Richard K. Jones is a retired educator, timpanist, author, and composer with a distinguished career spanning over five decades in higher education and professional music performance.
Academic Career
Mr. Jones served as a member of the faculty of Nebraska Wesleyan University from 1981 until his retirement, where he held the position of Director of Integrative Teaching and Learning Technologies. He was instrumental in developing and implementing the technology component for NWU’s innovative Archway Curriculum. Mr. Jones was the recipient of the 2005-2006 Exemplary Teaching Award presented by the General Board of Higher Education and the Ministry of the United Methodist Church.
Performance Career
Mr. Jones held the positions of Principal Timpani with Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra and Assistant Principal Timpani with the Omaha Symphony Orchestra for more than four decades. Throughout his career, he has worked with many world-class artists including Robert Shaw, Arthur Fiedler, Christopher Hogwood, Henry Mancini, Aaron Copland, Pinchas Zukerman, Itzak Perlman, Joan Sutherland, Lorin Hollander, Leontyne Price, Yo-Yo Ma, Midori, Andre Watts, and Jean Pierre Rampal, among countless others. Mr. Jones also served numerous terms as musician representative on both the Lincoln Symphony and Omaha Symphony Boards of Directors.
Author
Mr. Jones is the author of The Well-Tempered Timpani, a pioneering WEBook exploring the acoustics, physics, and tuning practices of the modern timpani. Drawing on over four decades of research, beginning with his graduate studies in the physics of music, Jones brings together his experience as a performer, educator, and scholar to illuminate how and why timpani produce pitch, how drumheads can be tempered for optimal resonance, and how historical, psychoacoustic, and mechanical factors shape the instrument’s unique voice.
The Well-Tempered Timpani serves as a comprehensive resource for timpanists, percussion educators, and acoustics enthusiasts. The WEBook examines harmonic and inharmonic motion, membrane vibration, timpani sound spectra, historical evolution, and practical methods for tuning and clearing heads—offering both scientific insight and applied technique. As one of the few works to delve deeply into the physics of timpani and the art of tempering, it stands as a continually evolving exploration designed to educate, inspire curiosity, and elevate the craft of timpani performance.
His newest WEBook, The Quantum World of Timpani Pitch: Listening for Order in Chaos offers a fresh perspective on timpani tuning, explaining the Duff Clearing Process through the metaphorical language of quantum physics. This WEBook translates complex ideas, like symmetry, degeneracy, and virtual pitch, into intuitive concepts that help timpanists understand why the drum behaves as it does. Rooted in the tradition of clearing timpani by ear, it shows how the player can bring chaotic vibrations into harmonic order, not through gadgets or guesswork, but through focused listening and a deeper grasp of the drum’s natural acoustics. Aimed at performers, educators, and students alike, this resource brings clarity to the invisible world beneath the sound.
Instrument Design and Building
As a timpanist, Mr. Jones has distinguished himself through his expertise in instrument design, construction and timpani acoustics. In addition to designing and building his own timpani mallets, he has designed and built multiple sets of chain timpani and refurbished/rebuilt four complete sets of Dresden timpani.
Private Teaching and Composition
Mr. Jones founded Foster Jones Studios in 1980 with his wife, Willa Foster Jones, where he taught privately for many years. He is an accomplished composer working in what he describes as “algorithmic-specific-electro-acoustic moment music”; music composed in and existing for a specific moment. His compositions include:
Dialogue Redux 2004.10.12c.00:31-00:44 UTC for small ensemble and electronic sounds
The Eternal Dance of the Celestial Canon of Tiers Meditation on a divine confession
The Music of Enis Albert: Electronic Cosmologism
PGT-SIC-5617: A Study in Compression The Enis Albert Trio
Temporal Phases for International Jazz Day 2017: The Enis Albert Quartet
Professional Affiliations
Richard has been affiliated with PAS (Percussive Arts Society) since 1974 and served as the Nebraska Chapter President from 1984-1989.