Carol of Bells before Carol of Lights: a look at an overlooked Texas Tech tradition

As thousands of people descend on the Texas Tech campus for the closing of the university's centennial celebration Saturday evening at the annual Carol of Lights, many will hear melodic music coming from the west side of the Administration Building.

Over the past six decades, faculty members like Rob DeVet and Peter Martens or students have put on the carillon concert for the public 30 minutes prior to the start of Carol of Lights - which starts at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Even though its layout is similar to that of keyboard instruments, Martens said the carillon is a unique instrument to play.

"You're essentially activating levers that are basically broomsticks," he said. "It takes a fair bit of force, and they're spaced out widely enough that you can't play them with individual fingers, like a piano,"

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Attached to those levers are 46 bells ranging in size from being able to fit in one's hand to the largest bell being measured in tons, all housed in the west bell tower of the Administration Building.

According to Texas Tech, the bells were donated in 1973 by Ruth Baird Larabee who made a donation to Tech University to buy and install a carillon in memory of her parents.

Even though knowing how to play piano and an organ helps with playing the carillon, DeVet said they still need to practice. To do so, they head to the Texas Tech Library.

Housed in the main foyer of the library — also known as the Croslin room — sits an insulated box that is a smaller and quieter version of the carillon.

"I was in there every day last year," DeVet said.

But practice is only part of getting ready for Carol of Lights; the other part is picking what scores or songs they want to play.

"I mean, we just did this last week. We had to kind of narrow our field down to the amount of time we had," Martens said. "The big picture would be things that we think sound good."

DeVet said picking "bell-friendly" songs means looking for pieces with musical runs or sounds like a clock tower.

Not wanting to give away too much, DeVet and Martens said eventgoers should keep an ear out on Saturday for Hark the Herald Angels Sing, a jazz rendition of Let It Snow, and — of course — the Carol of Bells.

As the school closes its centennial celebrations and its reflection on the past, both DeVet and Martens reflected on their first time playing the carillon at the event.

For DeVet, it was in 2011 when he was a Tech graduate student at the time. He said it was nerve-wracking as the bells are very loud and knowing people were listening to the music.

"It was, really fascinating because everything is very exposed up there. As in, you see everything, the mechanics are all laid out in front of you, and you see everything moving," he said. "It was just amazing to make that much noise in an organized way."

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Martens echoed the same sentiments as DeVet but noted that he was terrified.

"Our first experiences was before the practice instrument was available and so I didn't have any capacity to practice off of the real instrument," Martens said. "It's one of the most focused performance situations I think I've ever been in

Both DeVet and Martens said it's gratifying to have not only the carillons be a part of this beloved Texas Tech tradition but also to have the instrument at all.

"Many universities do have carillons, but there are many, many, many more that don't," DeVet said. "So it's a privilege to have this instrument here and I hope that people enjoy listening to it. Even when they're just walking across campus on a random day, and somebody's up there deciding to play."

Carol of Lights is set for 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2 around Memorial Circle, with the Carillon Concert scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. at Texas Tech University.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Carol of Bells before Carol of Lights an overlooked Texas Tech tradition