LIVE STREAM: Watch and Listen to Rochester’s 40,000 LB Musical Instrument

Anyone that's spent time in downtown Rochester has no doubt heard the carillon bells ring. Now, anyone can enjoy the sweet sounds from anywhere in the world. The Mayo Clinic has just launched a carillon camera with audio.

The Clinic says, "Music plays an important part in the healing mission of Mayo Clinic. Since 1928, our campus in Rochester, Minnesota, has featured a large instrument of cup-shaped bells known as a carillon, located in the tower of the Plummer Building. Now you can enjoy the carillon from any place in the world by watching live performances as they stream on camera."

What is a Carillon?

Wikipedia explains, "a carillon is a pitched percussion idiophone that is played with a keyboard and consists of at least 23 cast bronze bells in fixed suspension and tuned in chromatic order so that they can be sounded harmoniously together."

Rochester's carillon has 56-bell and weighs 40,000 lbs. Playing this instrument is quite the chore as you can see in the video below which was recorded in 2013 for its 85th anniversary.

When was the Carillon Installed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester?

The Mayo Brothers had the Carillion added to the Mayo Clinic in 1928. Their goal was to use the instrument to honor American soldiers and to bring peace and inspiration to visitors of Rochester.

The Mayo Clinic Carillonneur now performs each weekday throughout the year at 4:45 PM, also at 7:00 PM on Mondays, and at noon on Wednesdays and Fridays. Special performances also take place on Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.