Traditional carillons in Central and South America:
index by weight (pitch)

The table below is an index to the 12 Central and South American traditional carillons, in order by the pitch of the bourdon (heaviest bell of the main keyboard range).  The key to the four column headings is at the end of the table, along with some other notes. 

    Location (City : Country)               Note Chr  Nr  Transp
bourdon in the bass octave (20000 to 3000 kg) - 1 instrument
SAO PAULO - MC                : BRAZIL       A    -   61    -
bourdon in the middle octave (2500 to 300 kg) - 8 instruments
HABANA                        : CUBA         C    -   49    -
SAO PAULO - VF                : BRAZIL       D#   -   47    -
TEGUCIGALPA                   : HONDURAS     E    -   42    -
BELO HORIZONTE                : BRAZIL       E    -   38    -
WILLEMSTAD - CM               : NED.ANTIL.   G    X   47    7
SAN SALVADOR                  : EL SALVADOR  G    -   35    -
PEMBROKE                      : BERMUDA      G    -   25    -
LEON                          : NICARAGUA    A    -   25    -
bourdon in the treble octave (250 to 60 kg) - 3 instruments
MONTEVIDEO - CC               : URUGUAY      C    -   23    -
SAN CRISTOBAL                 : VENEZUELA    C    -   23    -
PARAMARIBO - T                : SURINAME     G    -   25    -

Key to column headings:

Note
pitch of the bourdon (bass bell) of the carillon. (In rare instances there may be a heavier sub-bourdon bell; see below.)

Chr
chromatics indicator:
Z = fully chromatic (no missing semitones)
Y = missing one semitone in the bass (typically keyboard C#)
X = missing two semitones in the bass (typically keyboard C# and D#)
+X = same as "X" but has an additional sub-bourdon bell, separated by at least two semitones from the one indicated under "Note".
*X = same as "X" but also has a treble semitone missing somewhere.
- = unknown

Nr
number of bells (notes) in the carillon.

Transp
transposition from the keyboard notes to the pitches of the corresponding bells, in semitones.  (Thus the number "12" reflects transposition upward one octave, while "-3" reflects transposition downward by a minor third.)

Notes:

The table is sorted first on the pitch of the bass bell, then on the number of bells, then on the chromatics indicator, then on state/province.  The actual weight of the bass bell is not used.

The weight range indicators for each octave are only gross approximations, and should not be taken to represent any specific bell.

Return to Indexes to traditional carillons in Central and South America.

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This page was created 2000/08/24 and last revised 2006/09/20.

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