my @item   = qw(foo bar baz qux);
my %lookup = ();
@lookup{@item} = (0..$#item);

# lookup stuff
my $index = $lookup{baz};
print $item[$index], "\n";
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jeffa

L-LL-L--L-LL-L--L-LL-L--
-R--R-RR-R--R-RR-R--R-RR
B--B--B--B--B--B--B--B--
H---H---H---H---H---H---
(the triplet paradiddle with high-hat)