A carillon ( KARR-ə-lon, kə-RIL-yən) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a keyboard and consists of at least 23 bells. The bells are cast in bronze, hung in fixed suspension, and tuned in chromatic order so that they can be sounded harmoniously together. They are struck with clappers connected to a keyboard of wooden batons played with the hands and pedals played with the feet. Often housed in bell towers, carillons are usually owned by churches, universities, or municipalities. They can include an automatic system through which the time is announced and simple tunes are played throughout the day.
Sather Tower is a bell tower with clocks on its four faces on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. It is more commonly known as The Campanile for its resemblance to the Campanile di San Marco in Venice. It is a recognizable symbol of the university.
The Netherlands Carillon is a 127-foot (39-m) tall campanile housing a 53-bell carillon located in Arlington County, Virginia. The instrument and tower were given in the 1950s "From the People of the Netherlands to the People of the United States of America" to thank the United States for its contributions to the liberation of the Netherlands in 1945 and for its economic aid in the years after. The Netherlands Carillon is a historic property listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of Arlington Ridge Park, which is part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway. It is owned and operated by the National Park Service.
Campanology is the scientific and musical study of bells. It encompasses the technology of bells – how they are founded, tuned and rung – as well as the history, methods, and traditions of bellringing as an art.
A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell towers, often part of a municipal building, an educational establishment, or a tower built specifically to house a carillon. Church bell towers often incorporate clocks, and secular towers usually do, as a public service.
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an internal "clapper" or "uvula", an external hammer, or—in small bells—by a small loose sphere enclosed within the body of the bell.
Emancipation Day is observed in many former European colonies in the Caribbean and areas of the United States on various dates to commemorate the emancipation of slaves of African descent.
Royal Eijsbouts is a bell foundry located in Asten, Netherlands.
A chime or set of chimes is a carillon-like instrument, i.e. a pitched percussion instrument consisting of 22 or fewer bells. Chimes are primarily played with a keyboard, but can also be played with an Ellacombe apparatus. Chimes are often automated, in the past with mechanical drums connected to clocks and in the present with electronic action. Bellfounders often did not attempt to tune chime bells to the same precision as carillon bells. Chimes are defined as specifically having fewer than 23 bells to distinguish them from the carillon. American chimes usually have one to one and a half diatonic octaves. According to a recent count, there are over 1,300 existing chimes throughout the world. Almost all are in the Netherlands and the United States, with most of the remainder in Western European countries.
The bourdon is the heaviest of the bells that belong to a musical instrument, especially a chime or a carillon, and produces its lowest tone.
The Meneely Bell Foundry was a bell foundry established in 1826 in West Troy, New York, by Andrew Meneely. Two of Andrew's sons continued to operate the foundry after his death, while a third son, Clinton H. Meneely, opened a second foundry across the river with George H. Kimberly in Troy, New York in 1870. Initially named the Meneely Bell Company of Troy, this second foundry was reorganized in 1880 as the Clinton H. Meneely Company, then again as the Meneely Bell Company. Together, the two foundries produced about 65,000 bells before they closed in 1952.
JonkheerJacob van Eyck was a Dutch nobleman, composer and blind musician. He was one of the best-known musicians of the Dutch Golden Age, working as a carillon player and technician, a recorder virtuoso, and a composer. He was an expert in bell casting and tuning, and taught Pieter and François Hemony how to tune a carillon. Van Eyck is credited with developing the modern carillon together with the brothers in 1644, when they cast the first tuned carillon in Zutphen. He is also known for his collection of 143 compositions for recorder, Der Fluyten Lust-hof, the largest work for a solo wind instrument in European history.
The Royal Carillon School "Jef Denyn" is a music school in Mechelen, Belgium, that specializes in the carillon. It is the first and largest carillon school in the world. The Belgian government defines it as an "International Higher Institute for the Carillon Arts under the High Protection of Her Majesty Queen Fabiola". The school has trained many of the foremost carillonneurs of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and houses a rich archive and library.
The American Bell Association International, Inc. (ABA) is a nonprofit organization devoted to the collection, preservation, restoration, and research of bells in which members can attend regional chapter events and an annual national convention. Twenty-two U.S. chapters and an additional five international chapters are recognized by the American Bell Association International; global membership is 1,200 persons. The organization is one of over 100 names that uses the acronym ABA.
The Australian and New Zealand Association of Bellringers, known as ANZAB, is the organisation responsible for the promotion of English-style "full circle ringing" – namely change ringing and method ringing in bell towers with a peal of bells – across Australia and New Zealand.
The Justice Bell is a replica of the Liberty Bell made in 1915. It was created to promote the cause for women's suffrage in the United States from 1915 to 1920. The bell is on permanent display at the Washington Memorial Chapel in Valley Forge National Park in Pennsylvania.
Campanology is the scientific and musical study of bells. It encompasses the technology of bells – how they are cast, tuned, and rung – as well as the history, methods, and traditions of bellringing as an art. Articles related to campanology include:
