squeak squeak: my bell tower

CARILLON

Welcome to my bell tower. This is one of the places I consider my territory. As in I could trounce you or grant sanctuary. Er. . . such and whatnot.

CARILLON: a French term meaning 'set of bells.' The Berkeley Class of 1948 Carillon has 61 bells, a full 6 octaves. Our bourdon (the largest bell = the lowest note = the bell that tolls the hour) is a G.

Us carillon students have carillon Signature Personalities. (The kind of things other people might refer to as idiosyncrasies or eccentricities or peculiarities. . . . ) We reflect this in our repertoire or performance style. So, you could hear a recital of folk songs or apoplectic Pozdro pieces and say, "Yep, Justin. Sounds good (if you can call that music)." Or you could hear the Westminster chime before the hourly toll, and ya just KNOW it's Eric. Or you could be listening and totally HEAR Andy's weight behind the bells. Then, there's Jeff. . . . (Jeff's a professional.)

I like to play a short ditty, in the key of G, before the hourly toll -- a different one each time. Lil' tunes such as Camptown Rabbits, London Bridge, the Warner Brothers cartoon intro, Row Row Row Your Boat, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, et al. My repertoire is mostly patriotic songs, captivating minor melodies, and synesthetic theme-and-variation pieces that have ragtime blood. (I'm looking for Sousa arrangements! Email me if you can help! I'll swap Barnes or anything else I can get my hands on in the Berkeley Campanology Collection.) And I'm OBSESSED ad nauseum with making an arrangement of Jurassic Park for carillon, as many can attest. It hasn't happened yet, but it will. I've also got plans for a busy duet piece on "Carol of the Bells."

One day, I'll get some Britney up there to pacify Mo. (Britney! We say Britney around here, not Christina!)

Let's see, Berkeley Sather Tower specs: visit http://music.berkeley.edu/carillon.html for now. I'll put up my own featured details soon.

Let's return to dipsqueak.com!