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The Netherlands Carillon in Arlington, Virginia, USA.

A carillon (/‖karijɔ̃/, /ˈkærɪljɒn/ or /kəˈrɪljən/) is a musical instrument composed of at least 23 cup-shaped bells played from a baton keyboard using fists and feet (such an instrument with fewer than this number of bells is known as a chime). Carillon bells are made of bell bronze, approximately 78% copper and 22% tin, normally housed in bell towers. However, there are indoor carillons usually of light weight bells which may be hung inside shopping malls or in theatres or Opera houses such as at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.

The carillon is the heaviest of all musical instruments with total weight of bells alone being around 100-200 tons in large instruments. It is sometimes referred to as the "duke" of instruments (the organ is "king") The organ has the widest range followed by the carillon and piano.

Carillon bells.

The carillon originated in the 12th century in the Low Countries when people wanted not only to make beautiful bells, but also to achieve a sonorous and concordant sound. In the 17th century, François and Pieter Hemony perfected the art of bell-founding by tuning at multiple interior points so that bells could be sounded together to produce concordant harmonies. The Hemonys kept their tuning methods secret and the secret died with them. Independently, in the 18th century Andreas Vanden Gheyn developed a technique of tuning bells, in addition to a technique different from the Hemonys for higher pitched bells, creating a lighter, less harsh sound. Unfortunately his techniques also passed away with him. It was not until the 19th century in England under the Taylor foundry at White Chapel that well-tuned bells were made again.

Bells in medieval times were not only used to make music but also notify people of fires, storms, wars and other events in various towns and cities. The great bell Rowland (goes also under other spellings) is one of the most famous of these bells and has survived for over 500 years escaping being melted down by Napoleon or Hitler. Rowland announced births, deaths, fires, wars, etc., as well as being the bourdon of the Bruges Belfry. The announcements were done by the way the bells were rung. A ringing of bells rung from the lowest note to the highest note indicated that a war or attack had taken place or was about to.

Cast in Bronze at the Texas Renaissance Festival in October 2007.

The greatest concentration of carillons is still to be found in Belgium, the Netherlands, and the French département du Nord, where they were commonly mounted in the grand towers of rich cities as tokens of civic pride and status. Carillons were usually housed in church towers, belfries, or in municipal buildings, and the same holds true for those carillons that have been installed in other parts of the world since the art of casting precisely tuned bells was rediscovered in the late 19th century. In Germany, such a carillon is also called a glockenspiel.

The instrument was introduced to many new listeners by Cast in Bronze a traveling carillon show played by Frank DellaPenna at Epcot in the Walt Disney World Resort in the late 1990s. Today, Cast in Bronze tours with the 4-ton instrument playing at regional music and renaissance festivals.

Overview of highest concentrations of carillons (as defined by the World Carillon Federation) (data September 2006):

A carillon keyboard.

Highly reputed carillon schools are also present in the carillon heartlands, including the Netherlands Carillon School in the Netherlands and the first international school, the Royal Carillon School "Jef Denyn" in Mechelen, Belgium. In North America one can study the carillon at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (which is home to two of only twenty-three grand carillons in the world), the University of Florida, the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music, and Missouri State University, all which offer complete courses of study. One can also take private lessons at many carillon locations, and there are universities that offer limited credit for carillon performance, such as Clemson University or Cornell University.

Carillon keyboard.

Since each separate note is produced by an individual bell, a carillon's musical range is determined by the number of bells it has. Different names are assigned to instruments based on the number of bells they comprise:

• Carillons with 23 through 27 bells are referred to as two-octave carillons. Players of these instruments often use music arranged specifically for their limited range of notes.
• The "keyboard" of a carillon is called a baton console.
• A concert carillon has a range of at least four octaves (47 bells) and is generally accepted unofficially as the world's standard sized carillon.
• The carillon with largest range contains 77 bells, or six and a half octaves (Kirk in the Hills, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, United States). The Riverside Carillon in New York City has (or did have—there may be other instruments with larger bourdons) the largest tuned bell in the world, which sounds the C two octaves below middle C on the piano.
• Some modern fake instruments (such as some made by Schulmerich) use semantra (rectangular metal bars roughly the diameter of a pencil but of varying lengths) struck by an electric solenoid. The resulting sound, which sounds nothing like real bells, feeds through an electronic amplifier into audio speakers. Though sometimes called "carillon" as well, these do not conform to the definitions given by the World Carillon Federation^[4] or the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America^[5]. The GCNA as of 2000 has disqualified all instruments in which more than 12 bells are played electrically. Twelve bells are allowed so that automatic chiming of tunes may take place. Chiming means that one bell at a time is usually played.

The carillonneur is the title of the musician who plays the carillon. The carillonneur usually sits in a cabin beneath the bells and presses down, with a loosely closed fist, on a series of baton-like keys arranged in the same pattern as a piano keyboard. The batons are almost never played with the fingers as one does a piano, though this is sometimes used as a special carillon playing technique. The keys activate levers and wires that connect directly to the bells' clappers; thus, as with a piano, the carillonneur can vary the intensity of the note according to the force applied to the key. In addition to the manual keys, the heavier bells are also connected to pedals. These notes can either be played with the hands or the feet.

