I just made a pair of timpani mallets using hockey tape as a core and the results were very good. I wrapped the tape to a diameter of 1" and since the tape is an inch wide I trimmed it with a razor knife to a width of 1/2". So, I ended up with a core that was 1"x1/2". Then I used two layers of Germanic felt to cover with a ball wrap. The mallets are very warm sounding and great for rolling. The tape provides a good amount of weight, but without being too hard.

For bass drum beaters I use a Cartwheel wrap. I demonstrate how to do that in another video that you can find on You Tube or my free percussion lessons site. I'm wrapping a timpani mallet with a cartwheel wrap but the technique will be about the same. Thanks for your question and I'll get around to making a video about bass drum beaters before too long.

Thanks!

You have to have the right material to work with. There are two basic types of felt that work for timpani mallets known as German Felt and American Felt. In this video I'm using some Germanic felt that I bought from Steve Weiss Music

Yes. I would use a cork from a Champagne bottle. Just cut the top off. In this video I'm using a cork disk I found at the Corkstore on line.

Thanks for pointing out my error. I was thinking of the dimension of the felt needing to be smaller so I inadvertently said that the felt shrank. It does stretch by about 1/2" or so in my experience, but the stretching factor changes with the size of the mallet. The ratio of stretching to diameter of the felt will change, so there will be some trial and error involved. The American Felt that I've ever used doesn't stretch quite so much because of it's density.

Thank you for your sharing. This is thing I need ^_^.

Further to your American Felt question....I don't use American felt for my ball style mallets. I use American for Cartwheel wraps.

Just to clarify, the felt is stretching half an inch, not shrinking? How does American felt differ in this regard? Thanks for the extremely helpful video!

I used the pre-sewn felt heads from music123.com. They were fairly easy to replace and worked nicely, despite the fact that I can't sew.

Do you know what density the German felt has? Weight per square meters.

here's several ideas for making marimbas Attend a school or self-study via an online course Make sure you are fully committed to it before you begin (I discovered these and the reasons they work on Delfords magic plan website )

Hey man! You do a great job making these mallets and lessons... I have experience making marimba/xylo/glock mallets, and now I'm into timpani mallets making, and I would like to ask you, You know where do I can find these nylon pieces used for making felt disk Viennese-style mallets? Do they have a name or brand in specific? I would like to get some! Doesn't matter if I have to import... Thanks

do you make bass drum mallets or is that the same?

Hello ! I'm in France and i would now where i could find some felt ? Thank you !

Tkz! You don´t find this information in every place, i made a pair of mallets with cotton, but doesn´t work so well.

where do you get the shafts from?

That "cork" you mentioned at the beginning, it´s the same thing that comes in wine bottles?

You can buy timpani felt at www.steveweissmusic.com

cómo se llame eso blanco que le pones a la baqueta

I have some shafts for sale at www.freepercussionlessons.com