The discovery of two rare timpani in a Dunedin school storage space has sent the drums of communication beating, and attracted attention from percussion aficionados across the country.
The timpani, also known as kettle drums, are believed to be more than 100 years old.
Columba College head of music Richard Madden said he had no idea the ''baroque timpani'' were so rare.
The timpani were sitting at the back of the school stage, but had seldom been used in recent years because they were impractical.
He said the school borrowed more modern timpani from other musical organisations in the city because they had foot pedals which could quickly change the pitch of the instrument.
Baroque timpani did not have foot pedals. Instead, they had to be tuned with a series of ''taps'' on the head of the timpani, which was time-consuming and meant the pitch of the instrument could not be changed during performances.
Mr Madden had no idea how long they had been at the school, and was asking former pupils and the public to help answer the question.
The timpani were noticed by the Strike percussion ensemble while giving a performance at the college recently.
From there, word spread, and it did not take long before New Zealand Symphony Orchestra principal timpanist Larry Reese heard about the instruments.
''Most drummers in New Zealand know that I have a special affection for antique timpani,'' he said.
''I just love old instruments and the history, and how we have evolved in the symphony orchestra.
Mr Reese believed the timpani were made in England by Boosey and Hawkes as early as 1910, and were probably imported to Dunedin by Begg and Co Ltd.
He said they appeared to still have the original towel-skin heads.
It was believed Begg and Co imported the instruments for a school or auxiliary band or even a garrison band, Mr Reese said.
Mr Madden said he had no idea how they came to be at Columba College.
Mr Reese, who is also a lecturer at the New Zealand School of Music at Victoria University, said he was negotiating with Columba College to see if he could buy them for the school.
''That one instrument that the university is lacking is a pair of these older instruments where we could recreate the sound of Haydn and Mozart on instruments that they would have been familiar with.
''For many years now, I've been on the lookout for a couple of drums that the university could refurbish to use for teaching purposes and performance.''
Mr Reese declined to say what he thought the timpani were worth because he was in negotiations with the college to buy them.
