Handbell Music For 12 Bells? Top Answer Update

They’re most commonly found in churches, but some schools have them, or you can even find a large congregational choir. All programs are different, so if you live in an area with more than one choir nearby, explore your options. Some programs are more structured and serious, while others are more fun. Especially in churches the members are often older, but it is not uncommon to see a handbell choir with people of different ages or even just for young people. Find one that you think you will feel comfortable being a part of.

You should know how to read sheet music. Handbell music is written on a large staff, much like piano music, which means you should be able to read treble clefs and at least some bass clefs, depending on how many octaves of handbells are in your choir. You need to be able to internalize a beat as you may or may not have a conductor. A basic knowledge of music theory (mainly chords) can also be helpful.

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Understand the basic idea of ​​a handbell choir. You can think of a handbell choir like a piano, where each person controls only a few keys. Most small church or school choirs only have two or three octaves of bells, and you will probably get two bells to start with. The bells must be kept in keyboard order as much as possible (lowest to highest, left to right, and in chromatic order), and you’ll take your place among the people playing the bells closest to you. When played well, handbell music can sound very beautiful and unique, which is why it is so popular in churches. Handbells are as much a visual as a musical art; You’ll see why when you see a choral performance. They all ring with the same technique.

$225.00 – $1,855.00

The bell castings are bronze, carefully lathed and tuned, then polished to a jeweler’s finish. The bells are not varnished to protect the finish as applying varnish would affect the musical quality of the bell; Therefore, touching the bell cast with bare hands will cause staining and tarnishing due to the acids and salts from the skin. Although tarnishing does not affect the tone of the bell, removing tarnishing, if not done properly, can affect tuning.

Let’s say you just inherited your church’s handbell choir.

You’ve substituted into handbell choirs a few times and know basic ringing technique (dampening and that all-important cracking in the wrist).

Perhaps you also have conducting experience. And the members of this special handbell choir have been playing together for a long time.

I mean, the chorus of bells seems to be running by itself at this point. How hard can it be?

The truth is that it’s not that difficult, but it’s different than leading a vocal choir or even an instrumental group.

Handbell notation is different (and more complex), there’s often a greater emphasis on rhythm and count, and assigning bells and chasing parts from piece to piece adds another layer of preparation and planning to your plate as a director.

But no worry. Today I’m sharing with you what I’ve learned about conducting handbell choirs and my process of conducting a rehearsal. Enjoy!

profession

For the musical ringing of bells, see Changing the ringing

A bell ringer at work in Palekh, Russia

A bell ringer is a person who rings a bell, usually a church bell, with the help of a rope or other mechanism.

Despite some automation of bells for the random ringing, there are still many active bell ringers in the world, particularly those with an advanced ringing tradition such as the full circle or Russian ringing, which are artistic and skillful performances that are difficult to automate are.

The term campanologist is popularly misused to refer to a bell ringer, but this actually refers to someone who studies bells, known as campanology.[1]

Although carillons are used to ring bells in some places, they are ‘played’ by carillonneurs, not ringers, and are associated with the ringing of melodies in the Western musical tradition.

Full circle ringing[ edit ]

English full circle ringing[ edit ]

There are an estimated 40,000 or so bell ringers in England who ring English full circle style bells. [citation needed] This style of ringing cannot be automated due to the large rotating masses of the bells and the precise regulation in striking speed that is required.

The high degree of control exercised by bells means that the bells can be struck at both precise and even intervals, and can change their striking pattern with each strike. In addition, the Doppler effect gives a unique musical sound due to the movement of the bell when struck and the sharp attack of the hit and the rapid decay due to the damping by the clapper.

This type of ringing takes place every week in several thousand bell towers in England and to a lesser extent in other English-speaking countries. It is supported by the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers, founded in 1891 and dedicated to representing change ringers around the world.

Bolognese Full Circle Ringing [ edit ]

This system originated in the Middle Ages and was perfected in the 19th century. It is a form of full-circle ringing that requires the ringers to manually swing the bells while standing next to them in the bell chamber. Originally conceived for an ensemble of four or five bells, it is now sometimes used for an ensemble of six bells.

