Vernon Community Church, and during his high school years was influenced early by noted music instructor Victor Laslo.
Many of the tape parts of his pieces include the composer's own keening falsetto and gambuh playing (such as "Fog Tropes" and "Gradual Requiem" (1980)).
Marshall wrote for the Kronos Quartet: Voces Resonae (1984) and Fog Tropes II (1982), featured in the 2010 film Shutter Island, and for the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra: Orphic Memories (2006).
He taught at the California Institute of the Arts in the early 1970s, joined the music faculty at The Evergreen State College in the late 1980s, and later moved to New Haven, Connecticut.
Among his notable students are Timo Andres, Armando Bayolo, Christopher Cerrone, Tyondai Braxton, Jacob Cooper, Adrian Knight, Matt Sargent, and Stephen Gorbos.