HarvardTHUD

Last updated
HarvardTHUD
HarvardTHUD logo.jpg
HarvardTHUD's logo
Background information
Origin Cambridge, Massachusetts
Genres
Years active1999–present
Website https://harvardthud.com
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2009–present
Subscribers383 thousand [1]
Total views76.57 million [1]
YouTube Silver Play Button 2.svg100,000 subscribers2018
Last updated: 14 Jul 2022

HarvardTHUD (or The Harvard Undergraduate Drummers) is an undergraduate student-led music group from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1999, the group performs with a diverse set of percussive instruments in the style of mixed percussion groups such as STOMP and the Blue Man Group. [2] [3] [4] In addition to traditional and ethnic percussion instruments, the group is known for making creative use out of everyday items, such as brooms and plastic SOLO cups. [5] [2] As of 2020, they are best known for their performances using boomwhackers—hollow, plastic tubes that can be struck on any surface to create a pitched tone. [6] [7] [8]

The group gained exposure for their performances on YouTube as early as 2009, [3] but Harvard THUD wouldn't gain significant prominence outside of Harvard until late 2018, when videos of the group's performances with boomwhackers went viral. In this time, the number of their subscribers quadrupled in two months. [9] As of June 2021, the group has 360,000 subscribers and 69,000,000 views. [9]

The group writes their own arrangements of songs especially for their particular instrumentation. [5] [6] Their repertoire (and the content of their video performances) includes covers of popular songs, such as Toto's "Africa" [10] and "Don't Stop Believin'," [7] [11] as well as internet meme-related songs, such as Darude - "Sandstorm" [12] [13] and "All Star" by Smash Mouth. [14] [6]

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References

  1. 1 2 "About HarvardThud". YouTube.
  2. 1 2 Ury, Faryl (18 April 2003). "Music Preview: The Harvard University Drummers". The Harvard Crimson . Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  3. 1 2 Erickson, Bryan S. (9 April 2013). "THUD to End Semester with a Bang". The Harvard Crimson . Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  4. ↑ Smith, Charlotte D. (29 April 2014). "'THUD Island' Finds a New Rhythm". The Harvard Crimson . Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  5. 1 2 Xue, Katherine (24 April 2012). "Hit it! Meet the Harvard Undergraduate Drummers". Harvard Magazine. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 "Meet the Harvard musicians turning classic songs into percussive masterpieces". BreakingNews. Press Association. 10 November 2018. Archived from the original on 2020-05-08. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  7. 1 2 Piedra, Xavier (4 October 2018). "This boomwhacker cover of 'Don't Stop Believin' is pretty bangin'". Mashable . Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  8. ↑ "Boomwhacker Orchestra". Science World. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  9. 1 2 "HarvardTHUD's YouTube Stats (Summary Profile) - Social Blade Stats". socialblade.com. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  10. ↑ Africa by Toto on Boomwhackers!. HarvardTHUD. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2020– via YouTube.
  11. ↑ Don't Stop Believin' on Boomwhackers!. HarvardTHUD. 25 September 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2020– via YouTube.
  12. ↑ Sweeney, Farrell (2 April 2019). "Watch Harvard drumming collective THUD perform Darude's 'Sandstorm' using only Boomwhackers". Dancing Astronaut.
  13. ↑ Darude Sandstorm on Boomwhackers!. HarvardTHUD. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2020– via YouTube.
  14. ↑ All Star but it's on Boomwhackers feat. Kaboom Percussion. HarvardTHUD. 20 November 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2020– via YouTube.


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