Graig MantleEvery hour, from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m., the sound of brass bells can be heard across campus, emanating from the clock tower by the Business and Education buildings. However, the “heartbeat” of Cal Poly is not produced by real bells; it is simply a recording of bell sounds.
Built in 1942, the clock tower was sans bells for more than 10 years. In 1953, Cal Poly purchased a mechanical “carillonic bells” system for $6,270. Imitating the sound of the bells in Westminster Abbey in England, the system was stored in a tiny basement room below the Education building.
The sound of bells were made by strikers hitting metal plates, similar to a xylophone. Like a piano player, rolls of punched paper told the strikers which notes to play. A microphone picked up the tones, which were then amplified from the eight speakers in the tower.
Unlike now, the clock tower used to play more than just the chiming of bells. On special occasions, the system was used to play holiday, religious and patriotic music. The amplifier system could also be used to make announcements. Clubs and organizations would use the amplification system to make campus-wide announcements from the tower. However, as the campus expanded, the center of activity shifted from the clock tower area to the University Union Plaza and the use of the tower faded.
About 10 years ago, Cal Poly upgraded the amplification system, replacing the mechanical system with an electronic system.
“What you hear now is a recording of the old mechanical chimes,” explained technician Pete Woodworth. “The system is on a timer, programmed to ring every hour.”
Some Cal Poly students wonder why the clock tower doesn’t have real bells, like UC Santa Barbara’s Storke Tower, which is home to 61 bells. Most of those students think the electronic system doesn’t sound like the real thing.
“You can tell it’s a recording,” engineering junior Bryan Davenport said.
“Yeah, it definitely sounds like a recording. Sometimes I can hear the speakers maxing out,” engineering junior Ryan Jefferson agreed.
Woodworth guessed that Cal Poly chose mechanical and electronic bell systems, as opposed to actual brass bells “because of the cost,” he said.
To have the same type of sound would take at least 25 bells that would weigh 79,464 pounds and cost thousands more than the newer electronic systems.
So next time the bell tower chimes, releasing you from a two-hour lecture, try to pretend that you’re really hearing the bells of Westminster Abbey in England, as opposed to a recording amplified from the basement of the Education building.