Still Alive on Carillon

By JoCo June 23, 2008

OK, you win:

Comments

Oliver says

Some bits were hard to make out and the timing sounded weird, but considering where it came from it's good stuff ^_^

Vern says

Cool.

Here's a link to the YouTube page, with some more details about how/where this was made: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPPjS-TCCqk

I had no idea what a Carillon was. Apparently it's like a giant piano that has bells instead of strings. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carillon

Here's a page with some interesting pictures and facts about the Storke Tower carillon (where this was played): http://www.library.ucsb.edu/libwaves/aug99/tower.html

Rob says

Can stardom rise any higher? I don't think so!
Is it lonely up there Joco?

John Coxon says

It's no longer available...

Debbie says

That was awesome, in all senses of the word. I was grinning like a loon.

A loon with lips, that is. Um. So, not a loon so much. But definitely grinning!

(Come back to Western Mass!)

rozwarren says

Magical! Thanks.

Mike says

dude, that's my school - I pass that bell tower twice a day on my bike - how was I not there?

Greg Courville says

Whoa! I'm honored. Now I sorta wish I'd had a few more months to practice. Maybe I'll try for a reprise next year, if I can get access again...

@ Oliver:
There are definitely a few timing slips, not to mention that the arrangement itself is not entirely faithful to the original.
Also, the recording was made through the keyboard microphone on a Thinkpad. In retrospect, not an ideal choice...

@ Vern:
Yup, like a giant piano -- but with more flailing about of the arms and legs! ;-)

Jo says

I was watching this being performed! Pretty epic... yay Greg!

Mystral721 says

@ John:
It actually still is available. I've run into that bug with embedded YouTube links before. Just double-click the video to bring it up in it's own page.

Man, this was just awesome!

Jeremiah Staes says

There aren't even words to describe how epic that success is. Awesome.

Susie the Southern Geek says

I think that wins for coolest cover ever! JoCo, you should post a comment on his YouTube and make all of the viewers totally geek out!

@Greg - that was awesome! Did your judges know where the song was from? Did the school get any comments?

Roman V. says

I was not aware that there were in fact tower bell "recitals". Hey at least you have no problem figuring out where to host it.

Lasse Havelund says

This is beyond awesome. Simply... beyond.

Evil Ducks says

I always loved when the nerds got their hands on Storke Tower back when I was at UCSB. I use to randomly hear various John Williams movie themes on them when cycling across campus.

I miss that school, it was an amazing place.

Jo says

They played the Tetris theme song on it too.

Kimani says

Wait, what? When did this happen? I goto UCSB and was not aware of this epic event :O

This is only the first step. JoCo, you must come and play at UCSB now! ( Not during the summer, though, since I'm not there. )

Greg Courville says

@Kimani:

The recital was May 18th, 2008. Unfortunately, our advertising resources were pretty limited, and it happened to be the same day as Extravaganza (oops!). Hopefully we'll be able to gather a more substantial audience next time around...

And, yes, it is imperative that JoCo come and play for us.

Bridget says

Having tinkered around on one of these beasties before, I send congratulations, Greg! On both your recital and the awesomeness of your repertoire. I've always wanted to hear the SuperMario theme on the carillon, actually...

I played the 10-bell chime at Syracuse for four years (did you know who can play "Hey Jude" on ten bells? True!), and a decade later I found a carillon teacher in my area... but I had to give up lessons for various reasons (not exactly a portable instrument for practice purposes, is it?), and I haven't been up a tower in a couple years. But the memories of hours spent banging out on the practice keyboard in the cold winter stay with you forever, I think.

This is my ultimate dream: to have my own carillon. All other dreams (where the castle will be, etc.) are necessarily built around that one. :)

Frag says

umm.... nice!
I really enjoyed Still Alive in Rock Bnad too!

IndigoMonkey says

Well, THAT'S a link I'll be passing on.