Tympanon

What it means

Tympanon is an ancient name for a frame drum: a flat hoop with a head stretched over it, held in the hand and struck with the hand. Depictions frequently show the instrument in cultic contexts. From the word, later designations such as timpani for the kettle drums developed, which leads to confusion: the ancient instrument has little in common with the tuned kettle drum of the orchestra apart from the linguistic root. In some medieval sources, moreover, the term designates a string instrument, which complicates the identification further.

Musical use

According to the surviving depictions and texts, the tympanon was connected above all with dance, procession, and religious festivities. Frame drums of this type are widespread to this day in the Mediterranean region and far beyond, and accompany singing and dance. Their sound is comparatively quiet and rich in overtones, with a short, well-controllable ring; the music lives on the organization of the rhythm and on the distinction of different ways of striking the same head. About the actual manner of playing in antiquity there is no established knowledge.

Performance practice

With today's frame drums, one hand holds the hoop and at the same time damps or colours the sound through finger pressure from inside, while the other hand strikes. Different strokes — with the fingertip near the rim, with the flat hand in the middle, with the fingertips — produce distinctly different sounds and form the actual technique. Practise two clearly distinguishable sounds first and build patterns from them. Natural heads react strongly to humidity; warm them before playing to increase the tension.

Bear in mind that frame drums of different origins call for different techniques and are not freely interchangeable: size, head thickness, and frame width determine which strokes are possible. Learn the technique on the instrument you use. Practise distinguishing the sounds first slowly and in fixed patterns. Watch your posture, because a tense holding hand damps the head. With natural heads, warmth is the usual means of increasing the tension before playing.