Iowa State University Alumni Association| online edition | spring 1999

 

 


SPRING 1999
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Cover Story:
>>The Bells of Iowa State

Feature:
Driving Dr. Carver

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THE BELLS OF IOWA STATE
CELEBRATING A CENTURY: 1899-1999

The dissonance debate

Today, musicians choose, perform, and listen to carillon music with a great deal more sophistication than Iowa State’s early amateurs.

Bell music is unique and not for everyone, says Tin-Shi Tam, ISU professor of music and carillonneur. The bells’ metallic material produces overtones that are different than those produced by any other instrument. The combination of notes that result from one bell (even a perfectly tuned one) is a minor third – which makes the melody sound out of tune.

But an interesting thing goes on in the brain of the bell-listener, says Jeff Prater, composer and ISU professor of music. The ISU student, as he plods to class, seemingly oblivious to the tune chiming from central campus, is actually engaged in a sophisticated but unconscious process.

“Apparently, the brain ‘hears’ the tune, compares it to the overtones it’s accustomed to, reacts with ‘that’s really strange!’ and supplies information (missing notes) based on what it expects, rather than what’s really there,” says Prater.

“The music of the bells gives the listener a sense of uncertainty. It’s no wonder that bells are associated with death and mystical rites of passage; the music is kind of other-worldly.”

But in the early days of the Iowa State bells, there was apparently a little too much uncertainty. With only 10 bells to play on a lumbering chime mechanism, untrained players demanded more from the creative brains of their listeners than could be reasonably expected.

Writes Ira Schroeder, carillonneur for 38 years, “In 1931 when I arrived to play the carillon, there were still reverberations of considerable unhappiness with the playing of the 10 bells. I was told time and time again about poor rhythm and wrong notes. I was told that if there was a note in a melodic line for which there was no bell, some chimers would substitute another bell or just leave it out.”

Read on | The bell players