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Dealing with COVID-19 lockdown protocols their freshman year, one shy senior vocalist felt very isolated at SU. Joining the university’s musical secret society, the Chimesmasters, brought them out of their shell.

“It’s almost like having a useless superpower or like a double life,” the vocalist, who chose to remain anonymous due to their involvement with the Chimesmasters, said. “You hear (the bells) for miles, I can hear it from my house and I live off campus now. It makes me feel connected to campus and to other people.”

The vocalist said it was the first activity they really got involved with on campus, and that it has shaped their experience at SU. They have formed friendships with other Chimesmasters and gained a sense of responsibility for the campus.

“When you get to go up to the tower and you get to do your shifts …you get to feel a sense of power,” a senior bassist, who chose to remain anonymous due to their involvement with the Chimesmasters, said. “It can be a really cool and uplifting feeling knowing that everyone who’s walking around, even people in classes, can hear what you’re doing right now.”

In the 1800s, Cornell’s president recommended to SU’s president that SU should add bells to campus. In the early 1900s, the campus obtained the bells, and they were rung by members of Delta Kappa Epsilon until the music school took over in 1987 and formed the Chimesmasters, the bassist said.

The bells ring three times a day, in the afternoon, evening and night. Each set lasts 15 minutes and there are one to three chimesmasters out of the 20-person group in the tower for each set.

Ben Vermilyea was a Chimemaster throughout his undergrad experience and now continues his position with them as a graduate student. The members reveal their identities at the end of senior year, so he is the only publicly known member of the group.

“I’m a trombonist in the music school and I don’t get to directly play with a lot of these people regularly, whether they’re a vocalist or whether they sit across the ensemble from me,” Vermilyea said. “It’s cool to get to be together and make music with different people.”

After the president of Cornell suggested that SU incorporate bells on campus, the members of Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity rang the bells. The Chimesmasters took over in 1987 and have maintained their secrecy ever since.
Cassandra Roshu | Photo Editor

This week, the Chimesmasters recruited their new members for the year. They will undergo a training process and learn how to work with the bells before starting with their own shifts.

The application consists of a transcription of an existing song and an arrangement that they’ve created. The current squad discusses the applicants, then they select a new group of people.

Every month, the Chimesmasters submit their own arrangements to the group. The vocalist said they may continue to submit arrangements after graduation because they enjoy the process.

Bells have a limited number of notes, so it takes time to transpose a song from its original key to something that will work with the bells.

“(Arrangement is) like solving a puzzle which I love,” the vocalist said. “ I just love putting the pieces together and (figuring) out what crazy things we could do with the notes.”

Due to the musical nature of the job, many of its members are in marching band or the music program at SU, the vocalist said. Activities interlap, so the Chimesmasters spend a lot of time together outside of the tower as well as inside it.

Through the bells, the Chimesmasters can communicate with one another. Certain song choices reflect how the Chimesmaster is feeling that day, and what attitude they are bringing to campus. They each have a personal sign-off, a short series of notes that they play at the conclusion of their set and distinguish them from each other.

The vocalist sign-off is G-A-C-G-A-D. They said the bells give them a sense of responsibility because they set the mood. They try to be in touch with what’s happening on campus and play energetic songs in the morning and slower songs at night.

“It’s really helped me feel like part of the campus just to be part of something that’s been going on for so long,” the vocalist said before the bells began to play at roughly 3:45 p.m. “Oh, that’s Mr. Saxobeat!’”

Published on October 2, 2023 at 10:17 pm