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Our Long Silent Chimola
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Our Long Silent Chimola
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When I was a boy living in Oakland (now Shadyside) Sunday morning was marked by the pealing of the bells of all the churches within earshot. Most just rang, some with some organization, some just ringing. A standout was FBC. It had a chime which played music. I have become unaware of any bells these days. Last Sunday Gussie and Chad heard a bell and identified it as St. Paul's, but that’s about it.
The chimola (a chime with hemispherical bells) has been silent for many years. When I became active in the church the chime like music was produced by an instrument much like a player piano with rolls of paper tape providing the tunes. Later the system was modified to play from cassette tapes. Jack Hedenburg provided his recollections:
“Bill Millard used to take me up and I have played the chimola by pulling ropes.”
“I remember seeing the bulletin with the dedication service. (For the paper tape system) The year 1956 pops into my mind.
I think it was in the mid 80’s when Dave McCready gave me the 33 rpm records of chimes that I made cassette tapes of to replace the failed paper tapes.”
Recently the Capital Campaign Committee looked into tying the repair of the fleche (steeple) with the renovation of our chimola. While the costs prevented undertaking the project now the look did result in Chad’s climbing up and taking several photos of our chimola. No renovation now, but lots of interesting information has become known over the last few years. From an email exchange with Mark Pichowicz:
“Mr. Carl Zimmerman from The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America (http://www.gcna.org/) got in touch with Jack to inquire about the bells (Chimola) in the church steeple. I called him on the telephone and followed up on his email. Here is the church information on their web site: http://www.gcna.org/data/PAPITSFB.HTM
The chimola was originally installed in the Fourth Avenue Chapel by Mears and Stainbank of England. Today the firm is still in existence, but under a new name: The Whitechapel Bell Foundry. Because ours bells are hemispherical in shape, they offer a unique and distinguished quality of sound. According to Mr. Zimmerman, we are one of two churches in North America to have a chimola made by Mears and Stainbank. He could simply not say enough about the craftsmanship of this firm. This English bell company had a cutting edge on the tuning process for bells of all types.”
When I put the July newsletter on our web site I promised to update this site's history link to include the reference to the site mentioned above along with a few sites where you can see photos of chimes and the operating mechanisms, photos of several kinds of chimes, and a description of the process of making and tuning a bell with the opportunity of auditioning catalog chimes and peals produced by that company.
The parent of the site above is: Guild of Carillonneurs
A site with many photos of chime operating mechanisms and various types of chimes, including chimola and tubular, is http://www.allchimes.com/ch-9002.htm
Meeks, Watson & Company - Bell Foundry - has a very good description of the manufacturing and tuning process for making a bell and gives you the opportunity to audition chimes in their catalog.
Lester Boss