A carillon (English pronunciation: /ˈkærəˌlɒn/, /ˈkærɨljɒn/ or /kəˈrɪljən/; French: [kaʁijɔ̃]) is a musical instrument that is usually housed in a free-standing bell tower, or the belfry of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to play a melody, or sounded together to play a chord. A carillon is played by striking a keyboard called a "baton" with the fi...
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A carillon (English pronunciation: /ˈkærəˌlɒn/, /ˈkærɨljɒn/ or /kəˈrɪljən/; French: [kaʁijɔ̃]) is a musical instrument that is usually housed in a free-standing bell tower, or the belfry of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to play a melody, or sounded together to play a chord. A carillon is played by striking a keyboard called a "baton" with the fists and by pressing the keys of a pedal keyboard with the feet. The keys mechanically activate levers and wires that connect to metal clappers that strike the bells, allowing the performer, the carillonneur, to vary the intensity of the note according to the force applied to the key.
The carillon is the heaviest of all musical instruments; the total weight of bells alone can be 100 tons in the largest instruments. The greatest concentration of carillons is still found in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Northern France, where they were symbols of...
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