A 70-foot ladder ascends into the dark cavern of the Crouse College bell tower. The rungs are rusty and worn, after years of bearing students who covered the walls of the tower with graffiti, their scrawled names connecting generations of people who climbed up.

The people who have signed the walls of the tower all have one thing in common: they once carried the responsibility of chiming the bells for the campus to hear like clockwork, echoing out across SU three times a day, five days a week. The original bell ringers were succeeded by the Chimemasters, an elusive and exclusive group of students who carry on the tradition of ringing songs on the Crouse chimes to this day.

With the installation of four new bells in August, the Chimemasters’ options for new songs to play expanded significantly. These additions were part of the summer construction projects detailed in the Campus Framework, which also included maintenance on the 10 current bells and a new automatic chiming system.

Since alumni became a main support of the improvement project, dubbed “Crouse College Chimes Project,” past Chimemasters gathered at SU on Saturday for an alumni reunion and bell demonstration. The event gave them the opportunity to reflect on their college memories and admire the improvements they helped materialize.

Nick Abelgore, a Chimemasters alumnus who graduated from SU in May, said he was amazed that the new bells have already been installed, and added that the alumni reunion is an affirmation of how much he and his peers accomplished.

“We have taken it to a new level,” he said.

Ally Moreo | Asst. Photo Editor

While Abelgore was at SU, he watched the Chimemasters grow. He watched the music they play become more complex as song after song was added to the tower’s songbook.

“We try to keep our repertoire as up-to-date as possible, with each member arranging at least two songs per month,” said current Chimemaster Charles Van Tassel, a junior music composition and music history and culture double major.

“We have pieces that range from Gregorian chants all the way to recent pop stars like Sia and Katy Perry,” he said. “We are encouraged to do arrangements of songs that people will recognize so that we connect more with people on campus.”

Way before the new bell additions, back in 1889, the original nine Crouse bells were installed during Crouse College’s construction, according to the summer 2016 issue of Syracuse University Magazine. John Crouse, who served as a University Trustee at the time, bought the bells for about $5,000.

The bells’ original pitches encompassed a C-major scale and also included a B flat. In 1937, a tenth bell was added, contributing a high D to the nine-note range, according to the magazine.

For many years, it was the brothers of Delta Kappa Epsilon who were responsible for ringing the bells, except during World War II, when the task was handed to the sisters of Alpha Phi, according to the magazine. There is even a legend that TV personality Dick Clark, who graduated from SU in 1951 as a brother of Delta Kappa Epsilon, etched his name into the sacred walls of the bell tower.

But when the brothers of DKE left campus in 1985, music students and staff organized the Chimemasters and took over the responsibility of ringing the bells, according to the magazine.

Ally Moreo | Asst. Photo Editor

Now, three times a day, a member of the Chimemasters scales the ladder up the tower of Crouse College to a platform where the wooden levers that ring the bells are located. Once in position, they ring out a tune of their choice.

Students have total control over the music they play, said Joseph Downing, an associate professor in the Setnor School of Music and the Chimemasters’ faculty adviser. He added that students tend to chime music that is congruent with the mood or the weather on campus — a rainy day might bring a solemn hymn, while a sunny day merits a bouncy Broadway tune.

Of course, not every song fits the range the bells can accommodate, warranting that each piece must be arranged accordingly.

Downing described the addition of the four new bells as a “new chapter” for the Chimemasters. Because the original bells have stood for so long, he said it is a significant change to have added four more notes.

“Before, we only had 10 bells,” Downing said. “I always say it’s like having 10 letters of the alphabet and trying to write poetry. With 14 bells it opens new possibilities.”

With new possibilities now in the Chimemasters’ reach, they may make some new selections that resonate with the SU community.

Downing said that with the addition of an F sharp and high E, F and G notes, students will be able to play songs that were not possible before, most notably “The Star Spangled Banner.”

Abelgore said that while he was a member, people would often go into Crouse and tell Michelle Taylor, the assistant director for music operations at SU, that a song they heard made their day.

The group certainly is exclusive — not just anyone can become one of the legendary Chimemasters.

Abelgore said the responsibility gets handed off among students when new members are invited by current members.

He said the Chimemasters is a mixed group of people, spreading across different majors at SU. While people on campus might know one of their friends rings the chimes, he said, no one except the Chimemasters can account for every person who belongs to the group, which is how they create a mysterious aura around the organization.

While all Chimemasters have musical experience and some are students of the Setnor School, Downing said anyone who can read basic rhythms and read the treble clef is capable of playing the bells.

But he also said being a Chimemaster is a big commitment for students, since the chimes are scheduled to ring three times per day on weekdays at 8 a.m., 11:45 a.m. and 6 p.m. for 15-minute intervals. Members are free to ring on weekends too, but not after 9 p.m., he said.

The bells are also often rung outside of the normal times for special occasions, whether they’re happy or solemn. The alma mater rings out across campus before football games, and both the alma mater and “Amazing Grace” are played at the annual memorial service that commemorates the lives of the 35 SU students who were killed in the Pan Am Flight 103 attack on Dec. 21, 1988.

Following the alma mater and “Amazing Grace,” Downing personally tolls the bell for each of the 35 students who lost their lives in the bombing.

These traditions are one aspect of what makes the bells such a memorable part of SU for students who have and still continue to walk the campus.

“They play in the morning when you arrive and the evening when you leave,” Downing said. “Any occasion, whether it’s joy or sadness, the bells are usually a part of that.”

Published on September 18, 2016 at 7:54 pm

Contact: ajboghos@syr.edu