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Though you may not take notice every single day, if you walk this campus on a regular basis I’m sure you’ve heard – on more than one occasion – the bells chime from atop Alumni Hall. Every hour of every day, passersby are graciously reminded of the time by the appropriate number of tolls, which is always preceded by the traditional hourly marker of Westminster – the little ditty that plays just before the clock strikes. At three specific times throughout each day, the clock does more than just toll. At 8:05 a.m., 12:05 p.m. and 4:05 p.m., anyone within range is able to hear the chimed version of a given song. It could be anything from the Beatles to The Sound of Music. It all depends on the particular taste of Rick Winter. He is the only man who knows how to operate the bells and make them chime the way they do, a job that isn’t as easy as one might think.
Winter has been an employee at the University of Maine since 1992. Though he just recently retired from University Relations in the Marketing Recruitment department, he still makes frequent visits to campus to check over the bells and make any changes. He came to be the behind-the-scenes operator of the bell chimes when he met the man who originally installed and maintained the first set of bells in the ’50s. That was back when there were actual bells in the bell-tower and were mechanically operated, complete with wheels and gears. Eventually, Winter was taught how to work this system. Then, in 1994, Winter was asked by the president of the university at the time, Fred Hutchinson, to do some research on getting a new electronic system to replace the old mechanical one. His research paid off, and a new computerized system replaced the original one – which now rests at the Page Farm Home Museum on campus. The bells are still operated on the same computer today.
The computer that rests on the third floor of Alumni Hall doesn’t just play a chime arrangement of any given song, it plays exactly what it’s given, just as any computer or CD player would. “You can play anything on there. Someone could play Godsmack if they really wanted to.” Winter said. In order to get the songs in a “chime-able” form, Winter has to send audio files to Schulmerich, a company in California that specializes in taking any song of any genre and arranging it specifically for chiming purposes. This is not exactly an inexpensive feat. A contract with Schulmerich runs anywhere between $10,000 and $12,000. Not only do they arrange the music and then send it back to their clients, if the song is under copyright, the company must obtain the legal rights to reproduce it, which can be very time consuming. However, as of yet Winter has not had any problems with this particular company.
There are about five different CDs with songs that have been arranged for the bells. “There are twenty songs that are programmed to play randomly at prescribed times,” Winter said. “The Stein Song” I believe, plays every Friday and Saturday, and then the other songs are just picked based on my taste or mood at the time . and I do get periodic complaints. People in Lord Hall, for instance, say they are too loud. I had one man complain about hearing the song “Summertime” in November. Winter only reprograms the songs about four times every year, so if a song happens to be playing that is a little out-of-season, it’s only because he hasn’t gotten around to switching the tunes.
As of right now, no one else can do what Winter does as far as operating and maintaining the bells. He has had a couple of people express a degree of interest in learning, but nothing about the bells has been taught to anyone yet, and, since his retirement two weeks ago, Winter isn’t quite sure how much longer he’ll keep the position as bell-operator. He said that before he came here, the bells were inconsistent. They would ring off and on over the years, and for a few years, they didn’t ring at all. Campus would not be the same without the hourly toll or the upbeat chime of a random song. Even though it may not be appreciated or even noticed all the time, it would really change the whole of UMaine if suddenly the bells stopped chiming. It creates a welcoming, cozy feeling that is part of the campus.
Bangor Daily News