CARILLON, an arrangement for playing tunes upon a set of bells by mechanical means. The word is said to be a Fr. form of late Lat. or Ital. quadriglio, a simple dance measure on f our notes or for four persons (Lat. quattuor) ; and is used sometimes for the tune played, sometimes (and more commonly in England) for the set of bells used in playing it. The earliest mediaeval attempts at bell music, as distinct from mere noise, seem to have consisted in striking a row of small bells by hand with a hammer, and illustrations in mss. of the 12th and 13th centuries show this process on three, four or even eight bells. The introduction of mechanism in the form either of a barrel (see BARREL-ORGAN) set with pegs or studs and revolving in connection with the machinery of a clock, or of a keyboard struck by hand (carillon a clavier), made it possible largely to increase the number of bells and the range of harmonies. In Belgium, the home of the carillon, the art of the carillonneur has been brought to its greatest perfection, and here, and in Holland and France, the number of carillons, great and small, runs into hundreds. (See BELL.) In Britain the system of ringing bells by peal, known as the change-ringing, has always been preferred. But carillons and keyboards on the Continental model exist here and there, e.g., at the Manchester town hall, at Armagh and Cobh cathedrals, Bournville, Cattistock and elsewhere, while British made carillons have been set up in America. Among the latter are that of the Houses of Parliament at Ottawa (53 bells, the largest weighing 10 tons), and that of Riverside Drive church, New York, con taining 72 bells, of which the deepest-toned, weighing 184 tons, is the fourth largest bell in existence. Some of the most impor tant improvements in bell-ringing mechanism, as well as in methods of tuning, have had their origin in Britain.
This mechanism is very similar in general to that employed in the case of organs, one difference, however, being that light wooden levers take the place of the ivory keys. These levers are attached by means of wires and cranks to the clappers, which strike the bell on the inside surface at a point near its largest diameter. The travel of the clapper is about one inch, which is sufficient to bring out the full volume of sound required for caril lon playing, while still permitting the delicacy of touch necessary to the obtaining of the best effects.
Pedals are attached to the levers connected with the heavier bells, so that these can be played by foot or by hand, their per formance being further facilitated in some cases by the employ ment of "assistance pistons." These provide that directly the player begins to depress the pedal, electrical contact brings into operation an electro-pneumatic motor, the piston of which is coupled to the clapper and its force thereby added to that of the performer. This device, the invention of Gillett and Johnston, was employed first in the case of the fine carillon of 48 bells made by this firm and presented to Louvain university library by the American engineering societies. As regards the compass of caril lons, the smallest usually have a range of at least two octaves, in semi-tones, while the largest may have a compass of as much as four-and-a-half octaves, or 53 bells.