That's because the art history professor is probably the only person for miles who could sit behind the keyboard inside Shafer Tower and pound out a recognizable tune.

Rarick studied carillon performance at the University of Kansas while he worked toward his doctorate in art history.

"I was basically being something of an opportunist," he said. "They have a very good carillon program there, with a world-renowned instructor. I was never going to have that chance again."

A carillon, or a set of 23 or more cast-bronze bells, is the world's largest musical instrument  and the only one played exclusively outdoors to a public arena. With only 150 of the instruments in the United States, programs in their performance and jobs as professional carillonneurs are rare.

"It's a very peculiar instrument," he said. "The player is sitting indoors but the instrument is outdoors. Paradoxically, it's the most public and private of instruments, because you have the potential to reach a very large audience. But it's also the only performance where you don't see your audience. There's no feedback."

Unlike bells that swing back and forth and produce sound when the clapper hanging inside strikes the sides, carillon bells are stationary. The clappers are controlled through a mechanical process. Striking the keyboard---really a set of large wooden batons---pulls cables to set the clappers in motion.

One song could wear you out, Rarick said.

"The keyboard isn't like an organ keyboard. The keys are too big to use just your fingers," he said. "You play each note with your entire hand. You're using large muscles to play."

Carillonneurs must also use their feet to hit certain chords, Rarick said.

"It becomes very athletic. I've seen performers practically pulling themselves off the bench as they play," he said.

Some towers have showers near the playing cabin, Rarick said. Ball State did not include this feature.

Musically the instrument is very different from others in that it has an extraordinary range from loud to soft notes, depending upon how much force the carillonneur uses to play.

It also has a range in the response time from the clappers. Smaller or treble bells have small clappers about the size of golf balls, and larger or bass bells have massive clappers.

"There is a delay in the response of those clappers because the carillonneur has to use strength to get the motion started," Rarick explained. "You have to be able to anticipate that delay to make the sounds match up the way you want them to. It goes against all your instincts."

And there's so little privacy for mistakes.

Many carillons have practice keyboards on campus, as Ball State will. These instruments are similar to xylophones in size and sound.

"All that does is get your hands and feet in the right place," Rarick said. "For everyone there comes a time when the teacher says, ‘Well, are you ready to go upstairs?' Everyone's going to hear you. There's no such thing as keeping your secrets. This is not for the faint of heart."

Rarick, an occasional free-lance organist, studied the instrument for a year but does not consider himself a carillonneur.

Still, he can't wait to get his hands on Ball State's new carillon. The instrument, made of 48 French-made, custom-cast and individually-tuned bells, and the tower which will house it will be completed in spring of 2001. Rarick served on the project planning committee.

"Oh, yeah," he said. "It'll be fun. It's been years since I played, so I'm really rusty. Luckily, simple music sounds beautiful coming from a carillon."

By Lori Rader, Communications Manager

(Note to Editors: For more information about this story contact Ron Rarick at 765-285-5793 or rrarick@bsu.edu.)