I wanted to talk about the
Playwood timpani mallets formerly Raymond Curfs series
World Performer series, . Indeed if one wants to acquire some timpani
mallets, it's very difficult to understand how this series works, especially if
you can't test all the mallets. From all the marks I have tried,
these are to my opinion the best value for professional equipment, despite some
inconvenients which I will develop later on.
First I will describe briefly what you can find in
this series, then I will show you how they sound. There are actually 3 series inside
this World Performer PRO-3000 brand. One, with the first number 31, makes the Classical
Series, made with a cork core and german felt. Generally they will tend to have a rather
clear sound with some pleasant weight, I would say just above average. This series
is made of 9 Standard models with a 20mm core from 11 to 19, 11 being the hardest one, plus
3 Special models (21 to 23) with a 22mm core. The second series, marked 32,
still with a cork core, consists in 3 differents mini-series of 3 pairs
each, not unlike the Seegers series by Kato. The last number indicates the
hardness, 1 being the hardest. The first trio, marked 32-10, has a 20 mm cork
core wrapped with a soft unknown material, which renders a dark attack.
It has a pink thread.
The 32-20 trio is made with the mushroom technique, which consists in wrapping the 22mm
core with free-floating german felf. The sound will gradually change from soft and
dark to hard and clear depending on the dynamic of the stroke. It has a blue thread.
The last trio, 32-30, made with a 24mm core, is the heaviest of the 32 series. The mallets
are quite big and sound very powerful, although you will still hear a clear spectrum
around the forte and fortissimo dynamics.
The 33 series is the flannel series.
It's very vast, and consists in 5 leather models, and 4 mini-series made with
different fabrics for different colors. The leather series, 33-10 with its 5 models is very complete, from
the 3311 being quite similar to wood, hard and light in caracter, to the 3315 being very
heavy with a round sound and a soft attack. The second part of the series, 33-20, is made
of natural cotton flannel. The three models, 33-21, 22 and 23, respectively with a 28, 31
and 35mm diameter, have a clear attack and a round fondamental. They are very versatile.
The 33-30 trio has the same caracteristics with a different kind of white cotton fabrics,
somehow softer. The attack will be less present and the sound more elegant, although it may
get clearer in the upper part of the dynamics, especially with the smaller model.
The 33-40 set has only 2 sizes, 28 or 31mm.
It's made of hard wool flannel
and is very similar to viennese type mallets, although still with banboo shafts. The
sound will be light and very articulate. The last trio, marked 33-50 is composed with 2
different kind of fabrics, depending on the model. The smaller one, 33-51, is made of half natural
cotton, half viennese wool, with a 28mm head. The two bigger models are made of half natural
cotton and half denim, a softer fabric. Unfortunately I can't describe it more accurately
because I don't possess any pair from this series. Now that we know a bit more of how this
World Performer Series is organized, let's hear some models to get a better idea of how
it actually sounds.
As you could see, I don't own them all, but The sample I have may give you
an general vision of it all. Ok, so enjoy !.