As timpani have evolved, they’ve become more complex. No longer confined to the back of a horse and a limited range of notes, composers are taking advantage of the instrument’s full abilities. Especially the pedal.

From a student perspective, pedal work starts appearing in intermediate repertoire and will usually coincide with key changes. They require performers to change the note while also counting bars rest and maybe even still playing. The harder the repertoire gets, the greater variety of notes timpanists are required to play and the more frequent these pitch changes occur.

The term ‘Percussion’ covers a lot of instruments. As such, it’s a pretty common to come across ones listed in your sheet music which you don’t have access to. Whether this is due to limited budget, broken instruments, or obscure rarities don’t really matter. What does matter is figuring out a suitable alternative.

The basic principle to selecting an alternative is to find something with the closest equivalent timbre or function. So, without further ado, here are my Top 10 percussion substitutions!

Following on from last month’s post about timpani, a colleague asked me to do a deep dive into tuned percussion. All too frequently school teachers are asked to run curriculum units on percussion with it being assumed they know the ins and outs of these instruments. Which is a bit unfair given that I’ve spent 18 years specialising in the subject and am still figuring things out!

So today I’d like to provide an introduction to all things tuned percussion – enjoy!

The first person to teach me timpani was a violist in my first rehearsal with the Adelaide Youth Sinfonia. My introduction to these instruments boiled down to “Here’s the head, pedal, and gauge. Hit one, move the other, and keep an eye on the third”. This was technically an accurate description of how timpani work, but back then I wished I had a map to help me navigate these drums which were (at the time) twice my size!

So, that’s what I’ve decided to do today. Consider this your beginner’s guide to all things timpani – enjoy!

Mallets are expensive and even as a seasoned percussionist it can be difficult to know which ones to buy. For this reason, most percussionists I know tended to start from the same general selection of mallets before branching out.

This month I thought it would be useful to explore popular recommendations. Whether you’re looking to boost your school collection or a student has asked for advice, I hope this list helps you on your way!