looking for a midi/recording of beethoven triple concerto

March 10, 2009 9:20 AM

Looking for a MIDI / recording of Beethoven's triple concerto (op.56) where the timpani are clearly audible.

Ask.mefi has helped me before in my attempt not to suck at playing timpani previously, now I'm back for more. My amateur orchestra is playing Beethoven's triple concerto (Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano in C major, Op. 56) and I need to practice my entries.

From previous experience, by far the quickest way for me to learn where I'm supposed to come in is to listen to the part being played a few times. The best way I have found to do this is to get a MIDI recording of the piece, then turn the volume on the timpani track up and turn all the other volumes down. That way I can clearly hear the timpani part, but still hear what everyone else is playing.

However, I can't find a midi file for this piece (specifically, the third movement - the rondo - where the tempo is much more uneven). The second-best option is to listen to a live recording where you can hear the timpani part, but I've found a couple of recordings online and none of them have the timpani audible. (Maybe the mp3 compression algorithm is not kind to the pitch of the timpani?). So if anyone could help me out with a link to either a MIDI or a recording of this piece, it would be a great help!

posted by primer_dimer to media & arts (1 comment total)

My choir uses Noteworthy to create MIDI files for learning music. We can manipulate which staff is muted, volume of individual parts, tempo, etc. We usually can find MIDI files to start from, and make adjustments to match our particular score, but in cases where we don't have a MIDI file to begin with I believe we use SharpEye to scan in the score.

I have personally used Noteworthy many times, but I have never used SharpEye.
posted by rakaidan at 10:12 AM on March 10, 2009