I'm in the semi-final round of a principal timpani audition. Big orchestra, good job. The first two things on the round are two excerpts from Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphoses – standard audition excerpts that I've played through hundreds of times, if not more – with the usual instructions: play the first excerpt, then retune in a reasonable amount of time and proceed with the second. I tap my tuning fork on my knee and bring it to my ear to get an A. I tune a C, and repeat