carillon

[prettygoodword]

carillon (KAR-uh-luhn or (Brit.) kar-RIL-yuhn) - n., a set of chromatically tuned bells played by keyboard.


Often placed in a tower, and so sometimes an inhabitant of campaniles. The one I grew up closest to was in a cathedral tower, though, plus there was one in the zoo. They were developed in the Low Countries, but the name was adopted in 1775 from French, from of Old French quarregnon, from Medieval Latin quaterniōn-, set of four, from presumably their original size. Modern instruments are typically four octaves, not four bells, though they range from two to six octaves (the largest are 77 bells/notes).

---L.

Comments

[al-rants.livejournal.com]

There's a bloke who plays the carillon at Scarborough Renaissance Festival in Waxahachie, Texas (just south of Dallas). He goes by the stage name of Cast in Bronze. My wife bought a couple of his CDs.

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

Interesting -- a more-or-less mobile one, I assume? Any idea how many octaves it has?

---L.

[al-rants.livejournal.com]

It is intended to be mobile, in the sense of being dismantled, moved in pieces, and reassembled. I don't remember how many octaves it has... but a quick check of the FAQ on his website tells me that there are 35 bells ranging from C4 to C7. So only three, it looks like.