timpani

American  

[tim-puh-nee] / ˈtɪm pə ni /

Or tympani

noun

(used with a singular or plural verb)

1. a set of kettledrums, especially as used in an orchestra or band.

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timpani British  

/ ˈtɪmpənɪ /

plural noun

1. Often (informal) shortened to: timps.  (sometimes functioning as singular) a set of kettledrums, two or more in number

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timpani Cultural  

1. Italian for kettledrums; the term timpani is often preferred by composers and performers.

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Other Word Forms

• timpanist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of timpani

< Italian, plural of timpano kettledrum < Latin tympanum < Greek týmpanon

Explanation

Timpani are large drums that are common in most orchestras. Have you ever heard something that sounded like thunder in a song? That's probably timpani! You can also call timpani kettledrums. They're big percussion instruments that can be tuned to specific pitches using a foot pedal, and they're played with soft-headed mallets that professional timpanists usually make themselves. When you're talking about one individual drum, call it a timpano.

Example Sentences

In 2005, Michael Tilson Thomas, another longtime Kraft colleague, and the San Francisco Symphony premiered a Second Timpani Concerto, which, along with his first, has already become a repertory piece for timpanists everywhere.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 17, 2022

Phil creative chair, conducted and recorded Kraft’s Timpani Concerto No. 1 from 1992.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 17, 2022

Timpani are quietly pounded, a softly insistent ceremony, as winds and strings unfurl in long exhalations; you recall the influence on Eastman of Morton Feldman’s vast, glacial expanses of sound.

From New York Times • Feb. 4, 2022

As for me, I’d grown up in Timpani Hills, where none of these men would have had any reason to visit unless they’d come to do some roofing.

From The New Yorker • Sep. 3, 2018

Gizell Timpani, 47, who dons a tuxedo, top hat and goatee to perform as Valentino King, is also perfoming at Manchester Pride and is named as a role model and inspiration for many male impersonators.

From The Guardian • Aug. 26, 2012