The bells are never balanced. They are mounted on a wooden structure called a castle and flanked by a wooden support called a goat. The bells are not very heavy as the rotation has to be fast. Generally, any bell weighing less than 800 kg (16 cwt) will be rung by one person. The heaviest bell used with this system is in Bologna Cathedral and is called la Nonna (“the granny”) and weighs 3.3 tons. Thirteen people are needed to ring a scappata or a calata with it. The bell ringer must have contact with the bells and no mechanical devices are allowed.

Veronese full circle ringing[ edit ]

This method of full circle ringing is similar to English full circle ringing in that ropes are used to allow the bell ringer to manipulate the bells. It is not clear whether hanging the bells in this way at San Giorgio was developed independently, or whether the method was imported from England, where bells are also hung for full-circle ringing.

ringing [ edit ]

Ringing is the art of ringing bells that are “dead hung” or stationary.

Russia[ edit ]

Hunchback demonstrates Russian carillon on a portable belfry

Bell ringing experienced a spectacular revival in Russia with the growth of the Russian Orthodox Church (see Russian Orthodox bell ringing).

Technically, bells rung in the Russian tradition are only rung by ringing (i.e., just moving the clapper so that it hits the side of a stationary bell) and never by swinging the bell. For the Russian tradition, a special complex cable system is used, designed individually for each bell tower. All the ropes are gathered at about a point where the ringer (zvonar) stands. Some ropes (the smaller ones) are played with the hand, the larger ropes are played with the foot. Most of the ropes (usually all ropes) are not pulled, but pressed. Because one end of each rope is fixed and the ropes are held under tension, a squeeze or even a blow on a rope will cause a clapper to bang against the side of its bell.

The secrets of this technique were passed from generation to generation, but in the 20th century this art was almost lost. Training only took place in workshops until 2008, when the first permanent traditional bell ringing school was opened in Moscow under the direction of Drozdihin Ilya.[2]

Ellacombe apparatus [ edit ]

The Ellacombe apparatus is an English mechanism developed to effect the ringing of church bells by striking stationary bells with hammers. It does not produce the same sound as a full circle ringing on the same bells, as the Doppler effect is absent as the bells do not rotate, and the clapper has no dampening effect after each strike. Because it requires significant expertise for one person to ring changes to multiple bells, it is rarely used to ring changes, and a set sequence or tune is usually played.

Minibow swing [ edit ]

Swinging bells through a small arc of motion does not allow the ringer to control the speed of the chime. For example, a series of bells rung together in this way produces an uncoordinated sound, as the bells each swing at their own speed, dictated by the physics of a simple pendulum. Sometimes the bells are spaced apart and sometimes they strike simultaneously. This randomness also occurs when motorized bells are rung together. This is a common method of ringing when full circle bells are not available and requires little skill.

Historical Dangers[ edit ]

In the Middle Ages it was believed that the sound of a bell could dissipate thunder.[3] Many bell ringers were electrocuted as a result. In France, between 1753 and 1786, 103 bell ringers died in thunderstorms because they were holding on to wet bell ropes. The Parliament of Paris passed an edict in 1786 to ban this practice.[4] Deaths probably continued until the 19th century, when the lightning rod came into general use.

Reject [ edit ]

In the late 1940s, the Church of Sweden increasingly began to automate the ringing of its church bells and to lay off its employed bell-ringers.[5]

See also[edit]

References[ edit ]

Media related to Bell Ringers at Wikimedia Commons

handbell, small bell—usually of brass or bronze, but sometimes of copper, clay, porcelain, glass, wood, or other hard material—with an attached stem, loop, or leather strap for a handle; Most have a clapper, although some are struck from the outside. The earliest handbells were probably made of beaten copper, but since the Bronze Age most metal bells have been cast.

Handbells have been part of rituals from ancient times to the modern Roman Catholic Angelus and Buddhist altar bells. The latter have a lotus flower design at the end of their handles, a symbol of creation that is also present on the handles of Hindu bells. Such handbells are used to punctuate parts of a ceremony. Other handbells were used in ceremonies to cast out demons or cure diseases.

