Name That Tune! By Gina Seashore

If you are a regular Park visitor, you have probably heard one of the noontime bell medleys coming from the California Tower. But few people know the process behind the sound.

The instrument that produces the bell sounds is called a carillon, which is a set of stationary bells, each producing one tone of the chromatic scale. The carillon at Balboa Park is played by way of an electronic keyboard. The original 32-note carillon was given in 1946 as a gift from Councilman Frank M. Lowe Jr. in memory of his mother, Ona May Lowe, and to celebrate the end of World War II. It was built by Maas-Rowe Carillons, based in Escondido.

In 1967, Lowe replaced it with a 100-bell symphonic carillon. In the ‘90’s, the Park received a $20,000 grant from the San Diego Foundation and the carillon was modernized to include new amplifiers and a digital memory system that stores pre-recorded songs.

To date, there have been four carillonneurs at the Park. Paul D. Peery, the first official carillonneur for the City of San Diego, played the Balboa park chimes for many years and published a book called “Chimes and Electronic Carillons: Modern Tower Bells,” published in 1948. He was followed by Connie Venti (1980 – 2002), Tracey Marino (2002 – 2009), Gina Seashore (2009 – present).

There used to be live recitals in the park and the carillon was also played for special events like weddings. Today’s noontime medleys are all pre-recorded.

There are approximately three hundred (300) pre-recorded tunes in the carillon library including light classical, patriotic, holiday, Broadway and American standard pieces. Each month, the carillonist chooses 20-25 songs which are then “programmed” to play at a rate of three songs per day. The songs usually have a monthly theme. For instance, the February song list would include love songs. Former carillonist, Tracy Marino, says she used to program “Soon It’s Gonna Rain” anytime San Diego was experiencing a drought – and that it always rained that month!

Current carillonneur, Gina Seashore, is in the process of updating and adding to the library. “I would like to add some current tunes as well as songs that have never been recorded. Believe it or not, “Carol of the Bells” is not in the library!” Seashore would like to include songs for people of all ages. One young man recently commented to a security guard at the Museum of Man that “the bells are great – I just don’t recognize the tune!”

“Friends of the Park” are invited to submit requests for songs you would like to hear played on the carillon. All songs will be considered and every effort will be made to honor those requests which are suitable for the instrument and the Park. This is an ongoing project and suggestions can be sent at anytime to: Gina Seashore, Carillonneur, [email protected].