Large bowl-shaped metal (usually copper) or fibre glass drums with parchment or plastic heads usually struck with mallets (wooden sticks covered in felt).

Tympani are the most frequently used percussion instruments in the modern orchestra. The 6 pedal-activated tuning rods, tighten or loosen their grip on the head, changing the tuning almost instantaneously.

Tympani can be traced to military drums used by Turkish soldiers during the 15th century. Europe quickly adopted them and by the 17th century they were already common in large instrumental ensembles.