diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/orchestra.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/orchestra.rb
index f41f55877b..553be68d99 100644
--- a/activesupport/lib/active_support/orchestra.rb
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/orchestra.rb
@@ -51,18 +51,15 @@ module ActiveSupport
     class Instrumenter
       def initialize(publisher)
         @publisher = publisher
-        @stack = []
       end
 
-      def instrument(name, payload=nil)
-        event = Event.new(name, @stack.last, payload)
-        @stack << event
-        event.result = yield
-        event
+      def instrument(name, payload={})
+        payload[:time]      = Time.now
+        payload[:thread_id] = Thread.current.object_id
+        payload[:result]    = yield
       ensure
-        event.finish!
-        @stack.pop
-        @publisher.publish(event)
+        payload[:duration] = 1000 * (Time.now.to_f - payload[:time].to_f)
+        @publisher.publish(name, payload)
       end
     end
 
@@ -71,8 +68,8 @@ module ActiveSupport
         @queue = queue
       end
 
-      def publish(event)
-        @queue.publish(event)
+      def publish(name, payload)
+        @queue.publish(name, payload)
       end
     end
 
@@ -87,26 +84,22 @@ module ActiveSupport
       end
 
       def subscribe
-        @queue.subscribe(@pattern) do |event|
-          yield event
+        @queue.subscribe(@pattern) do |name, payload|
+          yield Event.new(name, payload)
         end
       end
     end
 
     class Event
-      attr_reader :name, :time, :duration, :parent, :thread_id, :payload
-      attr_accessor :result
+      attr_reader :name, :time, :duration, :thread_id, :result, :payload
 
-      def initialize(name, parent=nil, payload=nil)
+      def initialize(name, payload)
         @name      = name
-        @time      = Time.now
-        @thread_id = Thread.current.object_id
-        @parent    = parent
-        @payload   = payload
-      end
-
-      def finish!
-        @duration = 1000 * (Time.now.to_f - @time.to_f)
+        @payload   = payload.dup
+        @time      = @payload.delete(:time)
+        @thread_id = @payload.delete(:thread_id)
+        @result    = @payload.delete(:result)
+        @duration  = @payload.delete(:duration)
       end
     end
 
@@ -124,7 +117,7 @@ module ActiveSupport
         end
       end
 
-      def publish(event)
+      def publish(*event)
         @stream.push(event)
         @thread.run
       end
@@ -134,7 +127,7 @@ module ActiveSupport
       end
 
       def consume(event)
-        @listeners.each { |l| l.publish(event) }
+        @listeners.each { |l| l.publish(*event) }
       end
 
       class Listener
@@ -143,9 +136,9 @@ module ActiveSupport
           @subscriber = block
         end
 
-        def publish(event)
-          unless @pattern && event.name.to_s !~ @pattern
-            @subscriber.call(event)
+        def publish(name, payload)
+          unless @pattern && name.to_s !~ @pattern
+            @subscriber.call(name, payload)
           end
         end
       end
diff --git a/activesupport/test/orchestra_test.rb b/activesupport/test/orchestra_test.rb
index e343d6322b..608531416c 100644
--- a/activesupport/test/orchestra_test.rb
+++ b/activesupport/test/orchestra_test.rb
@@ -8,103 +8,78 @@ class ActiveSupport::Orchestra::LittleFanout
 end
 
 class OrchestraEventTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
-  def setup
-    @parent = ActiveSupport::Orchestra::Event.new(:parent)
+  def test_events_are_initialized_with_name_and_payload
+    event = ActiveSupport::Orchestra::Event.new(:foo, :payload => :bar)
+    assert_equal :foo, event.name
+    assert_equal Hash[:payload => :bar], event.payload
   end
 
-  def test_initialization_with_name_and_parent_and_payload
-    event = ActiveSupport::Orchestra::Event.new(:awesome, @parent, :payload => "orchestra")
-    assert_equal(:awesome, event.name)
-    assert_equal(@parent, event.parent)
-    assert_equal({ :payload => "orchestra" }, event.payload)
-  end
+  def test_events_consumes_information_given_as_payload
+    event = ActiveSupport::Orchestra::Event.new(:foo,
+      :time => (time = Time.now), :result => 1, :duration => 10)
 