As a sign and warning, handbells have served in the West for street vendors, town criers, and night watchmen. In ancient Greece they heralded the opening of the fish market and in Rome that of the public baths. The 11th-century Bayeux Tapestry records the common practice of ringing handbells during funeral processions (often to ward off demons). Medieval European farmers rang handbells in the fields as a fertility charm.

Chinese artefacts in the shape of fish mouths with handles date back to 1600 BC. Although they may have been shovels for measuring rice, such shapes were used by the 6th century BC. to hanging bells and may have been handbells earlier. Eighty cast bronze finds from Nineveh (in present-day Iraq) from the 7th century BC. seem to be handbells. Some 49 Irish bells of sheet iron, hammered and riveted from the 6th century AD survive, the most famous being the Clog-an-Eadhacta Phatraic (Bell of St Patrick’s Will) of about 552 AD.

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Diatonic (i.e., to a seven-tone scale) tuned handbell sets first appeared in 17th-century England to practice the mathematical permutations of alternating ringing. By the 18th century, wrestling groups had branched out into melody playing, expanding the range of the bells into several chromatic (12-note) octaves. Bell ringing bands were introduced in the United States by showman P.T. Barnum in 1847. Modern Western bell ringing bands generally consist of 8 to 12 players, each controlling 2 to 12 bells, set up on a table.

