A lifetime of musical thinking through the timpani.

From marching band to the Concertgebouw Orchestra — how a physical sense of tempo became the foundation of a musical life.

From discipline to inner singing — the foundation of musical playing begins long before the first stroke.

Playing is not about producing sound — it is about becoming the meaning behind it.

Technique does not create music — inner singing does.

Before the orchestra, before the stage — learn to listen.

Timing is not counting. It is choosing the exact moment.

Your grip is your embouchure.

To play a heavy note, you must first feel its weight.

Like Robin Hood drawing his bow, articulation lives in the tension before the release.

Different drums do not just change pitch — they change character.

Dampening is shaping the silence after the sound.

Most tension in timpani playing begins in soft rolls.

You don’t choose mallets for clarity — you choose them for color.

Your mallets do not decide. You decide.

Tuning is not adjusting pitch. It is making music.

The only way to learn tuning is to practice tuning.

Pedaling is listening in motion.

You are not tuning notes. You are tuning function.

Natural heads offer a wider artistic palette.
But what if the sun suddenly starts shining?

Are we all tuning too sharp?

The timpani do not accompany. They interrupt.

Lessons learned from Riccardo Chailly, Mariss Janssons and Bernard Haitink.

Mahler 3 & 4 — shaping drama from the back of the orchestra.

The instrument follows the orchestra.

Lower tension, different response.

When the drums become smaller, everything becomes smaller.

Beethoven 9 — misurato versus tremolo.

Beethoven 9 — intensity and control in the coda.

Bartók — pedaling and direction in context.

Mahler 5 — one of the most revealing audition excerpts.

Auditions — do you change your sound under pressure?

Beethoven 1 — playing smaller, not only softer.

Brahms 1 — how was the tuning?

Tchaikovsky 4 — power and control in motion.

Etude No. 5 — study as music, not exercise.

Everything begins and ends with the music.

A final reflection — and where to go next.