Carillon Historical Park (Dayton, Ohio); Carillons -- Ohio -- Dayton
The bells range in size from six feet in diameter with a weight of 7,000
pounds to the smallest one which is eighteen inches in diameter weighing
250 pounds. Of the thirty-two bells in the Carillon, twenty-three are
speaking bells covering a range of two full octaves from B flat below
middle C. On the speaking bells were inscribed the names of the Deeds
family then living, while on the silent bells appear the names of six
deceased members.
[Illustration: The Celestron was added several years after the
Carillon was built. This is an amplifying system incorporating a
number of advanced features and making it possible to play recorded
music so that it can be heard over a wide area. The Celestron has no
connection with the Carillon bells. Since the addition of the
Celestron, most programs are divided between carillon music and
recorded music.]
[Illustration: This scene in the Carillon parking area has been
duplicated many times, as Sunday afternoon programs and others have
been presented.]
[Illustration: Easter Dawn Services at the Carillon.]
The same loving care that was lavished on the planning of the Carillon
has found expression in the arrangement of the programs. Mrs. Deeds
personally supervised the selection and arrangement of more than 400
musical selections so they could be played on the bells. The music has
been transferred to sheets of white Bristol paper bearing the Carillon
crest which are filed systematically for reference.
Thirty-five feet above the base of the Carillon tower is a balcony-like
structure in bronze which contains a room twelve feet in diameter and
six feet high. In this room are installed thirty-two powerful
high-fidelity speakers of the most advanced design. On Easter morning,
Christmas Eve, and other occasions, programs are broadcast directly to
the countryside. Recorded music, performed by the world’s finest bands,
choruses, orchestras and soloists, is to be heard with all its beauty
for nearly a mile in every direction throughout the wide-open spaces
about the Carillon tower. This Celestron is not connected in any way
with the chandelier of bells of the Carillon. It is an additional
instrument for the pleasure of those who love good music.
The science of bell-making is an old one. Sometimes it is necessary to
cast twenty or thirty bells to fill an order for a ten-bell chime. The
Deeds Carillon bells were made by The Meneely Bell Company of Troy, New
York.
Typical Sunday Afternoon Carillon Park Program
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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