A MUSICAL addition to the Bathurst War Memorial Carillon will turn it into an instrument capable of "expressive play".
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The Bathurst War Memorial Carillon Group hopes to have a clavier - which is similar to a keyboard, but which is struck by the fist - installed at the Carillon by the end of the year.
Bathurst Regional Council engineering director Darren Sturgiss said a series of transmission wires will connect the clavier, on a lower floor of the Carillon, to the bell frame.
"A series of transmission mechanisms, including axles and counter-weights and so forth, will control the clappers that are fitted inside the bell," he said.
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Mr Sturgiss said the clavier, as opposed to the current system with a keyboard connected electronically to the bells, will allow for more subtleties in the sound.
"The advantage of the clavier is that it allows for expressive play - in terms of loud and soft like you traditionally have on a piano," he said.
"The electronic playing system is done automatically with electromagnetic hammers on the outside of the bell and they're either on or off, so there's no loud and soft.
"With the clavier, it allows for a better playing experience.
"The bells [of the Carillon] are actually designed to be played with a clapper inside to get the best out of the sound of the bell, whereas the hammer on the outside is a compromise."
The Carillon had its top octave of bells replaced and received a new higher octave of bells late last year as part of the program of works for the CBD icon.