Timpani rolls

[DPDAN]

I like GPO timps just the way they are. Very easy to play and create very realistic personalized sound.

[Skysaw]

I think rolled samples could work quite well, using a looped sample with dynamic cross-fading controlled by our friend the mod-wheel (same way the bass drum roll works). It certainly couldn't cover all musical needs, but for those it did, it would be both user-friendly, and realistic.

The problem with building your own rolls is that hitting a drum head sounds different, depending on whether or not the head is already vibrating when it's struck. It's not a huge problem, as I haven't had too much trouble getting good results, but it's not perfect. More than sufficient for orchestral tuttis, though.

[Tom Hopkins]

It bears repeating: There will be no new sample material added to the coming update. The update concerns only programming changes. On the subject of timpani rolls: There will be some new playable options.

Tom

[DarwinKopp]

Sorry Styxx, but I have to disagree with you on this one. In order to make the most realistic cresc. timp rolls, one shouls always speed up the strokes of the roll as the volume increases. After all, this is how a real timpanist plays cresc. rolls. It will sound more realistic. Also, a simple volume envelope "cresc." helps a lot as well.

Actually, a timpanist rolls faster on a tighter head and slower on a slack head. A tighter head requires a faster roll because the tighter head is much less resonant than a slack head. A slack head requires a slower roll because too many hits tend to interfere with the natural oscillation of a slack head already in motion and would tend to decrease resonance. Again, remember that timpani are more about maximizing resonance than percussiveness.

One would think that objectively higher pitches are always tighter and lower pitches always more slack, but this is not necessarily so. What is true is that notes at the low end of the range of a given timapno are generally rolled more slowly than notes at the high end of the range. However, what is true for any given ptich is not true for the set of timpani as a whole because the ranges of the drums overlap. So, a Bb forced out of a 32" drum requires a faster roll than a Bb played in the middle of the range of a 29" drum, which requires a faster roll than a Bb at the bottom of the range of a 26" drum. These variations in speed are not great but are there nonetheless.

The hardness of mallets also changes the roll speed. Very hard mallets are typically rolled much faster than very soft mallets, again because the hard mallets produce a much less resonant sound than soft mallets.

So as something of an extreme example, a high F-natural with hard mallets on a 26" drum is often a noticeably faster roll than a low F-natural with soft mallets on a 29" drum.

There is not really a direct relation between roll speed and volume. It depends on what the timpanist is trying to achieve. If he wants a relaxed, full volume, sustained crescendo, then the rate of rolling stays pretty constant. If he wants a dramatic flair into a tutti ritardando, then the roll may actually slow a bit as volume increases. If the timpanist wants a hard, biting, no nonsense crescendo, then the roll may speed up towards the end with rising volume.

Yet, some composers routinely notate exactly how many semi-quavers the roll will contain. Beethoven was notorious for this in many of his works, and all conscientious timpanists will do their utmost to honor his directions (see the first movement of the Ninth Symphony for a prime example). So, in these cases, there is no variation in speed at all in the roll as volume changes, except where the timpanist has technical difficulties in execution, problems following the conductor, or is fighting against too great a tempo than that which Beethoven had indicated. Incidentally, I believe this style of timpani part helps impart to Beethoven's music a very definite, incisive quality.

Also, roll passages notated with heavy accents and fp rolls don't even roll at first. Typically, the accented initial note is struck, and the timpanist then pauses, perhaps even as much as a full second, before commencing with the roll. This allows the pitch of the initial accent to be clearly established before the roll continues.

These are, for the most part, generalities, and most timpanists do not very often even consciously think about much of it. Beethoven aside, the timpanist just instinctively tends to roll in a way that sounds best in a given setting.

[bmonroney]

In DP, I have the best results using step-time entry for timpani rolls. Once I have the note duration I want, I switch to ticks, and manually vary the ticks slightly as the roll progresses to make it less mechanical, usually speeding up or slowing down depending on the phrase...after that I draw in the velocity curve I want with spline tool, and bump the velocity of the first hit. I have a few of these rolls stored as DP clippings files to copy and paste into a piece...it's a big time-saver. You can can use the time-scaling features to change the speed of the roll. This is handy if you already have a speed change but the roll is just a bit too short.