3/8/2022 | Mark Hanson, Curator

Have you ever wondered what causes the music to play and chimes to sound from the HI Tower at Lake of the Woods Forest Preserve?

Today, a computer and software give the iconic structure voice, an option unavailable when the tower opened in 1965. Instead, an electronic carillon cabinet controlled the sound. Recently that cabinet entered the museum’s collection. Shown here, our registrar, Jen Grove, gave the cabinet a deep cleaning.

The Carillon cabinet is a fascinating machine. It has 8-track audio tape technology and uses a manual timing device to sound the hourly chimes and play programmed music.

To learn more about the HI tower please visit:

https://www.ccfpd.org/forest-preserve/lake-of-woods/hi-tower

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