Thomas Brett is a musician and writer who holds a PhD in ethnomusicology from New York University. He is the author of The Creative Electronic Music Producer, and his essays and book reviews have appeared in the journals Popular Music and Popular Music and Society, as well as edited collections by Routledge, Oxford, and Cambridge University presses. He has released numerous electronic music recordings and his compositions for marimba and vibraphone have been performed internationally by soloists and university ensembles. Thomas has played percussion on Broadway since 1997 and writes about music at brettworks.com.
brettworks 
What a good idea: sparse percussion. There’s something about drums that leads many pieces to have so much going on at once.
Yes—the idea occurred to me too: to have the rhythm be carried by other means so the perc can play a decorative role.