At the first performance of the Texas Society of Unconventional Drummers, students played “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X on Boomwhackers, long colorful tubes of varying lengths and pitches. Adorned in cowboy garb, the seven-piece ensemble, part of the Engineering Chamber Orchestra, played between other ensembles’ performances of Mendelssohn and Beethoven.
“We all wore cowboy hats and cowboy boots, and everyone else was dressed up all nice (in) concert attire,” SOUnD set leader Preston Davis said. “That captures the spirit of how we are as a group — we’re kind of silly, we’re nerdy and we’re all musically inclined.”
SOUnD founder Joyce Zhuang said the members realized they wanted to do more than play as an ensemble within another group, leading them to break off from the Engineering Chamber Orchestra and start their own organization in spring 2023. A classically trained violinist, Zhuang said she wanted to create a different type of musical group to provide opportunities for performers without classical training that extends beyond the stereotypical concert hall atmosphere.
“I realized halfway through college that classical music isn’t the most accessible form of art,” said Zhuang, a biochemistry and Plan II senior. “I tried to think about what music really means beyond all of the classical tradition and out of that came this organization.”
The group’s staple instruments include Boomwhackers, Home Depot buckets and red solo cups, Zhuang said, but the group always tries new things. She said SOUnD played a piece in the spring on junkyard trash, including metal pipes and pieces of wood. One of the group’s instruments this semester will be a life-sized anatomical skeleton model that took over a week for Zhuang and the set leaders to figure out how to play.
“We sat with the skeleton, we took it apart, we put it back together, we tried hitting different parts with drumsticks,” Zhuang said. “We figured out all the sounds we can make, and, from there, we take all of those sounds and put them into notes and bring rhythm and melodies together.”
Rhetoric and writing freshman Mia Alaniz said SOUnD expanded what music means to her after six years of playing percussion in school bands.
“In high school bands, it feels more like a chore and it can get (to where) you’re just there because you have to be there, not because you enjoy playing,” Alaniz said. “In SOUnD, we’re all here because we want to be. It’s a nice change, a breath of fresh air, being with people who are just as passionate about music.”
Zhuang said SOUnD welcomes people from all walks of musical life, but she hopes the organization will eventually become accessible for someone with no musical background.
“Music is magical because of the connection,” Zhuang said. “That is tied into our mission, which is to bring what we love to the world and show everyone else that music is enjoyable. Music is doable for anyone and music can be found anywhere.”
