Hi! I'm a carillonist, which means I play big tower bells. I like to play film scores and pop songs, alongside classical and contemporary music, and my own compositions. I'm currently switching gears to dive more into the acoustics, music theory, instrument techniques and design, so I'm decreasing my upload frequency for now. New videos up at 8am Eastern every other Saturday.
Want to contact me? You can reach me here: www.joeybrink.com/contact
I recently watched your video of you playing hollow knight music and it made me realize that the hyrule castle theme from breath of the wild would probably sound really cool. Ps this piece is very pretty
I have really liked this piece a lot since I saw you and your wife perform this a few years ago. These two carillonists play this beautifully. Are they former students of yours from UC? They are really good!
joey you may not know me but i'm Actually the kid the profile was abco and that was me so i the same kid as that so i just wanted to say you're exellent you will always be love you joey you will always be populer anyways cya :)
Wow this is amazing bro! It's my first time to witness how unique The Bells in your country is. Bravo Joey and thanks for sharing a glance of it thru video.
Short answer is the bells have a lot of inharmonic overtones due to the way they vibrate, and one of the loudest is the minor 3rd above the fundamental, giving them a minor-ish sound that can clash with major chords.
So happy to hear one of Belgium's favorite carillons in a good recording. Sadly it got retuned fully in the 1970's. Did you also play on the beautiful Hemony-carillon in Mechelen?
2:39 I’ve always heard that it’s bad for the bell if the clapper just falls onto the bell like that, and that’s why bells like the ones at NYC Riverside Church or Great Paul have a clapper that swings the same direction as the bell vis a counterweight at the other side of the clapper at the bell’s head. As a bell expert, can you confirm or deny this?
Yes, it's better for the bell if clappers "fly" rather than "fall", as you describe. Flying clappers though bring more force onto the frame of the belfry and the tower, so in some cases, engineers might determine a tower not suitable for flying clappers. Not sure if that was the case here or not
Bells cast by Portilla has some animals. The big lizard is there and in a lot of bells. But often he adds snails, fishes, dogs, birds... Maybe this bell has some of them. Sometimes they are 1cm small.
Good question! Audience sits outside, in the surrounding lawns, streets, courtyards, parks, or wherever the bells can be heard. For formal concerts, usually there's a designated listening place outside with printed programs.
Hey Joey I LOVED this video. I went to Guadalajara and heard what I thought was an organ but turned out to be a carillon with INSANE sustain. Never heard anything like it. I recorded a little bit before church personnel told me I couldn’t record :( so I’ve always wondered what it a carillon like up close. Love to see more like this :) Also-can you do a video on the carillon music of Pieter Bustijn? I read his wiki and see that he was also a carillon player but I can’t find much on his work. It’d be cool if you can showcase some of his work. Thanks!
Thank you! While Pieter Bustijn was a carillon player, it's unlikely that he ever wrote specifically for carillon. Very little carillon music was written in the 17th and 18th centuries by anyone. Most carillon players at that time instead played arrangements of works for other instruments, folk tunes, and religious hymns. The primary exception is Mathias van den Gheyn. If you do find anything, though, do let me know!
@@joeybrinkbells Makes sense now that you explain it. I appreciate mentioning Mattias I haven't heard of him before. Keep up the awesome carillon content! :)
Even if they didn't sound amazing, carillons are just such awesome instruments purely for the aesthetic. I wish people would build more of them, especially now with those fancy major overtone bells. Why do only large European cities and a handful of old American universities get to have these? Monumental vanity projects just aren't the same anymore...
Fun fact I live near that tower and I heard the bells I was like what ITS JUST SO BEAUTIFUL ❤ Thanks for uploading this now I can fool my entire neighbourhood 😊
I haven’t been to Dordrecht since 1985. The carillon then had its original 49 bells, and of course now has 67. Even then I think the instrument was one of the heaviest in the Netherlands…and Europe.
@kevinsims2254 You are correct, I do believe that is what he said in the description. This swinging peal is impressive and cool to see. I was just mentioning that the largest bell is still a little smaller than the largest bell (Big Laura) 18.5 tons at the University of Chicago which is Joey's former "home" carillon. That would be cool to see as well!
Amazing! What a culture, what a luck to spread those beautiful notes high in the air for everyone to hear! I would love to hear this played a bit slower so we could enjoy a stronger harmonic cohesion because of the naturally high tendencies of those bells to ring longer!
I did a photo story about the carillion on Parliament Hill in Canada, it's huge, I photographed AC/DC and the rolling Stones and I can tell you that instrument was more macho than any electric guitar. The musician had to wear gloves and pounded the keys like a madman.
