From the New York Times: No Quasimodo, He Brings Music to Notre-Dame Bells.

Stéphane Urbain stood leaning against a heavy wood frame high in the north tower of Notre-Dame, wrapped in a navy blue woolen cape against the wind, as he waited for the bells to sound.

Then three of the four immense bells tolled, shaking the massive oak frame, which weighs more than 187 tons.

"C-sharp, D-sharp twice, F," Mr. Urbain said, a broad smile lighting up his face, even in the darkness of the bell cage.

Mr. Urbain, a 40-year-old chemist by training, is the chief sacristan of the cathedral. As such, he is also the chief bell ringer. His role often brings mention of Quasimodo, Victor Hugo’s misshapen "Hunchback of Notre-Dame," who as the bell ringer was deafened by the volume. [continue]