timpanE Posted October 11, 2003 Share Posted October 11, 2003 I have to take a couple months off from playing timpani because of school..honestly, I dont know when Ill be able to sit behind those drums again. I was curious if any one has any advice of building up pitch knowledge..what notes are what when heard..sharp/flat...up till now Ive always used a tuner, which isnt bad!, but i figure If I cant be activly playing I can do something to help myself out. I wasnt sure where to put this post...in the percussion area?...but I figure brass players would be able to help me out more....in the brass area?..the topic is percussion, not brass... so I came here! One instructor I had, Matt Armstrong (BD timpanist..dont remember what year) told me a great way to build pitch was to sing to the radio...uhm...Ive been blasting showtunes and singing to em since I was 12!! =0) But any sort of advice, program, website, whatever would be very appreciated!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GeorgeD Posted October 11, 2003 Share Posted October 11, 2003 moved to percussion forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flammaster Posted October 11, 2003 Share Posted October 11, 2003 Get a guitar. yea sounds funny but learning how to tune a guitar helps a LOT! On the Apple site there is a program that is for tuning guitars. In it there are all kinds of alternate tunings like dropped D high A etc. It's a Demo but that will give you some ideas. I play guitar in Standard, and for Slide I play Dropped D, raised A and raised E G and C. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurakemb Posted October 11, 2003 Share Posted October 11, 2003 I have to take a couple months off from playing timpani because of school..honestly, I dont know when Ill be able to sit behind those drums again. I was curious if any one has any advice of building up pitch knowledge..what notes are what when heard..sharp/flat...up till now Ive always used a tuner, which isnt bad!, but i figure If I cant be activly playing I can do something to help myself out. I wasnt sure where to put this post...in the percussion area?...but I figure brass players would be able to help me out more....in the brass area?..the topic is percussion, not brass... so I came here! One instructor I had, Matt Armstrong (BD timpanist..dont remember what year) told me a great way to build pitch was to sing to the radio...uhm...Ive been blasting showtunes and singing to em since I was 12!! =0) But any sort of advice, program, website, whatever would be very appreciated!! I wouldn't really suggest singing along to radio, as most bands these days tend to play out of tune. Sad but true. As far as pitch development, the only thing that helped me (in the whole drum corps thing, at least) was just playing. All the time. Since you can't do that (according to your post) the next best thing is to listen to music. Classical worked best for me. Sing the bass notes in your head, and see how they relate to the melodies above them. If you happen to hear something you think might be out of tune (it won't happen often, depending on what group you're listening to), figure out if it's sharp or flat. As far as playing timpani in the drum corps thing....... It's hard. Because of the constant climate and temperature changes, you have to clear your heads every day (I'm sure you already knew that, though). Find out what section behind you is playing your part, usually the tubas (contras) or baris/euphs. Always keep your tuning ear on them and then obviously your timing/ensemble ear on your listening focus. Yay multi-tasking! Timpani is fun...... except for dragging them around everywhere. That sucks. Hard. Another thing that helps is just tuning a drum to a certain pitch, then taking it up a whole step. Then take it down. Then up a half step. Then down. Do this over and over and over and over and over. Don't stop doing it. On all five drums. All the time. Okay, that post is really long so I'll shut up now. If you have any more questions, let me know. I'll do whatever I can to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timpanE Posted October 11, 2003 Author Share Posted October 11, 2003 I wouldn't really suggest singing along to radio, as most bands these days tend to play out of tune. Sad but true. As far as pitch development, the only thing that helped me (in the whole drum corps thing, at least) was just playing. All the time. Since you can't do that (according to your post) the next best thing is to listen to music. Classical worked best for me. Sing the bass notes in your head, and see how they relate to the melodies above them. If you happen to hear something you think might be out of tune (it won't happen often, depending on what group you're listening to), figure out if it's sharp or flat. As far as playing timpani in the drum corps thing....... It's hard. Because of the constant climate and temperature changes, you have to clear your heads every day (I'm sure you already knew that, though). Find out what section behind you is playing your part, usually the tubas (contras) or baris/euphs. Always keep your tuning ear on them and then obviously your timing/ensemble ear on your listening focus. Yay multi-tasking! Timpani is fun...... except for dragging them around everywhere. That sucks. Hard. Another thing that helps is just tuning a drum to a certain pitch, then taking it up a whole step. Then take it down. Then up a half step. Then down. Do this over and over and over and over and over. Don't stop doing it. On all five drums. All the time. Okay, that post is really long so I'll shut up now. If you have any more questions, let me know. I'll do whatever I can to help. thank you so much! really really helped :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susantaylor40 Posted October 12, 2003 Share Posted October 12, 2003 I am a former tympanist.... and a tip that I can give you is, that in order to tune your tymp prior to going on the field, is to hum the significant note into your tymp head...( I know, it almost looks like you are paying homage to it). It works... just adjust the pedal ( or crank... I'm old school) until the head responds to the note that you are trying to tune to.... alot like using a tuning fork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flammaster Posted October 12, 2003 Share Posted October 12, 2003 We used to use a Baritone player or a Contra to come in and play notes for us as we tuned by ear or used a keyboard. I remember One day at camp Jack Mehan brought us this big device about the size of a shoebox..it was an electronic Tuner. That was also the same day as the birth of Blue Devils "Space Music." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Posted October 12, 2003 Share Posted October 12, 2003 For me, the thing that really built my pitch, was singing the BD F-Tuning. From that F, which I can perfectly get in tune, I can use melodic jumps from songs (i.e. Fifth, first 2 notes of F-Tuning, 4th, Here Comes the Bride, etc...) Also, I spend alot of time using solfeggio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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