Pete Woods (Henry Potter & Co.) and I wanted to design a timpani that was mellower in character and less punchy than a shallow, English, half-round military timpani. After much research and thought we came up with this design. Suitable for smaller ensembles playing Bach, Mozart and Haydn, these timpani with “mini-Dresden” bowls work well with thick goat-skin heads which give them a warm sound that blends very well. We deliberately made the diameters of the drums very close to each other at 20″ and 22″. This meant that both drums could have exactly the same shape and we would not need to compromise the volume of the larger drum in order that it wasn’t out of proportion with the small drum.