Featured Image: Kaitlyn Egbert, sophomore, performs ‘The Stars Began To Burn’ by Matthew Hillott, on Sunday, Nov. 9, at the Percussion Ensemble. | (Pacer Photo / Madison Perryman)

On Sunday, Nov. 9, at 7:30 p.m. in the Blankenship Recital Hall, the Department of Music at UT Martin presented their Percussion Fall Ensemble concert.

It was an event where anyone in the Martin area could come and enjoy a night of free music. Under partial direction by the Director of Percussion Studies Austin Shoupe, the ensemble blew the audience away with a wide variety of percussion instruments like xylophones, chimes and, of course, drums. There were six pieces in total developed by varying composers: Enveloped, Gutterflys, Super Heavy, Persistence, Pillar III and The Stars Began To Burn.

To begin the night, the ensemble played Enveloped. Composed by Alexis Lamb, Enveloped was worthy of being the opening piece. It was the only time, besides the final composition, that the entire ensemble played together. The piece in its entirety was bizarre—yet calming. 

The following segment was Gutterflys, composed by JaRon Brown. This piece combines vocals with a variety of instruments, creating a discordant atmosphere. The vocals were usually at the end of a beat, prolonging them further than they would have gone initially. It was a strangely unique combination that wasn’t seen throughout the rest of the show. 

The next piece was Super Heavy, a composition by Susanna Hancock. Before the segment, one of the ensemble members pressed play on a laptop positioned at the back of the arrangement of instruments. A synth backing track began to play alongside the members who were performing on drums, creating a futuristic feel. A couple of the drummers began the performance using brushes instead of sticks, dragging them across the batter head (the top of the drum) in a soothing pattern. Eventually, they made a transition to drumsticks. 

After a brief intermission, the ensemble began the final half of the performance.

The fourth and fifth piece both mainly utilized higher pitched instruments like xylophones. The fourth piece, Persistence by Brian Blume, used a concert bass drum in the middle of the performance, giving it a fantastic feel. The fifth piece, Pillar III by Andy Akiho, was the piece that used the most varied techniques. Players would not only switch beaters–the sticks with which they hit the instruments–but they also utilized different areas of the instruments. For example, one of the members began dragging a beater across the bottom of a xylophone. This racking motion created a ringing noise that one would not expect from a xylophone. 

“I quite liked Pillar III. It had a bunch of dimensions and a bunch of different, new sounds in the piece. It was very dynamically different,” said Paige Orlovich, a freshman family and consumer science major from Paris, Tennessee.

The sixth and final piece was The Stars Began To Burn, composed by Matthew Gillot. This piece was easily the most grandiose. The entire ensemble gathered together again as a conglomerate under the direction of Shoupe. The build-up to this piece that began with the first segment felt entirely worth it.

The Stars Began To Burn used almost every instrument within the room, giving it a different sound than every other piece. The best was most definitely saved for last. As the final note played, the audience gave the ensemble the ovation that they’d earned with this final, standout performance. 

When speaking on her enjoyment of the recital, sophomore music education major Aubrey Cook from McKenzie, Tennesssee, said, “I really liked the performance and I just have always liked percussion in general. It’s really amazing to see how they can create beauty and captivate the audience with objects you wouldn’t think are beautiful.”

After being asked if she would see a performance like this again, Danielle Thornton, a freshman music major from Paris, Tennessee, said, “Most definitely. It was very cool to see everybody come together. Especially since it’s all different instruments and different people. And to see everybody come together as one was really cool to see.”

Although this was the last percussion performance for the semester, the department will hopefully have one again in the future. 

You can view the performance here: 1st half:  https://youtu.be/hE-BA9orN24?si=TCOYjxJ0c65akOZV 2nd half: https://youtu.be/KmLayad3dmI?si=EmdZIawfg5jlujGG