My ding-a-ling!

What IS a Carillon?

A Carillon is a musical instrument - the heaviest of all instruments and certainly not one you can carry about with you! It consists of a stationary set of bells mounted in a bell tower, usually in a church or some kind of municipal building; there are usually between 23 - 50 tuned bells although in the USA you can find Carillons with up to 70 bells (they always have to supersize everything!). A Carillon differs greatly from ordinary church bells; Carillon bells do not swing and are struck by clappers which are activated by levers and wires attached to a clavier which is a baton keyboard incorporating foot pedals, too. The keyboard batons are usually struck with the fist and, of course, the foot pedals with the feet (that figures!). The keyboard is set out as a piano keyboard and the carillonneur plays tunes by either striking one bell after another to create a melody or by playing several bells together creating chords.

This picture shows Caroline playing the clavier at Loughbrough's War Memorial Carillon.

There are 90 steps up to the clavier room at Loughborough's Carillon and there are 47 bells mounted in the tower directly above Caroline's head. Just to give you an idea of the scale of Loughborough's Carillon - the heaviest bell weighs 4.25 tonnes, is 6' 4" in diameter and 5' tall - so, not ideal for someone who hates heights and has a phobia of big bells!

You can read more about this particular carillon by logging on to: http://www.loughboroughcarillon.com

So, hopefully, you get the idea - it's all about climbling lots steps and getting up close and personal with big bells. Come back soon to read more about the 2008 Carillon Tour and to learn more about the Carillons of the UK and Ireland.