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A NEW OCTAVE: Bruce Harkness of the Verdin
Bell Co. prepares to install a new bell into the South College belfry
Oct. 3. Eight new bronze bells were hoisted to the top by a crane,
adding a full octave to the instrument. |
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Harkness and Bill Burkhart, university
photographer, discuss cable rack hardware for the new bells. Metal
"tracker squares" connect the bells in the tower via the cable to the
clavier -- or keyboard -- on a floor beneath the belfry. |
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Bell installer Don Swem performs the
balancing act inside and outside the belfry dome. |
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Wesleyan Connection editor Olivia Bartlett
and Lisa Dudley '08 received a bellfry tour by the Verdin Bell Co.
staff. To get into the cramped bell tower, they climbed scaffolding-steps, two
ladders, crossed a wood plank and "limboed" under the bells' frame. |
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Verdin Bell Co. installer Tina Harkness uses
a ladder to climb through four tiers of bells. The original bells hang
from the lower two levels, and the new bells hang from the top two
levels. |
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Tina Harkness, Peter Frenzel professor
emeritus of German Studies and Wesleyan chimemaster, Swem and Bruce
Harkness gather around the clavier after installing the cables that lead
to the bells above Oct. 10. Frenzel was the first to test-out the new
bells. (Photos by Bill Burkhart, Olivia Bartlett and Don Swem) |
