Mad Experiments was the very first piece I composed that began to fuel my desires to become a full-time composer. The first incarnation of this piece was premiered by myself and members of the Michigan State University Percussion Studio five years ago to the date of these revisions. Much of the notational approaches to this work have been largely refined and improved from its predecessor - for example, the chorale which makes up the slower section of this piece has more cued moments devoid of meter. Looking back on it, it's remarkable at how much my artistic goals have changed since this piece's premiere. While I still tend to explore new approaches to rhythm and harmony, that yearning to tell new stories and explore new concepts hasn't really gone away. It's only transformed into something more concrete and new.

This percussion is the first of several sketches I sought to compose. Each of these sketches focuses on a certain emotion, action, or state of mind. This work explores the chaotic nature of creating and perfecting a new idea or material in a mostly positive and comical fashion. The goal in composing this piece was to bring out the natural, percussive qualities of each instrument and "experiment" with them in extravagant and chaotic ways - hence, the title and instrumentation. The mixture of two keyboards and two drums brought new questions and challenges on how I could achieve the right balance within the quartet, as well as allow for each and every voice to be heard as a result of this. The enthusiasm and energy of the performers, and the opportunities created rom such moments, became a driving force and the final ingredient for this particular sketch.

I am immensely grateful to the Michigan State University Percussion Studio for their support of this piece and for giving it a fantastic world premiere.