Electronic carillon is a blanket term used to refer to an automated system which imitates the sound of a carillon

Carillon

A carillon is a musical instrument that is typically 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...

. These systems simulate and amplify bell sounds which are then played from loudspeakers housed in a bell tower

Bell tower

A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...

.

Due to the costs associated with installing, maintaining, and operating traditional carillons, many churches and universities now utilize these types of systems.

Bell Sound Emulation

While a traditional carillon uses actual bells, electronic systems simulate a bell sound in several ways

• By striking semantra
  Semantron
  The semantron or semanterion , also called a xylon is a percussion instrument used in monasteries to summon monks to prayer or at the start of a procession.-Origins and use:...
  
   (rectangular metal bars roughly the diameter of a pencil, but of varying lengths) with an electric solenoid
  Solenoid
  A solenoid is a coil wound into a tightly packed helix. In physics, the term solenoid refers to a long, thin loop of wire, often wrapped around a metallic core, which produces a magnetic field when an electric current is passed through it. Solenoids are important because they can create...
  
  .
• By striking tubular bells
  Tubular Bells
  Tubular Bells is the debut record album of English musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1973. It was the first album released by Virgin Records and an early cornerstone of the company's success...
  
   similarly
• By playing back a previously recorded bell sound
• By striking a small number of actual bells in combination with the methods above

Operation

Electronic carillons utilize an internal clock which determines when chimes or music will be played. The Westminster Quarters are commonly programmed to chime the hour and its divisions, along with musical selections. The musical score is stored on media which can can typically be changed or expanded.

Systems may also provide a keyboard or console. This allows a musician to operate the instrument in a manner similar to the way a traditional carillon

Carillon

A carillon is a musical instrument that is typically 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...

 is operated. These keyboards are sometimes integrated with or attached to an organist's console

Organ console

thumb|right|250px|The console of the [[Wanamaker Organ]] in the Macy's department store in [[Philadelphia]], featuring six manuals and colour-coded stop tabs....

.

Since these systems utilize an amplifier and loudspeaker, many are being expanded to also provide emergency notification systems to college campuses.

See Also

• A video of a Schulmerich Carillon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAL-svrnWIw
• Schulmerich's Electronic Carillon page, with several images: http://www.schulmerichbells.com/products_ec_overview.php
• Verdin's Electronic Carillon page: http://www.verdin.com/carillons/index.php