Drummin’ on a street light

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The normal drone of UK, usually filled with sirens and car engines, was interrupted Monday by a pack of amateur percussionists.

About 25 students in UK music professor Kevin Holm-Hudson’s Discovery Seminar Program class on improvisation were given a pair of drumsticks to “use the campus as a musical instrument,” Holm-Hudson said.

The Discovery Seminar walks around South Limestone banging on various objects with drumsticks. Photo by Adam Wolffbrandt | Staff

The group began their class in the Free Speech Area near the Student Center patio, but the class gradually moved toward the Parking Structure #5 and around Kennedy Bookstore on South Limestone.

“The students found the acoustics were so live, so they wanted to stay there,” Holm-Hudson said.  “It was deafening, my ears are still ringing.”

The Discovery Seminar Program works through the Chellgren Center for Undergraduate Excellence, which is open to only freshmen, Holm-Hudson said.

According to the Discover Seminar Program’s Web site, each class is worth three credit hours and has no more than 25 students.
Biology freshman Michael Carey said the class focuses on improvisation in everyday life.

“(The class) acknowledges it and makes you realize how much you use improv,” Carey said.

Chelsea Darnell, a political science and economics senior and the undergraduate assistant for the class, said the improvisation activities allow students to create art without being a professional.

“(The students) were asked to unleash their creativity and get in touch with their inner artist — their inner self,” Darnell said.