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It's All in the Cards is an instrumental chamber work consisting of three movements for ten percussionists encircling the audience. The total duration of the piece is approximately thirteen minutes. Much of the rhythmic and melodic material, as well as the form, was determined by shuffling and dealing a standard deck of fifty-two cards. Other computational procedures have been used to achieve the effect of sound moving from one spatial location to another, an effect on which must be regarded as an essential factor in performance of the work.

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Nonet for Percussion and Tape is a twenty-two minute through-composed work for eight percussionists and tape. The instrumentation includes: marimba, xylophone, glass wind chimes, slit drum, woodblock, vibraphone, crotales, metal wind chimes, snare drum, bass drum, tom-toms, temple blocks, bass marimba, log drum, cowbells, medium suspended cymbal, gongs, timbales, bongos, tambourine, roto-toms, timpani, and pre-recorded computer-generated/computer-sampled sound.

This thesis focuses on an evaluation of the spring practices of percussion programs in the greater Indianapolis area. This qualitative research study was designed to study and analyze the differences in programming of pageantry indoor percussion and concert percussion ensembles at the high school level. Specifically, this thesis focuses on the rationale and educational practices behind school percussion programming of either of these two ensemble types. This thesis attempts to answer the primary research question: what musical or educational philosophies guide the reasoning behind determining if a particular school participates in either concert percussion ensemble or pageantry indoor percussion during the spring semester? Key themes that were identified through the research include structural considerations, philosophical groundings, matching student ability with experiences, external stakeholders, and extrinsic justification. These themes are analyzed, and their implications in the scholastic curriculum are discussed.

For decades, the application of technology to percussion curricula has been substantially hindered by the limitations of conventional input devices. With the need for specialized percussion instruction at an all-time high, investigation of this domain can open the doors to an entirely new educational approach for percussion. This research frames the foundation of an embodied approach to percussion instruction manifested in a system called Percussive. Through the use of body-scale interactions, percussion students can connect with pedagogical tools at the most fundamental level−leveraging muscle memory, kinesthetics, and embodiment to present engaging and dynamic instructional sessions. The major contribution of this work is the exploration of how a system which uses motion-sensing to replicate the experiential qualities of drumming can be applied to existing pedagogues. Techniques for building a system which recognizes drumming input are discussed, as well as the system's application to a successful contemporary instructional model. In addition to the specific results that are presented, it is felt that the collective wisdom provided by the discussion of the methodology throughout this thesis provides valuable insight for others in the same area of research. / Master of Science

Devadasi is an abstraction of primitive dance rites for nine dancers and five percussionists. Though based on fertility rites and religious temple ceremonies, no actual representation of events is intended. It it approximately sixteen minutes and twenty seconds long, and is composed in six sections. Detailed choreography for the dancers is not included, but entrance and exit cues are shown, and the character of each dance is suggested by the music. Suggestion for lighting and costuming are also included in the score.

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...then time killed the wind... is an original musical composition scored for percussion quartet and electronics with a duration of fourteen minutes. This work explores metaphorical relationships between biological processes and musical processes. The primary constructive element in the work is a rhythmic language based upon the assignment of rhythmic cells to genetic sequences. Furthermore, biological models such as inverted repeats, zeitgeber, 2-D representations of DNA and cross-breeding were applied to musical parameters such as form, pitch, harmony and live electronics.