The Verlin L. Pulley Carillon

*Location:

   Pulley Bell Tower
   Miami University
   Patterson Avenue (US 27)
     at Oxford Trenton Road (OH 73)
   Oxford, Ohio, USA
   LL: N 39.50810, W 84.73002

Site locator map

*Player:

   (unknown)

   19xx-2013 Dr.Randolph Runyon

*Contact:

   Jack Williams, Project Manager
   Miami University
   501 East High Street
   Oxford, OH  45056
   T: (513)529-1809  [general information]
   E: williajg@muohio.edu

*Schedule:

   Automatic play at various times,
   depending on the day of the week;
   occasional live play at 2pm Sunday.
   Keyboard (5 octaves C-C) in tower base.

*Technical data:

   Electric-keyboard carillon of 50 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is F  in the middle octave
   Transposition is nil (concert pitch)
   Keyboard range:     F G   /    NONE  
   There is one missing bass semitone
   The whole instrument was installed in 2001
     with bells made by Petit & Fritsen
   Auxiliary mechanisms: E     
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 2012

The MU Website no longer has a page about the Pulley Bell Tower, only occasional mentions of it being played.  Elsewhere there is a photo page showing the entire tower.

Elsewhere on campus, the Beta Bell Tower (across from Ogden Hall) holds a 4-bell clock-chime; its history is given here.  (Meneely/Troy foundry records show that a "peal of 4", with 3000# tenor, total 5787#, with a date of July 21, 1939.)

An article on Prof. Randy Runyon doesn't say much about the bells, but it says a lot about the music which they play.
Commentary:  When the inhabitants of the campus hear automatic music several times a day, it should not be surprising that they don't turn out to listen to a longer session of music that sounds just the same (because of the electric action of the instrument).

Where this work lies in the sequence of output of the Petit & Fritsen bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.

Ranking among all North American non-traditional carillons by pitch (weight).
Ranking among all North American non-traditional carillons by size (number of bells).
Ranking among all North American non-traditional carillons by year of completion.

Index to all tower bell instruments in OH, including the chime in Molyneaux-Western Bell Tower (-1) on the same campus.

   This page was built from the database on 20-Feb-21
   based on textual data last updated on 2021/02/02
   and on technical data last updated on 2012/01/20