FEATURE
story
CHIMES STILL RING OUT
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Chimes Still
HE FAMILIAR BELLS THAT CHIME ON THE UND CAMPUS TO MARK TIME ARE NOT ACTUALLY BELLS ANYMORE; THEY HAVEN’T BEEN FOR MORE THAN A DECADE. Two sets of amplifiers, each with six speakers, sit atop Twamley Hall. They send the sound from a CD player out across campus. But that was not always the case. Shortly after Twamley was constructed in 1961, its bell tower housed a Carillon Americana. When it was installed in the spring of
18 | Alumni Review Spring 2014
1963, it was among the six largest in the nation. Others of the same size were located at the University of Illinois, the United States Air Force Academy, the Lincoln Center in New York, the Seattle World’s Fair, and the Singing Tower at Lake Wales, Florida. The 305 bell electronic carillon boasted 61 Flemish bells, 61 harp bells, 61 celesta bells, 61 quadra bells and 61 minor tierce bells. The tuned bells were connected to three keyboards. When struck, they produced tones barely audible to the human ear. The vibrations were
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