Often, we see the UT tower as it’s own entity above us. It lights itself up when proud, it’s in the forefront of fireworks when we arrive on campus and when we graduate, and occasionally it plays for us below a song. The inner workings of the tower and it’s musical bells remain a mystery to us, and hardly do we picture a student at it’s height, shuffling sheet music, ready to make the tower sing. In the control at the top of the tower, there is a board of handwritten names of everyone who has consistently played the bells at UT. The list began in 1936 and one year ago, Drew Orland, a sophomore Economics major, added his name to the list.
“Every student on campus is familiar with the sound of the bell chimes…every time I play it feels like I’m taking part in a passed down tradition.” Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 12:50, Drew takes a break in between classes and rides an elevator to the 27th floor of the tower to carry on tradition. His past set lists have included Bye, Bye, Bye by NSYNC, Another One Bites The Dust by Queen, Since U Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson, and Drew’s favorite, a 4 person arrangement of Carol of the Bells last Christmas. “Every time I play, I feel like the luckiest guy on campus,” Drew says. “You can really feel the power and weight behind each key, and hearing them ring out from above you is amazing.” The keys to which Drew is referring are the keys of a carillon, a piano-like machine with long, wooden pegs. There are two rows of the pegs which the player plays at the same time; one with his feet and the other with his hands. The pegs then pull a wire that ends up ringing the bells, which are stacked on top of one another. What bells these strings pull and what songs they make, is all up to Drew. “My favorite piece to play is a piece requested by somebody else.” Hence the day last year when, to my surprise, I heard Ignition (the remix, of course) being played above me whilst walking to class. “That was for a friend.”
Drew (UT baseball hat) playing the carollin with predecessor, Austin Ferguson
“We have a few Disney songs in our books that I’m dying to try,” Drew tells me and my mind immediately goes to Hunchback of Notre Dame. Though Drew is considerably more handsome and socially functional than Hugo, I can’t help but see the parallels. “Does playing the bells help you get girls?” I ask, and Drew immediately feigns offense. He jokes and informs me of the sacred institution that is the tower bells, and that they deserve respect, but he breaks down and then you’re reminded that, after all, it is a boy behind the bells. “I guess ‘I play the tower bells’ is always a good option if I need a good pick up line.”