Carillon Historical Park (Dayton, Ohio); Carillons -- Ohio -- Dayton
The Meneely Bell Company foundry represented a curious mixture of the
old and the new. There was the main foundry with its large modern oil
melting furnaces in which was blended the age-old mixture of copper and
tin which is known in the textbooks as “bell metal”.... Out in the next
shop were the blacksmith and his helper, skillfully working iron into
the special bell mountings. Immediately behind this was the finishing
room where large and small bells were cleaned and buffed, while finished
ones were being set into their mountings for final tests before
shipment. Upstairs, patterns and cabinets were fashioned from wood;
while on a nearby drafting board a chime would take form as it would fit
into its final position in the tower.
In making bells, there must be a complete understanding of the technical
elements that make a bell ring true. Meneely’s men knew that a pure tone
was a definite number of vibrations per second as sensed by the human
ear.
The sound of a single tone is pleasant but colorless. The usual tone is
made up of a number of different pure tones, blending together, with the
dominant one giving the tone its pitch. Practically everything that will
vibrate will produce a tone, but only certain combinations will have the
musical qualities which distinguish them from unpleasant “noise.”
In this country, the commonest form of chime is that found in clock
towers. Principally used to strike the quarters and hours, these bells
are usually stationary and seldom number more than four or five; hence
no complete airs can be played with them.
[Illustration: From an acoustical standpoint the Deeds Carillon is
ideally located. The hills to the south provide a natural sounding
board and enhance the tone of the music.]
Chimes usually contain a minimum of ten bells, which give enough tones
in the diatonic scale to permit the rendering of hundreds of complete
hymns, folk songs, etc., in simple harmonies. Chimes are typically an
American form of art and are found in our churches in every part of the
country. The bells do not move, but the clappers are operated from
manual claviers, or by modern electrical methods employing small
piano-like keyboards.
[Illustration: This picture shows how the bells are mounted on the
chandelier and hang suspended from the top of the Carillon. The
larger bells are at the top of the chandelier.]
[Illustration: The regular Sunday afternoon concerts at Carillon
Park have drawn music lovers in ever-increasing numbers. In the
informal atmosphere of a beautiful park on a sunny summer afternoon,
there is pleasure and relaxation for all the family. The hour-long
program is now divided between numbers played on the bells and
recorded music amplified through the Celestron.]
[Illustration: People in Carillon Park]
[Illustration: People in Carillon Park]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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