“I have heard the statement ‘too much knowledge is dangerous’; however when it comes to preparing for an audition, the more knowledge you have the more prepared you are. Randy Max has written a book that gives you not only the music but information about the variations of tempi one can expect for the excerpt, historical facts about the music, BIOs of the composers and suggestions for practicing, tuning and sticking for both American and German style timpani playing. All this and a CD that accompanies the book so the excerpts can be heard and practiced. Orchestral Excerpts for Timpani is a ‘must have’ book for the serious timpanist preparing for an audition. The 57 passages represent the most requested audition excerpts and are done in a well organized, informative and easy to read manner. Highly recommended.”