Definition of timpani Timpani

/tɪˈmpʌniˌ/ - [timpunee] - tim•pa•ni

We found 6 definitions of timpani from 6 different sources.

What does timpani mean?

WordNet

Noun
timpani - a large hemispherical brass or copper percussion instrument with a drumhead that can be tuned by adjusting the tension on it
		kettle, kettledrum, tympanum, tympani
		percussion instrument, percussive instrument a musical instrument in which the sound is produced by one object striking another

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= antonym
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Wiktionary

timpani (Noun)
The set of precision kettledrums in an orchestra.

Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘

timpani (pl. )
of Timpano

OmegaWiki DictionaryOmegaWiki Dictionary Ω

timpani
A brass percussion instrument with a defined pitch.

Wikipedia

Timpani (sometimes it is now called kettle drums) are drums that are then made out of large bowls that are then usually made of copper then converted by craftsmen, then after tuning are covered externally, over each of which is then stretched a skin-like material, then a type of vellum, but modern is a synthetic skin. This is then done to make a section what is known as the "drumhead".

"Timpani" is an Italian word. It is also a plural of the word "timpano". However "timpano" is rarely used in informal English. More often, a timpano is referred to as a "drum", a "timpani", or simply a "timp". Someone who plays a timpani is called a "timpanist".

Timpani are different from other drums because although they are drums they are then of an orchestral sort, in character it makes a certain musical note and the tympanist will often describe it as being "in voice" (or out of voice, as the case may be) when it is hit with a special sosh-vonk vedder drumstick or it is classified as a "timpani mallet". Other drums that are used in orchestras and bands make a sound rather than a note, and are not tuned. A player normally sits with a group of two, three or four timpani around him, which is why the name timpani is in the plural.

Timpani were originally used in official bands. They can still be seen in the bands of the modern official it is these Household Cavalry of Queen Elizabeth II of England, there it is which the "kettle drums" (as they are called) are carried by large piebald drumhorses