An unusual sound was heard in Webster Hall Auditorium Oct. 21.

Micah Martin, senior music education major, performed his senior recital focused on percussion to around 50 people.

The 23-year-old Martin is one of only four Missouri Southern students focusing their studies on percussion.

Martin is a shining star in the music department and is known as much for character as his musical abilities.

“In many ways this is a spectacular recital,” said Al Carnine, professor of music. “This is one individual that really allows his emotions to show through his playing, whereas when you talk with him, he is a very quiet student and really nice and courteous to everyone.”

“He allows his expressions to come out through his music, not everybody’s that way and it’s wonderful.”

Martin has been playing percussion instruments for the last 11, but didn’t realize he wanted to devote his life to it until he cam to college.

“I accidentally became a music major,” Martin said.

The decision was made after auditioning for a scholarship at Southern.

“The department head at the time was like ‘I’m going to put you down as a music education major because in music performance you can’t make a whole lot of money when you graduate and this way you’ll at least have a job,'” Martin said.

The slight nudge by the administration was all Martin needed to discover his hidden passion.

“I was like, oh, I guess I’m a music major; I’ll give this a shot,” he said. “I just kind of stuck with it.”

Jeremy Kushner, director of percussion studies, has been teaching Martin for two years and praised him on the culmination of his four-and-a-half years of study.

“Micah is a great player,” Kushner said. “He’s made a lot of progress in the last year and a half, a lot of progress. He’s going to be very successful and have a great career.”

The hour-long recital exhibited Martin’s skill on several instruments. He began with a piece by Elliot Carter performed on four timpani drums. The large drums have large reflective brass barrels resembling half of an egg.

He used special rattan drumsticks covered with cloth.

Martin played two pieces on the marimba, his favorite instrument.

The marimba’s four legs and rows of wooden slats resemble a xylophone.

Martin performed David Friedman’s “Mirror From Another” on the vibraphone.

The vibraphone consists of electric motors that spins fans inside the resonator tubes and creates the vibrato effect. It has a foot pedal like a piano that dampens the sound.

He also included some more contemporary sounds into the recital with three pieces by William Kraft on a collection of drums and cymbals of various styles and sizes called an English Suite.

The recital ended with a trio marimba piece by Mark Ford that featured Martin, Damon Graue and Josh Zimmer.

The piece utilizes not only the bars of the marimba but also the frame and the resonator pipes as well.

The players rotate positions at the instrument without missing a beat and arrive in their original positions at one point in the song.

Martin wants to pursue graduate school in New Mexico, Florida, Illinois or Iowa.

If unable to pursue further schooling, he said he wants to teach.

He currently spends two-four hours a day practicing.

“I practice all the freaking time,” he said.

After all of this, Martin is still unsure of where his passion originates.

I just feel like I’m supposed to do it,” he said.