To a musician's ear, a carillon can sound "out of tune." Poorly tuned bells often give this impression and also can be out of tune with itself. This is due to the unusual harmonic characteristics of foundry bells, which have a strong overtones above and below the fundamental frequency. Foundry bells are tuned to have the following set of partials (overtones):

• Octave above prime
• Fifth
• Minor third
• Prime and strike tone resultant
• Hum tone (an octave below prime)

Additionally, there is a major 10th, 12th, and 15th which are not typically individually tuned, but are usually present anyway. They all combine to create a "resultant" pitch, which is in unison with prime on a well-tuned bell. Properly tuned bells emphasize the fundamental frequency of the bell.

Carillonneur Brian Swager plays the carillon at the Cathedral Saint-Jean-Baptiste (John the Baptist) in Perpignan, France.

This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can (October 2007).

There is no standard pitch range carillon as of 2007 (although the implied world standard pitch range for the average carillon is 48 bells, which gives good upper range and good lower range). The minimum and maximum range of an instrument generally depend on the money available to pay for the instrument; more money equals more bells and a larger range. The more expensive bells are found in the lower part of the baton console. When one writes for this instrument; it should be designated the size instrument that the work is to be played on since a work demanding a large range can not be played on a Carillon of 23 bells while on the other hand a 23 bell range composition can be played on a 48 bell carillon. For example: Phantasie for Carillon in C for Carillon of 23 bells; Soul of the Great Bell for Carillon in C of 61 bells. Carillons, because they do not have a standardised pitch range, tend to be transposing instruments particularly in older instruments which are now being re-set up as non transposing (except in octaves) C instruments so that the bells can not only be played solo but with other instruments also without the hassle of transposing to match the instruments being played with the Carillon. The days of transposing instruments have just about ended and music is now being written so that if the baton note C is played one gets a C which may be higher or lower than written depending on the size instrument or it may sounds as written. In instruments which are large, the baton C gives the same note sounds which sounds as written for instance middle c sounds middle c just as it also would on the piano. It used to be part of a Carillonneur's training to be able to transpose music in any key for his or her instrument thankfully this is now passing which also makes it easier on composers to write for the instrument. One of the other difficulties/frustrations in writing for Carillon is that older builders often failed to provide bells for some of the lower bells. You can see this in the photograph of the Carillon Console being played here. The reasons for this were expense of these bells which sometimes meant that they builder either could insist on putting these bells in and loose the contract or he could not put in the bells and get the contract. In modern instruments this has thankfully been done away with for the most part. These days a large Carillon may be envisioned but the large bells will be installed then those upwards from there so that the less expensive bells will be assured of being gotten to fill in the gaps.

Carillon music is typically written on two or three staves. The pedal stave used to play the heavier, larger bells which are connected to the lower portion of the baton clavier and also help form chords and thirds and other intervals with the middle and upper baton bells. Pedal ranges maybe 32 notes, usually beginning on C in modern octave transposing and non transposing Carillons or more duplicating the batons. In most Carillons; the pedal is not independent and sounds the same baton bells that are coupled to the same pedal notes. Complicated music maybe written on four staves with the staves labeled High bells, Mid Bells, Tenor Bells and Bourdons or bass bells.

Just about any music that can be played on the piano or organ can also be composed and or arranged to be played on the Carillon. However, one should not expect that chords can be played with one's fingers as is on the piano---this can be done on upper bells however, Trills and tremolandi as well as rapid runs are effective. Very Fast music and slow music can be played and the Carillon is ideal for playing polyphonic music with florid counterpoint. Arrangements and original compositions for Carillon should focus on the middle and upper bells because their sounds die out quicker than the bourdons. While Carillon music can be written on standard 9.5 x12 inches paper; Carillon music is most often preferred to be printed in folding landscape format so that no page turns are necessary or the need to is greatly reduced.

Carillon music is effective when combined with Orchestra in Concertos, Orchestral piece as well as solo pieces. It is also effective when used in film scores and in duos, trios, quartets, quintets with guitar, Strings and Brass with timpani.

In recording Carillon music, the microphones should be some distance from the bells otherwise it will pick up the softer lingering of tones and frequencies that are not intended to be heard usually.

Music for Carillon has a long history dating back from to the 12th century when bells began to chime out tunes. By the 15th century automatic music was possible by arranging pegs on giant spring-loaded drums. When the time came to play the spring was released and the drums caused the instrument to play. The 19th century saw the beginnings of much original music written for the instrument.

• CAMPANAS QUINTANA S.A.
• World Carillon Federation
• Guild of Carillonneurs in North America
• Netherlands Carillon School
• Flemish Carillon Guild
• Royal Carillon School "Jef Denyn", Mechelen, Belgium
• Netherlands Carillon School, Amersfoort, the Netherlands
• Yale University Guild of Carillonneurs
• Carillon Music Audio Recordings Discography of all recordings known to have existed, by the Carillon Society of Australia
• Peace Tower Carillon, Ottawa, Canada
• The Carillon . A history of the carillon with particular attention to the carillon and carillon music in the times of Johannes Vermeer.
• Images of the Carillon Tower Niagara Falls from the Niagara Historic Digital Collections
• America's only traveling carillon

• List of carillons