He says that the Chinese and Western traditions both have their special characteristics; for example, Eastern drums mainly have leather skins, while Western use manmade materials. As for differences in playing technique, Ma offers an anecdote from his own experience: At one time Ma was doing the music for the Cloud Gate Dance Company's performance of "Liao Tianding."
他認為中西兩個系統各有特色，例如東方多為皮革鼓，而西方則用人造皮面，至於演奏法的不同他有一個親身經驗。當年馬水龍為雲門舞集的舞劇「廖添丁」做配樂，在音樂中使用大量鑼鼓來暗示人物的心情並鋪陳場景。