Overtones Materials Clapper Tang Manufacturer Mallets Chimes Some time ago, Dick Crawford sent a long message to Handbell-L reporting on a handbell physics/acoustics forum held at the 1996 Directors’ Seminar in Albuquerque. With his permission, I repeat it here, hopefully with only a few minor redactions. Dick also informs me that this material will be expanded upon in an upcoming series of articles in Overtones in early 1998. The general format of the following is as follows: All texts presented are the opinion of Jake Malta of Malmark and should be treated as such. Occasionally comments are included from Dick Crawford [DC:…] or Rusty Sanders [RS:…] who attended another session. A few comments here and there from me, [PK:…] . Jack Kearns introduced Jake and established the basic rule of “No Bell Wars”: no opinions were expressed as to whose bells were better than whose. Jake was extremely fair to everyone – his objectivity, honesty, integrity, professionalism and courtesy were admirable in every way. Overtones A strummed handbell vibrates in an infinite number of ways (“modes”), but few of these cause the surrounding air to vibrate strongly enough to be audible. The simplest mode produces the lowest frequency (lowest pitch) vibration, called the “fundamental”. [DC: The shape of the vibration is a little hard to put into words, but I’ll try. If you look at the end of the bell, the clapper pushes the bell outward at the striking point (which I’ll refer to as the “top” of the bell in this brief description). Because there is a fixed amount of metal in the bell, the sides need to move inward. This in turn compresses the bottom of the bell, pushing it outward. The end result is that the circular shape of the bell is turned into an ellipse. The stresses caused by this deformation cause the bell to return to its circular shape, but the moment circle is reached the metal moves. This inertia results in another ellipse, this time with the top and bottom inside the circle and the sides outside – another ellipse, but rotated 90 degrees from the first. There are four places where these two ellipses intersect. These points are motionless and are called “nodes”. They are actually lines that run the length of the bell. A pair of nodal lines directly opposite each other define a geometric plane containing the axis of the bell. Hence the fundamental is said to consist of two “nodal planes” separated by an angle of 90 degrees.] The fundamental comes mainly from the lip of the bell. The overtone that makes a handbell sound significantly different than a tuning fork is the twelfth. [DC: Some books call this the second overtone (assuming the first overtone is the fundamental); others the first (assuming the fundamental is zero). This creates much confusion.] The twelfth arises from a vibration that has three nodal planes separated by an angle of 60 degrees. The 12th is radiated most strongly from the curved part of the bell – about a third of the distance from the lip to the tip. Only the root and the twelfth are tuned. Finally, the twelfth is an octave and a fifth above the root. Both the fundamental and the twelfth are radial oscillations—the motion of the metal is more or less directly toward or away from the bell’s axis [DC: “more or less” because I would guess that it is actually perpendicular to the Bell surface not quite parallel to axis] . The air outside the bell is also vibrated radially, so the sound is loudest radially outward. It is also louder when a point between the nodes (a “belly”) is pointed towards the listener. But the antinodes for the root and the twelfth don’t all match. Obviously those line up at the strike point, but the nearest antinode for the fundamental is at 90 degrees, which is a node for the twelfth. Since the clapper drives an antinode both at the point of strike and at the point 180 degrees around the bell, there is not much difference in which point the clapper actually strikes. According to Prof. Thomas Rossing of Northern Illinois University (hereafter “TR”), these vibrations should be canceled within the bell, so no sound should radiate out of the bell at these frequencies (unless something else is causing it). (It wasn’t obvious that Jake shared this opinion…) Handbells do not produce a “hum” tone one octave below the fundamental. This is a property of tower bells. [PK: That’s probably where the confusion in numbering the overtone rows comes from. For tower bells, the buzzer is overtone 0, fundamental 1, and the 12th overtone 2. For handbells, there is no buzzer, so you can either use the same numbering as the tower bells (without the zero), or start over with the fundamental as zero .] [DC: The octave is also generated by a “secondary” mechanism described by TR in his 1981 and 1983 articles reprinted in “Overtones 1955-1986”. The change between a circular and an elliptical cross-section of the bell also causes a change in volume. Air is pushed out of the bell as it becomes elliptical and sucked back in as it becomes circular again. Since this happens twice for each fundamental, the result is the octave. Similarly, it creates the octave above the 12th. These tones are naturally emitted at the end of the bell rather than the sides. I asked Jake about this effect but didn’t seem to make myself clear. I discussed it with him again afterwards. The result was that he doesn’t worry about it at all as there’s nothing you can do about it and the octaves are in tune. At several concerts I sat where the occasional C3 rang with its axis pointing straight at me. I think I could hear the octave, but maybe that was my imagination.] Materials Bell bronze (about 80% copper and 20% tin) is hard and brittle, which is why it supports high-frequency oscillations. The only other metal used to make handbells is aluminum (the lowly Malmarks). Aluminum produces a stronger fundamental and a weaker twelfth compared to bronze. TR believes this is because aluminum has a higher speed of sound at low frequencies and a lower speed of sound at higher frequencies. Aluminum bells are much larger than bronze for the same pitch because aluminum isn’t as strong and the bells therefore need to be thicker. Since a bell’s pitch is determined by its diameter to thickness ratio… [PK: …the necessary thickness of the bell to compensate for the softer metal results in a wider bell at any given pitch. The thickness of the aluminum bells is also a reason why the aluminum bells are louder than the comparable bronze bells)]. Malmark and Schulmerich use the same alloy – Jake wasn’t aware of other manufacturers. Bells are cast at the foundry (Malmark and