We specialise in the manufacture of timpani, custom-built drums, maces and various other instruments. Potter’s has built its reputation on traditional craftsmanship and finest quality
Started over 200 years ago with the manufacture of wooden snare drums and bass drums, we have an unbroken manufacturing line of percussion instruments in accordance with traditional methods that are still being used today. Potter’s also repair the priceless solid silver timpani owned by the bands of the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals that are used for the most important royal occasions. In addition, we have made the finest quality copper replicas for them. This long tradition and expertise is central to the manufacture of our timpani and percussion instruments used in orchestras the world over. We have also repaired the extraordinary collection of twelve 17th-century side drums from the English Civil War, which are kept at Hampton Court.
Read more about Henry Potter timpani
In the mid-1980s when the period performance movement was in the first stages of its dramatic expansion an old pair of Potters timpani was discovered in a shed at the Aldershot shop. It was Janos Keszei, the founding timpanist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, who persuaded Pete Woods to renovate them. These drums went on to be Janos' first choice instruments for many years and they can be heard on numerous famous recordings with the OAE, the Hanover Band (including the Beethoven Symphony Cycle) and others. Once these restored instruments were heard and known about, commissions for new pairs started to come in and, slowly but surely, Potter's timpani came back into regular production, once again being recognised for their superb sound and unrivalled historical integrity.
The bowls of Potter's timpani are not spun or drawn, but made by the traditional method of braizing together three cut sheets of copper, and then hand beating them to form the shape. A traditional wired-edge forms the edge of the bowl, highly polished brass castings are used for the taps and fittings, and the hoops are the traditional "flat band" design with a small collar between the hoop and the shell.
Today, Potter's timpani are used the world over by, amongst others:
- Maarten van de Walk (Orchestra of the 18th Century)
- Adrian Bending (Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Gabrieli Consort and Players, Glyndebourne on Tour)
- Charles Fullbrook (Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The Sixteen, The Kings Consort)
- Todd Manley (Philharmonia Baroque, USA)
- Peppie Wiersma (Collegium Vocale Ghent, Netherlands Bachvereniging, Radio Kamerfilharmonie)
- Bach Collegium Japan
- Royal Academy of Music, London
- Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama
