Jason Koski/University Photography

Head chimesmaster Taras Czebiniak pauses to answer questions following an afternoon concert.

The first thing you hear while making your way up the 161 steps of McGraw Tower during a Cornell Chimes concert -- besides the rich tintinnabulation of the bells -- is the pumping, stomping racket from above.

The wooden hand levers and foot pedals of the chimes playing stand are a demanding physical workout for the players, known as chimesmasters, performing thrice-daily concerts high up in McGraw.

"People ask me, 'Do you get gym credit?' -- no, we do not," says Crystal Cun '07, who played duets with fellow chimesmaster Si-Yi Wang '08 at a recent midday concert. "But I've definitely built some upper-body strength doing this."

A Cornell tradition since 1868, when they rang at the university's opening ceremonies, the chimes (like McGraw Tower itself) are synonymous with Cornell. They herald the start of morning classes, accompany early afternoon strolls on Ho Plaza and signal the end of the day throughout the academic year.

Concerts are a daily public event while classes are in session, at 7:45 a.m., 1:10 p.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and at 10:40 a.m., noon and 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

During a typical 15-minute concert you can hear anything from Stravinsky's "Firebird Suite" and other classical works to chimesmasters' original compositions and popular melodies. In recent weeks, the bellringers (properly known as campanologists) have serenaded the campus with Glenn Miller's "In the Mood," the theme from "The Addams Family" (a teaser for an Oct. 29 Halloween concert), Dave Brubeck's "Take Five," Dave Matthews Band's "Satellite" and the piano-lesson standby "Chopsticks." All made by human hands and feet.

Jason Koski/University Photography

Fancy footwork is required during many chimes performances.

Chimesmasters constantly add new works to their 2,400-song library, and they also take requests.

"You get a lot of requests, so sight reading comes in handy," Cun says. "People suggest arrangements all the time. One of our chimesmasters put together a 15-minute Madonna concert for a friend, played it the one time and then destroyed the sheet music."

And to make sure you don't hear Bryan Adams' "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" morning, noon and night, the chimesmasters heed a "three-week rule."

"We cannot choose to play a piece on our own if it's been played in the last three weeks," says head chimesmaster Taras Czebiniak '06. "We try to keep the campus happy and keep it interesting."

Jason Koski/University Photography (0560_14_009)

A close-up of the bells, housed at the top of McGraw Tower.

Czebiniak, who has arranged music from his family's native Ukraine and a version of the Coldplay song "Clocks," says new arrangements are subject to an approval process. Current proposals include Led Zeppelin's "Thank You," Vince Guaraldi's "Linus and Lucy" and songs by the Beatles and Elton John.

"And we just got a request for some Incubus," he says.

Want to be a chimesmaster? New recruits go through a 10-week audition and training period, held at the beginning of the spring semester. For more information on the chimes and chimesmasters, and sound clips of the chimes in action, visit http://chimes.cornell.edu.