Before Beethoven’s day one drum played the tonic and the other the dominant (which is a perfect fourth lower). Beethoven did nothing to the kettledrums but change the way they were tuned; and _that_ made all the difference in the world. Sometimes, as in the _Scherzo_ of the _Seventh Symphony_ he tuned them a minor sixth. For the _Ninth Symphony_ he had the original idea of tuning them in octaves. Kettledrums are made in about six different sizes because there are only _four good tones to each drum_. The drums, for instance, in the picture facing page 122, are: 30 × 20, with compass E-flat to A-flat; 28 × 18, with compass G to C; 26 × 17, with compass A to D; and 25 × 16, with compass C to F. There are many different kinds of sticks besides the felt-padded. Wooden balls as large as a fifty-cent piece are used for certain effects; ordinary street drumsticks for very fine crisp rolls, as required by Elgar in his _Variations_; and the sponge sticks for delicate work. There is no end to experimenting with different sticks for different effects. Mr. Walter Damrosch tells an amusing story about the beginning of the _Scherzo_ of the _Ninth Symphony_. It seems that one day when Von Bülow was rehearsing his Orchestra in Florence, the kettledrum player could not get the rhythm crisp enough, nor properly accented. He tried again and again; and still it would not do. At last, Von Bülow called out: “Don’t you see? It is _Tim_-pani, _Tim_-pani.” And, indeed, the Italian name for these instruments—_Timpani_—gives exactly the right rhythm to this phrase of Beethoven’s. The player had no more trouble. We notice that the performer very often leans over his kettledrums with the deepest concern and bends his ear over them, screwing his instruments up or down, and again bending low and listening as he rubs a finger over the parchment. He is altering the kettledrums so as to get notes that will soon be required; for ever since Beethoven raised the kettledrum to the rank of a solo instrument, composers have not hesitated to require many changes of tuning in the course of a composition, only they are careful to allow the player sufficient bars of rest, so that he may get ready for the new requirements. The kettledrum can make detached notes, deep rolls, long _crescendos_, long _diminuendos_; and often it murmurs, or mutters, little, soft notes that simply melt into the orchestral effects. Musicians usually speak of them as “the drums.” Kettledrums are of ancient origin. They come from the East. The Crusaders found them in Arabia and introduced them into Europe in the Thirteenth Century, when they were called “nakers” from their Arabian name, _naggareh_. Henry VIII used them in his cavalry regiment. One was placed on each side of the horse’s neck. THE SIDE DRUM