My assistant checks the tuning gauges on the timpani during the set up to make sure the pitches match. If they are off, she marks them with tape with the correct tunings. After that, the percussion take over and re-tunes between pieces. Last year, we had a student teacher and for some inexplicable reason they felt like they should retune the timpani between pieces. Neither actual director told them to do this. They tuned it wrong and threw off my timpani player. No biggie. There was just a timp solo and when it didn't sound right my timp player freaked out, which caused an entrance issue with the rest of the band. The moral of the story: whatever you do, come up with a system, practice it and stick with it.
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