Unkai Daiko and Mountainview Jams brought drummers across campus together for “World of Drums” on Saturday, providing a welcoming and upbeat atmosphere for students and faculty in Appalachian Collegiate Center.

The front of the dining hall had a studio-like setup with lights turned toward the center of the room and a variety of drums lined in a row, one in front of the other. Cameras were placed in front of the instruments to record the lively performances and a poster board decorated with different clip-art images of the earth and musical entities detailed the evening’s itinerary. Students finished preparing one last time before lining up into formation.

Introduced by the hosts, Steel Pan started off the evening. Before the performance, members shared that the organization, only a few years old, is a part of Binghamton University’s music department. They performed on drums made from recycled 50-gallon oil barrels, making for a unique performance.

The organization played five songs with steady beats, reaching crescendos, then continuing into steady, catchy tunes. People watched and smiled with contagious joy as the group demonstrated the teamwork needed to combine different harmonies and beats to create a full musical piece, with different types of drums pulling together the melody, alto and bass.

Dana Stewart, associate professor of romance languages and literatures and Mountainview’s collegiate professor, is the founder and director of Mountainview Jams. She hosts the event with her band, Dr. Dana and the Jam Dept., along with her husband, bandmate and sound manager Bob Rynone and a team of interns.

“There are a few things that stand out most for me,” Stewart wrote in an email. “First, helping to foster a sense of community and joy among both performers and listeners — especially at a time when many people feel isolated, and our society feels increasingly divided. The sense of connection, friendship, and fun at these events is palpable! Second, I love being able to give individual students opportunities to grow. It is incredibly rewarding (and fun!) to watch students of all levels step up, take creative risks, and challenge themselves onstage, and then be met with so much genuine appreciation and warmth from the audience.”

Unkai Daiko, a traditional Japanese taiko drumming group, performed next, transforming the stage into a completely different setup tailored to their own abilities. Historically performed at traditional Japanese festivals, taiko, which translates to “drums,” dates back 2,000 years. The different drums the organization plays are called taikos, each one providing a different instrumental percussion.

Taichi Oishi-Lane, co-event coordinator of Unkai Daiko and a junior majoring in history, explained how events like World of Drums help strengthen their organization.

“Events big or small help us spread taiko through this shared sense of community,” Oishi-Lane wrote. “They make us more intertwined with the Binghamton community and contribute to the growing diversity on campus.”

Unkai Daiko’s performance began with a loud, intense beat as drummers chanted one after another as each individual’s drum was added. Some strayed away from unified drumming, adding more complex sounds by utilizing the outer edges of their drums. For one of the songs, two drummers stood in front of each other, sharing the space to use two taikos tilted in toward one another.

Sulpoong, a group that has played traditional Korean instruments on campus since 2004, was the final performance of the night. The organization performs at large banquets and smaller events, playing for both the University and the Binghamton community.

Members sat on the ground and fluctuated between quieter drumming and powerful beats. Their performance felt as though it moved through the whole room, chanting together or back and forth throughout the performance. The energy and emotion of the music were apparent as the performers moved their bodies to the beat.

“We want to expose people to the diversity in music groups, in particular musical drumming groups, that the University has to offer,” wrote Ayman Taleb, the president of Unkai Daiko and a senior majoring in computer science. “As is the case with many of our own members, there are people who are interested in music in general and would love to explore new avenues, if only they knew about them. And just as an audience, we want people to learn about and enjoy different types of cultural music.”