thor with Remo and Evans composite heads.

The Renaissance head tends

to be very warm and produces a sound similar to calfskin. Herbie May, Di-
rector of Engineering and Research and Development at Remo, provided
me with a spectrograph of the Renaissance head. It visually conrms what
a timpanist hears: the Renaissance head emphasizes the lower partials and,
therefore, sounds warm. However, the life span of the Renaissance head is
shorter than the Evans Strata timpani head; although, recent improve-
ments in the manufacturing process have increased head life and made
them nearly equivalent to the Strata head. The Evans Strata is not as warm
as the Renaissance head and on Walter Light drums, it produces a strong
fth above the principle. With what appears to be very solid construction,
the life of these heads is slightly greater than Remos Renaissance head.
The textured composite covering of the Strata head rubs off much easier
than the Remo Renaissance head. The timpanist can sand the playing
spot of a Renaissance head to smoothen the texture of the playing spot and
limit mallet head wear but this is not an option with the Strata head. Sand-
ing the Stratas playing spot removes all the composite covering. For those
wishing a thinner sound with plenty of upper partials, a regular Remo
plastic head will serve the purpose. Finally, Remo and Evans place steel in-
sert rings on their high-end heads. Originally, high-prole insert rings in-
troduced by Remo replicated the tuck of a calfskin-mounted head. This
would place the plastic heads esh hoop further beneath the lip of the bowl
than is possible without insert rings. Many timpanists believe that the
replicated tuck on plastic heads helps focus the heads pitch and project
the sound better. Remo and Evans also offer a low-prole steel insert ring
on premium heads. As of this writing, the jury is still out on whether or not
the height of the insert ring will materially affect the sound of the head; al-
though, both companies believe that the insert ring (whether steel or alu-
minum) helps prevent the head from breaking away from the esh hoop.
Timpanists Cloyd Duff and Vic Firth claim that Remo plastic heads,
like calfskin, have denite playing spotsa point that applies to Remo Re-
naissance heads, too (Duff, n.d.a and n.d.b). As we know, calfskin heads
have a backbone that runs down the center of the head and divides the
head into roughly two equal halves. Playing directly on the backbone or at
the two spots at right angles to the center of the backbone (and near the
esh hoop) produces less tone and resonance; the sound is more percus-
sive. To get the most resonant soundone blossoming upward and out-
ward when it is playedit is best to play on either the four playing spots
(one on each side of the backbone and near the esh hoop). These acousti-
cal properties seem to be incorporated, unknowingly, in the production of
plastic and composite heads. Thus, there appears to be four playing spots
on either side of an imaginary backbone. (Remo marks this backbone with
a line down the center of the TI series head; however, this is absent on the
Renaissance head.) These playing spots tend to sound more resonant and
less percussive. Not every one of these four playing spots has the same
acoustical properties: one might project better, one might be more tonal,
and one might ring better. In replacing drumheads, timpanists should nd

Theory and Practice of Timpani Tone Production 17