At 17, Tyler Martin has the mind of an engineer.

But he has the soul of a drummer.

A senior at Westmoore High School, Tyler recently spent two weeks studying percussion at the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain.

“It’s something I appear to be pretty good at,” he says, with far more modesty than the typical 17-year-old. “It’s something I like to do.”

It’s also something he does well.

Recruited by his teachers at Westmoore, Tyler auditioned via video for arts institute officials. “They said they needed percussionists, so I auditioned.”

And he made it.

As one of 268 students chosen from more than 1,300 applicants, Tyler spent two weeks immersed in music. And, he said, it was two weeks well spent.

“There’s nothing like playing these base rhythms,” he said.

He also looks the part.

Sporting a dark, full beard and sparkling eyes, Tyler looks like he was taken from a 60s jazz club and dropped down in southwestern Oklahoma.

He knows what’s required.

He speaks the language.

But he’s not sure he wants to make a career of music.

“I’ll probably always be involved in someway with music, but I’m not sure it will be my career,” he says. “I think I want to study engineering.”