Erwin Falk
Signature Series

Erwin Falk

Erwin Falk, principal timpanist of the Vienna Philharmonic, teaches timpani at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg.

He is a long-standing friend of Andreas Steiner. They were fellow-students under Professor Roland Altmann who was principal timpanist of the Vienna Philharmonic for over 30 years.

Falk's constant endeavour towards tonal and technical optimisation of his instruments, particularly in the materials used for mallets, initiated the development of the Erwin Falk Signature series with Steiner Superiormallets.

This series, which focuses on Viennese flannel, felt and wood mallets, is designed specifically for Viennese timpani with goatskin head. The materials and stick designs are based on those of historical mallets from the collections of members of the Philharmonic dating from the past century

The Erwin Falk Signature series represents a new standard for orchestral use.

"Dear colleagues,

This "Viennese model" series by Steiner Superiormallets is the result of several years of collaboration with Andreas Steiner, dating back to a meeting with our teacher, Professor Roland Altmann (Vienna Philharmonic) during the 2008 Salzburg Festival.

Our ambitious aim was to create a new range, based on our most tried and tested mallets (developed with the aid of Hans Schnellar, Richard Hochrainer and finally Gerald Fromme), specially designed for timpani with goatskin head, as still used by the Vienna Philharmonic.

Every carefully handcrafted detail, from the material to the finishing of each model, has been developed over six years of collaboration between Andreas and myself.

My best wishes to all those who have shown interest in the traditional Viennese timpani sound – may you enjoy making music and performing with "my" timpani mallets."