Charles & Georgia Robertson Baird
     Memorial Carillon

*Location:

   West tower
   Administration Building
   Texas Tech University
   Boston Avenue near 15th Street
   Lubbock, Texas, USA
   LL: N 33.58335, W 101.87519

Site locator map

*Carillonist:

   Peter A. Martens, Prof. of Music Theory
   W: 806-834-1870
   E: peter.martens@ttu.edu
   - and -
   students

   1975-9_ Judson Maynard   (1930-2008)
   Dr. C. Roy Wilson  (d.)
   Arla Jo Anderton   (C)
   Ann Adcock   (C)
   Thomas Hughes

*Contact:

   School of Music
   Texas Tech University
   Box 4239
   Lubbock, TX  79409
   T: 806-742-2270x223
   - or -
   Arla Jo Anderton   (C)
   2921 68th Street
   Lubbock, TX  79413-6311
   H: 806-795-4040   W: 806-790-7173
   E: aja3rjn@sbcglobal.net
   - or -
   T: 806-742-2011  [TTU main switchboard]

*Schedule:

   Special occasions during academic year;
   Friday noon in summer; also
   summer concert series 8pm most Sundays.

*Remarks:

   Basses supplied by Vanbergen were cast
   by Whitechapel in 1974 with Vanbergen
   inscription, but installed with Paccard
   trebles in 1976; their number has
   been wrongly reported as 15.
   Enlargement in 2005 included new frame,
   action & keyboards (practice is
   identical to playing except for
   extended range: 4 octaves manual, two
   octaves pedal); some light retuning
   of Paccard bells.
   East tower contains 2 "Victory Bells",
   (Vanduzen, 1936) unrelated to the
   carillon, also rehung by M W & Co.

*Technical data:

   Traditional carillon of 43 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is B  in the middle octave
   Keyboard range:     C G   /    C G   
   Transposition is up 11 semitone(s), i.e., from C to B 
   There is one missing bass semitone
   There is a non-identical practice console
   The instrument was enlarged in 2005
     with  9 bells made by Meeks,Watson 
   Prior history:
     In 1976, the instrument was enlarged to 36 bells
       by Paccard     
       (22 bells were added in and/or remain from that work.)
       Keyboard range was:     C C#  /    C G   
       There were two missing bass semitones
     In 1974, the instrument was begun with 12 bells
       by Whitechapel 
       (12 bells remain from that work.)
       Keyboard range was:     NOT   /    INST  
   No auxiliary mechanisms known
   Tower details: 
     Height of console:                 20 meters above ground
     Height of lowest level of bells:   24 meters above ground
     Height of highest level of bells:  25 meters above ground
     Belfry openness:  33%
   Year of latest technical information source is 2006

An extensive page about the carillon, including a sound clip and several good photos, was put together by Dr.Eric Blackwell.

On the Texas Tech main Website, the home page has a photo of the tower, with bells visible.  The Music Department's Web pages barely mention the carillon.  On the Victory Bell quadrant of the campus map, the Administration Building and its twin towers can be seen at upper left; click on that to bring up an alternating series of small pictures of the building.  A page on History and Traditions covers the carillon, with a photo of the tower, while another page in the same section pictures the Victory Bells.

A set of photos taken from the East Tower of the Administration Building includes two of the West Tower (which houses the carillon) plus four of the Victory Bells (E.W.Vanduzen Co.).

Where the initial phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Whitechapel bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the second phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Paccard bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the final phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Meeks & Watson bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.

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

Other medium carillons with similar keyboard ranges.

Index to all traditional carillons in TX.

Index to all tower bell instruments in TX.

   This page was built from the database on 14-Oct-24
   based on textual data last updated on 2024/03/30
   and on technical data last updated on 2007/12/14