CRANBERRY TWP - When she was a little girl, Gloria Miller's mom might have wished her daughter would stop making racket, but it's a good thing Miller didn't stop.

Today, Miller is still whacking stuff with a stick and clanging things together. Only as an adult, all that concussive energy results in great music.

Miller, of Cranberry Township, is the principal percussionist for the Johnstown Symphony.

She's been part of the Johnstown orchestra for the past 18 years and, although she plays just about anything in the percussion section from a whistle to a starter gun, the marimba is far and away her favorite.

"You can play Bach. You can play accompaniment or the melody all by yourself," said Miller of the marimba, which resembles a xylophone. "It's the percussionists solo instrument," and much classical music has been transcribed for it.

An ethnic instrument originating in the Caribbean, most music specifically for the marimba was originally shared by those who played by ear rather than with written scores.

In addition to playing the marimba, Miller can fill all roles including the timpanist, which is usually a separate musician, and when the occasion rises, can do just about all of it by herself.

Once, during a daytime youth concert when many musicians were not available, "to the extent possible, she covered all the parts," recalled Patricia Hofscher, executive director for the Johnstown Symphony.

"She moved faster than lightning, knowing which were the most important instruments to be played and she had a smorgasbord of instruments in front of her. It was fantastic."

During a performance, "it's feast or famine," said Miller with a smile. "Sometimes I'm standing there for 10 minutes counting notes and sometimes I'm jumping from thing to thing."In this Saturday's symphony performance at the Penn State Johnstown campus, aside from the standard percussion instruments, she'll be shaking a tambourine and crashing cymbals."She is an outstanding musician and an incredibly versatile percussion player," said Johnstown Symphony music director Istvan Jaray, who has been at the podium throughout Miller's time with the orchestra."Extraordinary," agreed Hofscher. "Point blank ... there's no other description.""Conscientious and devoted to our orchestra, reliable for herself and the whole section," said Jaray. It doesn't hurt that "she has a good sense of humor," an essential in the stressful environment of a symphony. "She's enormously valuable, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart."Hofscher agreed. "She keeps the percussion section humming.For a symphony performance, the orchestra usually starts rehearsals about three weeks ahead of time. Sometimes the musicians get the music earlier; sometimes they sight read during the first rehearsal, explained Miller.As principal percussionist, it's Miller's job to assign all the percussion parts to various musicians. Usually there are three to five percussionists and one timpanist playing during a concert.In Saturday's performance, eight are required. It's up to Miller to find musicians to fill the parts and request from Hofscher the instruments needed onstage. Musicians may own some, but not all, of the instruments they play.Miller owns a marimba, a pit xylophone, a concert snare drum, a drum set and various ancillary percussion instruments like bongos. Her marimba, with rosewood bars and an array of metal tube resonators, is not so very different in size and shape from an exercise treadmill. It breaks into sections and folds where it doesn't come apart.She often takes it with her to performances at the Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center and elsewhere.Aside from the 15 or so performances in the Johnstown Symphony subscription series, Miller gives marimba concerts for a variety of groups as well as teaching music history to various community groups. She has a bachelor's and a master's degree in music performance from Duquesne University.She been giving music appreciation classes at the Passavant Retirement Center for the past few years, and in conjunction with Passavant's yearlong 100th anniversary celebration has been doing one class per month moving through the decades of American music.Beginning at 10 a.m. on April 21, Miller will be covering the topic of music from 1936 to 1945, especially wartime music and the big bands. She will lecture and present recorded music to highlight her discussion. The event is free and open to the public.Although Miller says she has a soft spot for rock 'n' roll, she admits to liking her drum set pretty well, too. "I'm a drummer by heart," she said.