-  def test_thread_id_is_set_on_initialization
-    event = ActiveSupport::Orchestra::Event.new(:awesome)
-    assert_equal Thread.current.object_id, event.thread_id
-  end
-
-  def test_current_time_is_set_on_initialization
-    previous_time = Time.now.utc
-    event = ActiveSupport::Orchestra::Event.new(:awesome)
-    assert_kind_of Time, event.time
-    assert event.time.to_f >= previous_time.to_f
-  end
- 
-  def test_duration_is_set_when_event_finishes
-    event = ActiveSupport::Orchestra::Event.new(:awesome)
-    sleep(0.1)
-    event.finish!
-    assert_in_delta 100, event.duration, 30
+    assert_equal Hash.new, event.payload
+    assert_equal time, event.time
+    assert_equal 1, event.result
+    assert_equal 10, event.duration
   end
 end
 
 class OrchestraMainTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
   def setup
     @events = []
+    Thread.abort_on_exception = true
     ActiveSupport::Orchestra.subscribe { |event| @events << event }
   end
 
   def teardown
+    Thread.abort_on_exception = false
     ActiveSupport::Orchestra.queue.clear
   end
 
-  def test_orchestra_allows_any_action_to_be_instrumented
-    event = ActiveSupport::Orchestra.instrument(:awesome, "orchestra") do
-      sleep(0.1)
-    end
-
-    assert_equal :awesome, event.name
-    assert_equal "orchestra", event.payload
-    assert_in_delta 100, event.duration, 30
-  end
-
-  def test_block_result_is_stored
-    event = ActiveSupport::Orchestra.instrument(:awesome, "orchestra") do
+  def test_orchestra_returns_action_result
+    result = ActiveSupport::Orchestra.instrument(:awesome, :payload => "orchestra") do
       1 + 1
     end
 
-    assert_equal 2, event.result
+    assert_equal 2, result
   end
 
   def test_events_are_published_to_a_listener
-    event = ActiveSupport::Orchestra.instrument(:awesome, "orchestra") do
+    ActiveSupport::Orchestra.instrument(:awesome, :payload => "orchestra") do
       1 + 1
     end
 
     assert_equal 1, @events.size
     assert_equal :awesome, @events.last.name
-    assert_equal "orchestra", @events.last.payload
+    assert_equal Hash[:payload => "orchestra"], @events.last.payload
   end
 
   def test_nested_events_can_be_instrumented
-    ActiveSupport::Orchestra.instrument(:awesome, "orchestra") do
-      ActiveSupport::Orchestra.instrument(:wot, "child") do
+    ActiveSupport::Orchestra.instrument(:awesome, :payload => "orchestra") do
+      ActiveSupport::Orchestra.instrument(:wot, :payload => "child") do
         sleep(0.1)
       end
 
       assert_equal 1, @events.size
       assert_equal :wot, @events.first.name
-      assert_equal "child", @events.first.payload
-
-      assert_nil @events.first.parent.duration
+      assert_equal Hash[:payload => "child"], @events.first.payload
       assert_in_delta 100, @events.first.duration, 30
     end
 
     assert_equal 2, @events.size
     assert_equal :awesome, @events.last.name
-    assert_equal "orchestra", @events.last.payload
-    assert_in_delta 100, @events.first.parent.duration, 30
+    assert_equal Hash[:payload => "orchestra"], @events.last.payload
   end
 
   def test_event_is_pushed_even_if_block_fails
-    ActiveSupport::Orchestra.instrument(:awesome, "orchestra") do
+    ActiveSupport::Orchestra.instrument(:awesome, :payload => "orchestra") do
       raise "OMG"
     end rescue RuntimeError
 
     assert_equal 1, @events.size
     assert_equal :awesome, @events.last.name
-    assert_equal "orchestra", @events.last.payload
+    assert_equal Hash[:payload => "orchestra"], @events.last.payload
   end
 
   def test_subscriber_with_pattern