Posted at: 09/14/2009 9:48 PM
Updated at: 09/15/2009 7:59 AM
By: David Springer

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The Man Behind the Music

(ABC 6 NEWS)--- Have you ever heard the bells that play in downtown Rochester on a daily basis? Have you ever wondered where they come from?

Not many people know the answer and even fewer have been to the top of the historic Plummer building to see the man behind the music, play the antique and very rare piece of musical equipment.

“And suddenly I found myself doing it.”

Jeff Daehn might be the least known musician in Rochester with the most known music.

The problem is not many people realize what he does, even when he tells them. 

“My job? I am the carilloner. And what is a carilloner? A carilloner plays the carillon. A lot of people don't quite understand what it is and I have to say, I play the instrument that's at the top of the Plummer Building and then they… if I say Carilloner they look at me like, what?" he says.

Daehn's musical instrument, or carillon, is a 56 bronze bell monstrosity operated by an equally monstrous organ inside a somewhat soundproof booth.

All of it sits atop the famous Plummer Building nearly 20 stories above the ground.

Daehn became the Carilloner in 2004, but his instrument dates back to well before he was born.

The last bell, which is the four-ton bell, was cast in January of 1928.

And on a good day, you can hear those bells over most if not all of downtown Rochester.

But not many know where the music comes from, not that Daehn seem to mind.

And he says he'll continue to send his musical message out to the Med City 8 times a week, whether people realize it or not.

“I'll play something and I may not here about it for weeks and then someone will say, "Oh, I heard you play Take Me Out to the Ballgame. And I did but it was like three weeks ago. So I'm glad they remember, ya know.”