The music coming from the top of the Mahanay Memorial Carillon Tower is noticeably better after a technician from the Verdin Company spent last Thursday adjusting the clappers on a dozen bells.
Don Van Gilder of the county engineer’s office explained the technician tightened screws on some of the clappers and measured voltages at the control panel. His adjustments included making two of the larger bells play more quietly and ending a double-strike on another bell.
As Van Gilder played each note of the carillon from the keyboard on the mezzanine, the technician was outside at the top of the tower watching each striker. They worked their way through all 47 bells of the carillon.
Some area residents have been disappointed in the sound of the new bells. County engineer Wade Weiss said after the bells were installed in May that they needed to be “broken in”. They’re now broken in and tweaked, to the pleasure of residents with discerning ears.
