Timpani Head Selection

Choosing a Timpani Head

When you're looking for a drumhead for your 26" drum, you would normally look for a 26" drumhead. With timpani, however, that's not the case. Timpani heads extend beyond the edge of the bowl, so the drumhead size is larger than the drum size. Ordering the wrong size timpani head can be expensive and time consuming. If you're not sure about the size you need, check out the Remo Timpani Size Chart or the Evans Timpani Size Chart to see if your drum is listed on there.

If you don't see your drum on that list, you can still figure out what you need. If you have a drumhead now, you can measure across the drumhead, including the collar. This should give you the size you need. If that doesn't work or it's not an option, there's one more thing we can look at. The type of timpani drum you have (and when it was made) can dictate what type of drumhead you need.

Regular Collar

The first type of timpani is Regular Collar. In this case, there is very little spacing between the bowl and the collar of the drumhead when it's seated on the drum. It almost looks like a regular drumhead, proportionally. Regular Collar timpani drums are generally made before 1978 and include older Ludwig, Slingerland or Leedy drums. To find correct sizing for these drums, a good rule of thumb is to add 1" to the drum size to find the drumhead size. The exception is for older 23" drums. These drums need a 24 1/4" head.

Extended Collar

For drums made in 1978 and later, most timpani drums became standardized. This type of timpani drums are referred to as Extended Collar. When the head is seated on the drum, there is about 1" of space between the bowl and the collar. Because that space applies all the way around the head, you're going to want to add 2" to the size of the drum to get the drumhead size you're looking for. While this rule is good in general, a few exceptions apply. If you have high end drums such as Adams Philharmonic, Walter Lights and the Yamaha 9000 Series, then the rule does not apply.

Still have questions?

If you have still have questions or you're looking for more advice, contact our education department by e-mail or by giving us a call at (614) 885-7372.