CLIPBOARD : ARVELLA SCHULLER CARILLON AT CRYSTAL CATHEDRAL

Every Sunday around 9:30 a.m., James Lawson ascends the Crystal Cathedral’s Crean Tower in a basket-like hoist to begin his weekly performance on the world’s second largest carillon, located atop the 142-foot spire.

The 52-bell instrument is played manually from a clavier (keyboard) located in a small room just beneath the bells. “Many people assume they are electronic,” said Tanya Kirkland, an attendant at the prayer chapel in the base of the spire. “They’re surprised when I tell them there is a man up there playing them.”

After reaching a platform, Lawson, 72, must climb an 18-foot ladder before taking his place at the clavier. The bells are fixed, only the clappers move. The clavier is similar to a piano, but instead of keys, it has a double row of wooden baton-like handles. Melodies are played by striking the handles with the outside of a half-clenched fist, activating a system of springs, levers and wires attached to the clappers. The large bass bells are sounded by foot pedals, similar to those on an organ.

The bells, cast at the Royal Eijsbouts Foundry in Holland, can be played electronically from the organ keyboard inside the church, but the clappers are then activated by a solenoid, “and the melody loses expression,” said Lawson.

The largest bell, called a bourdon , or tolling bell, weighs 5,000 pounds and the smallest weighs 13 pounds. Combined, the bells weigh 38,000 pounds and comprise the only carillon in the United States with a major third overtone.

“Every carillon since the 1600s has had a minor third overtone that gave them a slightly dissonant sound,” said Lawson. But in the mid-1980s the Eijsbouts Foundry developed a new shape for its bells, giving them a brighter, more in-tune sound.

“Some carillonneurs don’t appreciate this yet,” said Lawson. “They still prefer the sound of the old carillons. But I like it and this is the perfect place for it. It’s not a medieval church; it’s an experimental church with modern architecture and technology.”

The new sound presents a challenge to Lawson, who has played carillons most of his life. He began his career in 1941 at Stanford University where he was the first carillonneur at the Hoover Tower. He accepted the position even though the only pay offered him initially were the oranges that fell to the ground from trees around the tower.

In 1948, he left Stanford to study at a school for carillonneurs in Belgium. He went on to become carillonneur for nearly 30 years at the Riverside Church in New York City, which houses the world’s largest carillon.

His former colleague at the Riverside Church, Fred Swann, now organist and director of music at the Crystal Cathedral, asked Lawson, who had retired to his hometown of Cody, Wyo., to join the Crystal Cathedral music staff last year. “I said I’d come out to play for the dedication and then decided to stay. This tower lives. It has an extraordinary life to it,” he said of the spire designed by architect Philip Johnson.

On a recent Sunday morning, Lawson heard the sounds of Swann’s organ postlude floating up from the cathedral and prepared to play. He adjusted his seat, and slid on the leather finger guards custom-made for him at a saddle shop in Cody. While churchgoers departed, Lawson played a series of Dutch and French compositions from the 1800s. When he paused, the sound of the waterfalls below rushed in to fill the void. Afterwards, he began his descent down the side of the tower and paused for a moment when he reached the ground. “I always give thanks that I got down safely,” he said. “Anything can happen when you are 72 years old, but I will continue to ring out for as long as I can.”

Hours: The Arvella Schuller Carillon is played on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. and 12 p.m. and on special occasions.

Address: Crystal Cathedral 12141 Lewis St., Garden Grove

Telephone: (714) 971-4000