This dissertation is a study of contemporary and traditional Afro-Cuban batá drumming presented as a compositional and analytic heuristic. I begin by highlighting abstract concepts from the batá tradition for praxis-based analysis. The concepts include polymeter, in “fix” phrasing, clave (as meter), emergent form in a complex cueing system, rhythmic archetypes, rhythmic elasticity in regard to language, and sound. My research draws from past scholarship on Afro-Cuban religious music, more general comparative scholarship on African and Afro-diasporic music, and my own experiences studying batá.

I then analyze creative work by artists who have been influenced by or utilize Lukumí music in their secular compositions, blurring the boundary between sacred and secular. I include a brief history of Lukumí music in secular contexts as well as more pointed analyses of select artists who have addressed these traditions in their work. Among many others, I examine the work of pianists Chucho Valdes and David Virelles, as well as percussionists Pancho Quinto and Manley “Piri” Lopez.

As this dissertation is one of practice-based research, I analyze a concert of my capstone work, entitled Gates, using a similar lens of analysis in relation to the abstract concepts previously addressed. I am a drummer, composer, and producer indebted to histories of Afro- diasporic music, with a particular focus in jazz and creative music idioms. Gates included a solo set including drum-set, percussion, piano, electronics, and vocals as well as duo set of compositions for five different improvisers.

The dissertation ends with a broader chapter on the philosophical implications of the notion of a perfect isochronous grid in the digital age. In this chapter, I relate the previously discussed concepts about batá performance to a broader discussion of the grid as an acknowledgment of the absolute, and how these notions are amplified in new ways by today's digital tools. Within the context of past scholarship on the music of batá, this dissertation examines the tradition as a malleable framework for creative work, opening a dialogue between Lukumí music and outside secular traditions such as jazz, electronic music, and creative music.