For nearly a century, an unusual instrument has played music from atop Albany’s City Hall.
The City Hall carillon came to life Sunday for an annual concert. But first, WAMC’s Alexander Babbie climbed the tower for a behind-the-scenes tour.
Although it may sound like Notre Dame high over Paris, these bells are not played by merely pulling a rope.
What looks like a large keyboard with wooden batons instead of keys, Albany’s carillon has been chiming bells in City Hall since 1927.
In its chamber, atop a winding stone staircase, there are only two people in the Capital Region who know how to play this instrument. Amy Heebner is one of them. She learned while in college in the early 90s.
Heebner moved to New York’s capital city in 1995. At the time, no one was operating Albany’s carillon. She asked city officials if she could play, and soon began performing every Wednesday.
“As long as I can get here, I will play. Sometimes, if it's really windy and snowing, sometimes ice collects around the where the cables go through the roof of the cabin, and so then the bells don't move,” Heebner said.
The tower is open to the weather, so the person who plays the instrument, known as a carillonneur, sits inside the small shelter that holds the batons.
“The music is basically written in C, OK? So you just play it. And then it may not sound like the notes that you're playing,” Heebner said.
When the carillonneur strikes a baton, it pulls a clapper against the side of a bell, but be careful:
“If you did too hard, the sound might not be as good,” Heebner said.
Heebner reads from sheet music as she strikes the batons with the side of her hands.
Below, there are foot petals mirroring the batons, allowing the carillonneur to play additional notes.
“Unlike an organ, which has long pedals, where you would use your heel and your toe, on these, you really can only use your toes,” Heebner said.
Even if the person playing the instrument is well-experienced, Heebner says, a carillon piece has to be played slower than if it were performed on an organ or a piano.
“There's the lag time and then there's also the overtones of the bell. Technically you're hearing more than one note,” Heebner said.
Albany’s City Hall carillon is the oldest municipal carillon in the United States.
Some of the instrument’s 49 bells have been recast or replaced over the years. Double bells installed at the top of the instrument have been removed.
But the bells still have a full range.
They range in size and weight from about 30 pounds to more than five tons. Each bell bears an inscription naming the donors who originally funded the carillon a century ago.
“This one's the Community Bell, given by 500 citizens,” Heebner said.
The Community Bell is about three-and-a-half feet tall.
All bells were made by Taylor, a company based in England. Like pianos, carillons need tuning, which Taylor still does for the city.
While Albany’s carillon isn’t built for every kind of music, Heebner says rags are a favorite.
“‘The Entertainer’ by Joplin, I play that a lot,” Heebner said.
Aside from her playing on Wednesdays, Heebner says the carillon has been used to mark historic moments. She played at midnight after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015.
“It was really special to be able to be part of that,” Heebner said.
