Baylor > McLane Carillon

	2011 GCNA Congress June 26-July 1, 2011 http://www.gcna.org/events-news.html

The McLane Carillon--Baylor University

The McLane Carillon in the tower of Pat Neff Hall is a gift of the Drayton McLane family and the McLane Company, Inc. of Temple, Texas. Dedicated on November 4, 1988, the instrument was built by the Paccard Bell Foundry of Annecy, France. The weight of the bells ranges from 29 pounds to 4,370 pounds, with a total weight of over 22 tons.

The carillon (pronounced CARE-uh-lahn) is a musical instrument of at least 23 cast bronze bells and a mechanical playing keyboard--or clavier--with a pedalboard. Carillonneurs use closed fists and both feet when playing, sending clappers to the stationary bells by striking dowel-like keys. Expressive playing is made possible through a mechanical wire linkage between the key and the clapper.

The 48 bells of the McLane Carillon provide a compass of four octaves, and place it among the fewer than two hundred carillons on the entire North American continent with a range of four octaves or more. The lower two octaves of bells also have electrically activated clappers controlled by a computer. These are used for the Westminster chimes, which strike the hour, and for melodies played at regular intervals throughout the day. Three of the largest bells (C, D, and E) are mounted as swinging bells for ringing as a celebratory peal.