The tables below form an index to the 28 traditional carillons in countries outside the two major regions of carillon culture (Western Europe and North America), in order by keyboard range, size and weight. This puts each instrument near those that are most like it in terms of the limitations that their manual, pedal and total ranges impose on what music can be played on them. It is noteworthy that the 11 instruments with known configurations are of 9 different sizes with 11 different keyboard configurations. However, there are 16 carillons for which the keyboard ranges are insufficiently known to place them properly in this index. Investigations to resolve this situation are ongoing.
The instruments are divided into four major groups by total range, as follows:
Group 1 - grand carillon = at least 4.5 octaves, keyboard G - C
Group 2 - concert carillon = at least 4 octaves, keyboard C - C
Group 3 - medium carillon = at least 3 octaves, keyboard C - C
Group 4 - small carillon = less than 3 octaves
Each group is subdivided according to the configuration of the bass end
of the playing range that defines the group (which often is less than the total range
of the instrument).
Within sub-groups, keyboard ranges are sorted as follows:
-> in ascending order by the visible starting note of the manual,
<- in descending order by number of notes on the manual
(which often is the same as the total number of bells),
<- in descending order by the number of notes in the pedal,
<- in descending order by the weight of the bass bell
(which is equivalent to ascending order by transposition).
Any piece of music that fits within the defining range of a subgroup can probably be played on all of the instruments in that subgroup. Exceptions might occur if that piece requires unusually high pedal notes that are not available on some instruments.
Any piece of music that can be played on all the instruments of one subgroup can also be played on all the instruments of all the subgroups above that one in the table. The sole significant exception is that music which can be played on all instruments of subgroup 2b+ and which require the bass B-flat cannot be played on instruments of subgroup 2a. Exceptions might also occur if that piece requires unusually high pedal notes that are not available on some instruments.
The key to the five column headings is at the end of the table.
Location (City : Country) Note Chr Nr Transp RngMan/RngPed
Group 1a - fully chromatic within grand carillon range:
WELLINGTON - WM : NEW ZEALAND D# Y 74 -2 F G / F C 31 CANBERRA - A : AUSTRALIA F# Z 56 0 F#D / F#C 31 SYDNEY - U : AUSTRALIA G# Z 54 1 G C / G A#28Group 1b - missing bass G# within grand carillon range:
[none currently known]Group 2a+ - fully chromatic within concert carillon range plus bass B-flat:
[none currently known]Group 2a - fully chromatic within concert carillon range:
[none currently known]
Group 2b+ - missing bass C# from concert carillon range, plus bass B-flat:
SASEBO - HTB/4/mobile : JAPAN A# +X 50 0 A#C /(G) A#--
Group 2b - missing bass C# from concert carillon range:
DAEJEON (TAEJON) : KOREA G Y 77 -5 C F / ----Group 2c - missing bass C#,D# from concert carillon range:
BATHURST - WM : AUSTRALIA D X 47 2 C C / C C 23 WILLEMSTAD - CM : NED.ANTIL. G X 47 7 G C 42/ C G SASEBO - HTB/1 : JAPAN E X 47 16 F C 44/ C GGroup 3a - medium carillons with fully chromatic bass:
CAPE TOWN - WM : S AFRICA B Z 39 -1 C D / C GGroup 3b - medium carillons missing one bass semitone:
JERUSALEM - YMCA : ISRAEL D# Y 36 +3 C C / C E QUEZON CITY - UPD : PHILIPPINES A Y 36 9 C C / C AGroup 3c - medium carillons missing two bass semitones:
OSAKA - mobile : JAPAN C X 37 12 C D / C GGroup 4a - small carillons with fully chromatic bass:
[none currently known]Group 4b - small carillons missing one bass semitone:
[none currently known]Group 4c - small carillons missing two bass semitones:
BEIJING - 2 : CHINA C X 23 12 C C / NONE hybrid
BELO HORIZONTE : BRAZIL E - 38 - ---- / ---- SAO PAULO - VF : BRAZIL D# - 47 - ---- / ---- SAO PAULO - MC : BRAZIL A - 61 - A C 52/ ---- HABANA : CUBA C - 49 - ---- / ---- TEGUCIGALPA : HONDURAS E - 42 - ---- / ---- PARAMARIBO - T : SURINAME G - 25 - ---- / ---- SAN SALVADOR : EL SALVADOR G - 35 - ---- / ---- MONTEVIDEO - CC : URUGUAY C - 23 - ---- / ---- SAN CRISTOBAL : VENEZUELA C - 23 - ---- / ---- PEMBROKE : BERMUDA G - 25 - ---- / ---- LEON : NICARAGUA A - 25 - ---- / ---- ITAMI : JAPAN - - 43 - ---- / ---- SHIGARAKI : JAPAN A# - 50 3 G -- / ---- CILAOS : REUNION IS. - - 48 - ---- / ---- ISMAILIYA : EGYPT - - 28 - ---- / ----
Return to indexes to traditional carillons in Central and South America
or in Africa and the Mideast
or in Asia and the Pacific Rim.
Return to keyboard indexes for traditional carillons worldwide.
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This page was created 2020/07/23 and last revised 2024/03/08.
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