Percussion Equipment and Facilities at UMaine

The Percussion Department of the University of Maine Department of Music maintains a large inventory (366 percussion instruments - and counting!). A few of the categories of percussion instruments are: concert percussion - timpani, drums, accessories; drum sets - both acoustic and electronic; keyboard percussion i.e. marimbas (including a 5 8va Yamaha 5100 and a low F 4900), vibes, xylophones, bells, mallet Kat etc; Latin percussion and other ethnic percussion e.g. tabla, doumbec, bodhran, batá, jdembe, etc.  Timpani include the new high-end Yamaha TP-9000, the design for which, Dr. Marrs was a consultant.

The percussion teaching studio is the "Madelyn Conley Percussion Studio," (named for the generous donor who enabled construction of the studio), room 104 on the ground floor of the Class of 1944 Hall which contains the School of Performing Arts, . The studio also serves as a practice room for timpani, marimba, multiple percussion set-ups and acoustic drum set. There is a large locked dedicated practice room (328) on the third floor which presently houses a marimba and a pair of timpani.

The exciting Class of 1944 Hall housing the School of Performing Arts was inaugurated on October 18, 1996. It is well-designed and friendly to percussionists hauling large instruments around the building. For example: doors are wide enough for a 32" timpano; every space in the building can be accessed by ramp and freight elevator; and the percussion area has been acoustically isolated from other studio areas to avoid sound polution.

Because of limited storage space, it is NOT possible for privately owned drum sets to be stored in the Class of 1944 Hall with the exception of one set that can be used by everyone one the studio and one set that can be stored in a room 100 drum-set locker.  The room 100 set can also be used by anyone playing in a university ensemble requiring set.

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Dr. Stuart Marrs
5788 Class of 1944 Hall
Orono, ME 04496-5788
Voice 207.581.4702 Fax 207.581.4701
Email: marrs@maine.edu Last updated 12.26.2007