Bicentennial Mall Carillon Bell Towers

Seen about an hour before dusk at the Tennessee State Park is a rare large instrument. A simple way of thinking about it, take a piano or organ keyboard, and for each key that is pressed, a bell is rung. Most Carillons are built into a large tower, however the one here has a separate tower for each bell. Carillons make for an inconvenient instrument, there are perhaps about a thousand in the world. There's 164 in the United States, but since Nashville is Music City, you know there's going to be more than one: Both Belmont University and Lipscomb University both have one. (side note: The one at Lipscomb was dedicated on the day I graduated, and later Lipscomb's Carilloneur played the harpsichord at my wedding.) There's also one at the University of the South and maybe one inside Knoxville's Sunsphere.