What the Heck is a Carillon?

Ok. So, in the past two months, I’ve been posting about my new hobby – learning the carillon. Most people have never heard of it, and even if they have, they might not really know anything more than “oh, the pretty bells.” Therefore, I thought I’d make a post to go into it, and give you some more samples of my beginner level playing!

What Is A Carillon?

A carillon is a set of tuned bells played with a “keyboard”. There have to be at least 23 bells for it to be a carillon and not chimes. The keyboard is very much like an organ keyboard, so I’ve been told. The “batons” of the keyboard are played with both hands and feet, with the lower bells being played by the feet. There are transmission wires that run from the keyboard (situated below the bells) that pull the clappers inside the bells to make them sound.

Carillon? Carillion? Caroline?

The word carillon is pronounced like “Carol – on.” Myself and others have thought for a long time there was a second i in the word, and it would be pronounced similar to pavilion, but it is not!

Why Have I Never Heard of This Before?

There are only 7 carillons in NY state, and only 171 of them in the US. Of those, most are owned by religious or educational institutions. But, there are carillons all over the world. Belgium and the Netherlands join the US for the top three countries with carillons.

Why Learn It?

Ever since my dad gave me my first instrument, I was hooked on music. For some reason, all along, I loved the sound of the bells. Little bells, big bells. In band, I loved those tubular bells. So, once I started hanging around on River Campus at the University of Rochester, and heard the bells that go off every 15 minutes, it was natural that I would like those, too. Then, once I found out that people went and played songs on them, I was fascinated. The day the morning university email advertised lessons on them, my fate was sealed!

The Hopeman Carillon

I’m learning to play the Hopeman carillon that is housed in the “lantern” atop the Rush Rhees library on the University of Rochester River Campus. To get up there, I go up an elevator into the library’s empty dome, and then climb up two more sets of stairs to the “cabin” that houses the keyboard (console). The “cabin” is suspended from the ceiling, so depending how many people are in there, the tension of the transmission wires needs to be adjusted so the clappers still hit the bells correctly. The mechanics of the console do make a good amount of noise, but thankfully there isn’t much of a delay between when I hit the batons to when the bell sounds. If there was, I think that would mess with my brain too much!

How Do You Practice?

Thankfully, the university community doesn’t have to hear me playing scales every time I want to practice. There are two practice consoles in private practice rooms. One is an electronic one, and the other is an exact copy of what can be found up in the cabin. I’ve had one lesson so far on the actual carillon (the rest have been on the electronic one) but my last three lessons for the semester will be up in the dome! Hopefully next time I post, I will have some video of me playing the real one!

What’s Alyx Been Playing?

For now, I’m limited to mostly little practice etudes and two songs my teacher has given me. I’m still learning all the hand-eye-foot coordination. It’s challenging to not only think about where both hands and both feet are, but to prepare for where they need to go, and to think about how hard or soft they need to hit the next baton. Oh, and I’m dusting off a lot of rust in reading bass and treble clef. Plus, I’ve never had to read both clefs at the same time. It’s a lot to think about and manage!!! I want to work up to some more modern songs, like “Clocks” by Coldplay, and maybe “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan, but I obviously need to start with the basics to be able to get to that point.

See below for some videos of the songs/etudes I’ve been working on. These three were recorded on the replica console, so you’ll note how there’s extra sounds it makes. The same thing happens up in the tower too.

Above was the song “Country Dance.” It’s super fun and easier than it sounds because many of the fast notes are repeated.

This was two pedal etudes that I played back to back. These ones are fun for me because they require me to know exactly where I am and jump around the pedals with both feet. I can only do it this fast because my hands are not doing anything at the same time!

This is an Indonesian folk song that I posted before. It’s actually not supposed to be super fast. I’ve finally got it up to speed with both hands and feet. Now, I’m working on the musicality of it, which means I’m trying to focus on making some of the notes louder and others softer, which requires “preparation” of the keys. It’s still a lot to think about!

Until Next Time

I’m sure there’s plenty more I could say about what I’m learning, but hopefully that answers most of your questions, dear readers. Keep a look out in my monthly journal updates for my progression in learning this giant instrument!