Day 20

Date: June 3, 2011

Time: 9:10pm

Playing on iTunes: "Ænema" by Tool

Today we did a lot of logistics in the morning block as far as making sure all the front line marimbas and vibraphones had all the same hardware and such. I got a new vibraphone key (the notes on the vibes that I hit with a mallet) since I had cracked one a few days ago...I think I may be playing a little too hard! 

This blog is going to be on the basics of how to change timpani heads! You may not think that changing the heads on timpani drums is a long process, but it is. And for anyone who does not know what timpani drums are, they're the drums in the back of orchestras that usually have the big loud notes at the end of pieces. My best friend Taylor from UMass is the timpani player in the Cadets pit this year. Every couple weeks he needs to change the heads on the drums because playing on them for 12 hours a day, 7 days a week doesn't put them in good shape after 2 or 3 weeks straight. So here's how to change timpani heads with Taylor Yozwiak!

Hi my name is Taylor and I play the timpani in the Cadets pit. Here are the basics on how to change timpani heads. This is a picture of our Yamaha timpani before I replaced the heads. 

The first thing I did was to make small measurements on both sides of the new drum head. This is important so that you can align the head and make sure it is centered over the drum before you secure it. 

I keep a softball in my maintenance kit, but its not for playing catch! The softball fits perfectly under the pedal. You need to keep the pedal locked in the down position while changing the head because the pedal looses tension when you take the drum head off. 

In my maintenance kit I also have a tuner, WD-40, cleaning supplies, and other tools. 

The next step in the process is to unscrew the lugs on the drum and remove the old head. This is what the timpani looks like when the head is removed. After this, I centered the new head over the drum and then screwed in the lugs on the rim to secure the head. 

Once the new head is on the drum, I carefully tightened each lug to make sure they all put an even amount of pressure on the head. I tightened each head until it was able to produce the range of pitches that was appropriate for each drum.  

The final product is beautiful! This is what the timpani looked like after I repeated this process on all 5 drums. On tour this summer, I will need to replace the drum heads every 2 -3 weeks because of how often I play the drums. The new heads make the drums look and sound great! 

Thought of the Day: "Making excuses accomplishes nothing. Take responsibility."