The Bell Tolls for Bike Riders

The Glockenspiel or carillon is a collection of bells, most weighing in excess of 100 tons, that when played together creates music that cascades down from church bell towers the world over.  The carillon is usually a collection of 23 large bells to be exact (some have 27 and are known as two-octave carillons) with each bell creating its own unique sound.  Since the construction of the first carillons composers have written music for the bells and talented keyboardists, organists and pianists have played the keys that in turn ring the bells.  Seventeenth century musician Jacob Van Eyck may be history’s greatest Carillon player.  

Born in Holland in the late 1500s, Van Eyck also created some of the foremost casting techniques that allowed bells to be of near perfect tune.  Some historians credit Van Eyck’s delicate and precise ear for tune to his lifelong blindness. Tuning is no small task, because of the size and thickness of each bell they go out of tune frequently.  Audiophiles have tried to capture tolling bells on recordings only to achieve a flawed playback due to the bizarre sound waves created by bells which do not allow devices to properly record the sound.  

The World Carillon Federation notes the highest concentration of carillons and bell towers to be in the Low Countries of Belgium and France with a surprisingly high number in the United States.  The best carillons are played by human hand with each bell chiming individually.  This method is still practiced today but for the most part carillons are programmed to be played by electronic keyboards.  If this is case then technically it should not be considered a carillon, rather a bell tower, because often times the keyboard instructs bells to chime simultaneously, not one at a time which is preferred.

The bell tower or belfry or steeple was created sometime in the Middle Ages prior to the fifth century.  They were built to call worshipers to prayer.  Later when Europe was well into the Dark Ages the bell tower served as an early warning system alerting town folk to fires, armies on the march and more.  Later, bells would become commonplace in city hall buildings and soon would share time and space with the municipal clock.   The height of the bell tower usually depended on the structure’s proximity to the sea.  Shorter towers were needed seaside so as  to not give away the town’s location to marauding pirates.  Well inland, tall towers were required so the faithful could see the spire through mountains and across vast meadows. 

The SBT crew mentions this bell tower and carillon history because we pass many such structures on our rides and the quietness of the bicycle allows us to hear the melody of the bells. This is yet another reason to escape the car in order to embrace the open air of nature.  It is also interesting to note that UNESCO has created a tour of the Belfries of Belgium and France that includes 56 historically significant buildings.  Many of these structures will be passed by professional riders during the Tour of Flanders.  The Tour will celebrate 100 years in 2013 and will begin on Easter Sunday.  The bells will no doubt be ringing on that day.

Visit our website for a new video of the glowing highways coming to Holland.   Go to www.stickybottelteam.net and click on VIDEOS.