or no adjustment is necessary. Other times, more experimentation is required.
Stick Choices
Stick choice for HIP interpretation on modern instruments is as important as the choice of drums and damping. Stick choices should include an array of different weights, shaft lengths, and head materials, including wood, chamois leather, hard felt, and hard flannel. The length of the shaft and the weight and size of the head influence the overall weight of the mallet. The weight of the stick influences the voice of the instrument by affecting how much sound is generated from the drum. The covering influences the color of the sound.
Historical-looking sticks are not automatically historically useful. Many times, heavy, ornate “table leg” replicas on modern instruments generate too much sound because of the weight of the stick. On original instruments, heavier mallets may have been necessary in order to get enough sound out of smaller drums with thicker heads. On modern instruments, that same weight can easily overpower the smaller, drier sound one is trying to imitate.
Contrary to the modern concept of a large-voiced, pitch-centered, sustained timpani sound, many period instruments likely had a smaller voice with a thin, transparent, dry, compact sound and a very short envelope. This was due to thick heads, shallower bowls, smaller diameters, and different collar construction. The shorter envelope made the articulation more apparent, which is a hallmark of much period music. Paying close attention to the relative weight of the stick helps prevent modern instruments from creating a boomy or muddy sound that is not characteristic of many period instruments or the music itself.
Gallery of Mallets by B-Mallets
Although this author prefers to use smaller and lighter wood-disc mallets on modern instruments, for historic wood stick replicas, please visit the site of Wolfgang Gaisböck.
Final Practical Takeaway
First and foremost, the player needs a clear mental and aural concept of the sound they want to create. Then they must adjust the instruments, sticks, damping, technique, and interpretation to fit the acoustics of the environment and the stylistic approach of the conductor. HIP timpani playing on modern instruments is not historical cosplay, and it is not solved by one pair of hard sticks. It is a disciplined attempt to make modern equipment serve a historically appropriate musical function.
Again, there is no prescriptive solution, only creativity, imagination, experimentation, and artistry.