"Amazing Grace" Performed On the Carillon

The carillon is the world's largest musical instrument, consisting of at least twenty-three large cast bronze bells housed, usually in a bell tower.  The bells can be rung to play a melody, or to produce chords, by a keyboardist performing on an organ-like set of wooden keys and foot pedals.  Music produced on a carillon can be heard for miles.

Most of the world's carillons are in the low countries of Europe.  There are 164 carillons in the United States, with many on university campuses and supported by the school's music departments.  Example's in the United States include Denny Chimes at the University of Alabama and the carillon at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama where Dr. Stephen Brooks Knight has been the carillonneur for thirty-eight years.

Amazing Grace

Demonstration of how a carillon is played