UpDate - Vol. 15, No. 39, Page 5
August 15, 1996
Campus carillon enters into the electronic age

     Each morning, at precisely three minutes past 8, the sounds of
"Delaware, My Delaware," the University's "Alma Mater," "America," and
the UD "Fight Song" waft across the Mall, passing by the Georgian
columns, above the brick walkways, greeting members of the campus
community at the start of another day.
     The melodies that have originated from the top of Memorial Hall
for decades now reach far beyond the central campus buildings that
bear such familiar names as Mitchell, Sharp, Wolf, Harter and Sypherd.
     At the same time as on the central campus, an identical
combination of notes and pauses can be heard at the University farm on
the south campus, at the conference centers of the Pencader Complex
and Clayton Hall on the Laird campus, in the courtyard between
Purnell, Smith, Ewing, and Kirkbride halls and in the freshly painted,
modern hallways of the recently opened Trabant University Center.
     As the campus has expanded, so, too, has the reach of the
carillon, thanks to technological advances. Currently, there are five
sites on campus where newly installed sound systems provide the sound
of the carillon: Memorial Hall, Ewing Hall, Townsend Hall, Pencader
Commons and the tower above Daugherty Hall.
     During the past year, Dennis Williams, Information Technologies,
coordinated a project to update the carillon.
     The bell-like sound of the original carillon was produced by the
physical striking of chimes in Memorial Hall. That early mechanism
operated in the same fashion as a grandfather clock, and, at times, it
also was played by a musician at a keyboard.
     With improvements in musical technology, the system was later
upgraded to play pre-recorded tapes using a reel-to-reel recorder and,
in the 1970s, it embraced the latest advances of the popular eight-
track tape player.
     According to Williams, the eight-track tape system, with a few
mechanical upgrades, has been used for more than 20 years, until the
latest project converted the carillon to a complete digital system in
late April.
     The music may sound the same, but the production process is light-
years away from the original percussive mechanism. Today, a modern
instrumental synthesizer creates the bell-like tones.
     Keith Heckert created the music on a synthesizer and stored it in
MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) files. Using Sound Canvas
software, the music was recreated and then digitized on a Power Mac.
Once the music is stored in digital audio files, Walt Bruhl,
Information Technologies, uploads the files from the Mac to reside on
a Unix server for distribution to the playback sites.
     Ron Reisor and staff member Ed Phillips, Information
Technologies, designed and created the custom software to control the
carillon operation with functions, ranging from the basic clock and
hour-strike operation to the interface for choosing musical selections
and scheduling playback times through a special secure Web page.
     Bruhl, Marvin Duffy and Rich Harbaugh, Information Technologies,
climbed the rooftops and installed the new speakers that were placed
at each of the five locations.
     Through a computer in East Hall, the sequence of selections and
the addition and deletion of the amplifiers at each site can be
controlled Bruhl is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the
chimes.
     "If there is a ceremony on the Mall, and we think that the daily
scheduled music might interfere with the program, we can shut that one
site off, we can shut all of them off or we can add special playbacks
to complement events such as Delaware Preview Days," Williams said.
     Music is regularly heard at 8:03 a.m., 12:03 p.m., and 5:03 p.m.
each day. While four specific selections are currently scheduled, some
can be deleted, others can be added and the sequence can be modified
by Bruhl from equipment at his desk.
     In the past, a member of Information Technologies' technical
staff was assigned to check, at least three times a week, on the
operation of the old system. Since the new technology has been
installed, Information Technologies staff members are still monitoring
the music closely, but they expect fewer breakdowns, primarily because
there are no longer any mechanical parts.
     "Everything is purely electronic," Williams said. "The amplifier
is operated by a computer reading off a hard drive. Another positive
thing about this change," he added, "is that any place that the
Ethernet goes, we can add a new system."
     "To me," Williams said, "when I walk out on the Mall, the music
is a perfect complement to the Georgian architecture, the attractive
sidewalks. I view it as a part of the University, and I sense that's
how a lot of people feel."
                                                         -Ed Okonowicz