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Carillons and Glockenspiels
By Jan Kijlstra

In the MMD from yesterday Hauke Marxsen wrote about a leaflet he is
producing in cooperation with Philippe Rouille: "How to take care of your
music box."  A lovely initiative.  He gave three German words found in
the WWW.  I know at least one extra: a clock that plays a tune is called
"Spieluhr", but you will also find "Musikuhr".  (Just like "Spieldose" and
"Musikdose", however "Spieldose" is not very common.)

In a bigger size a "Spieluhr" [chime-clock] can be found in towers.
There you will have sounding bells, played by hammers. "Carillon" is what
we in Holland say; in German: "Glockenspiel".  Famous builders:  Hofburg
in Salzburg (Austria), Muenster in Strassbourg (Germany).  In Holland you
will find lots of these instruments.  The Dutch were (the Hemony brothers)
and still are famous for their carillons.  There even is a school where
one can study to play the carillon.  (A carillon can be played auto-
matically or by using a keyboard).

The jukebox, in my opinion a mechanical music instrument, has a
nice German name as well: "Plattenkaroussel".  This name gives a good
impression of early jukeboxes, where a horizontally mounted "carousel"
carried the records.  To play a selected record the carousel would turn,
in order to place the record opposite the playing station.

Nowadays Wurlitzer (and other brands) build reproductions of jukeboxes.
They operate the same way, however no longer with records, but with
compact discs as their music sources.

Jan Kijlstra



(Message sent Tue, 11 Feb 97 11:02:27 GMT , from time zone +0000.)

Key Words in Subject:  Carillons, Glockenspiels