Schulmerich use the same, [PK: although M&S each provide their own molds for the casting process]) and then tuned at the individual factories. Tuning is done by removing metal from inside the bell. Not every bell has its own rough casting; Instead, two bells usually share the same shape. Because the lower-pitched bell must be larger in diameter, more metal must be removed from the inside and will therefore weigh less than its higher-pitched mold partner. The wall thickness determines the volume of a bell. (That’s why tower bells are so loud – they’re fat.) [RS: When asked if that meant the crosses were louder than the naturals below them, Jake thought about it and said something along the lines of “I think so – I never do thought about it, but they should be”. But they wouldn’t be much louder as they aren’t too much thicker.] A small improvement in tone might be possible if each bell had its own shape, but the increase in cost would be immense. Over the long term, Malmark rejects about a quarter of the castings from the foundry.(Whitechapel’s experience is similar.) However, on occasion virtually all castings are rejected.As this usually happens in the spring or fall it is most likely weather dependent.But neither the foundry nor the Factory were able to fully figure out what’s going on.The biggest problem is the centerline porosity.The bronze is poured into wet sand molds at 2000-1850 degrees.Of course, the first bronze, that freezes, the “skin”. As the cooling progresses to the middle, the cooler skin contracts. As this occurs on both surfaces of the bell, it creates a “crack” in the center of the casting. Often this crack does not show up until most of the tuning process as the lathe will expose it. Finding the problem is an expensive problem as a lot of the work is done before it shows up. The casting process also affects the sound quality. Sometimes the alloys are not homogeneous and fully mixed, so some parts of the bell contain more or less tin compared to copper. Likewise, some parts of the bell may cool at a different rate than others, resulting in different grain sizes in the frozen metal. These differences create beat and wow. [DC: They are also why the point of impact is important – since the bell is no longer chemically symmetrical there can be different compositions on different bellies.] Sometimes there are problems with the casting of the castings and the bronze can be at or under the critical 1850 degrees where it begins to form. Also, the castings that are poured first tend to have more time in the molds before being overturned, giving them a longer chilling time. Malmark has attempted to leave the cast in the molds overnight before overturning. The bells were smoother and softer, but the yield [of usable bells] didn’t improve. Bells tarnish over time [no kidding]. In theory, this changes the chemistry of the bell and could affect its sound. [DC: In the Whitechapel exhibit in the HIC room was a bell that hadn’t been cleaned in maybe a century – it’s a dirty dark gray. The sound differs only slightly from a refurbished bell from the same set.] [RS: Jake’s impression of the “first service” was slightly different, but he hadn’t thought about it at the time. We asked if corrosion from handling (i.e. fingerprints, etc.) might affect the tone. He said that oxidized bronze is harder, so in theory it should have a different hue. If a bell were oxidized unevenly (again as in the case of handprints or fingerprints) this would be similar to uneven tin/bronze or grain homogeneity and therefore could cause a different wow or beat. But he wasn’t sure. [Dick’s] case was about a tarnished bell. In our case, we asked for a “grundgy” bell (like SO MANY we saw at the seminar). Again, he might have changed his mind after the lesson, but during the lesson he thought that this might have an impact on the tone and quality of the sound. Cooled castings can gradually relax with use of the bell and with temperature changes. Irregularities in the crystal structure of the metal also disappear over time. These tend to reduce pitch as areas of high tension vibrate at higher frequencies. They also make the bell softer and louder. Therefore, after a bell has been around for a decade or so, it may need to be revised – which usually means nothing more than rotating the clapper assembly to a different striking point. [DC: The point of impact is chosen to produce the “best” sound. If the bell were perfectly homogeneous in composition and shape, all possible points of impact would sound the same. But it’s not.] Thermal expansion in bronze is such that a 2 degree Fahrenheit increase in temperature produces a 1 cent (one hundredth of a semitone) decrease in pitch. At 20 degrees, the vibrations themselves heat the bell enough to avoid damage, but at zero… [PK: The pitch is 10 cents flat, which is a noticeable difference from “normal” pitch. Or perhaps Dick means that the bronze becomes dangerously brittle at 0 degrees F.] Clapper Since the clapper must drive both the fundamental and the twelfth, which are primarily produced at two different distances from the lip of the bell, the clapper must be the correct one Having length shaft is a small compromise. In general, the shorter the clapper shaft, the more twelfths are driven. Malmark also tries to keep the mechanism short enough that the clapper assembly is fully within the bell, allowing the bell to be placed on end. [DC: Schulmerich too.] In the past, bobbin heads were made of different rubber hardnesses; now they are in polyethylene or, for the tallest bells, in nylon or Delrin (sp?). Where in the chromatic scale to switch from one bobbin head to another is difficult to determine and may actually vary from set to set. The old rubber heads will harden and break over time, resulting in a muffled tone. Even the new plastic heads can crack over time (because the elastomers that keep the material soft evaporate) but the audio doesn’t seem to be affected as much. Felt gourds of course, so it needs to be replaced occasionally. Someone in first grade asked if altitude would make a difference in the life of the clapper (it rings at >7000 feet near the continental divide). After some deliberation between Jake and the others, it was decided that high altitude and low humidity could cause the flap to fail prematurely (as indicated by a harsher or deader sound depending on the failure mode). Most materials used for clapper these days would probably not be affected by extreme temperatures, but the action will likely be sluggish if it’s very cold. Tang When pouring, some metal gets stuck on the top of the bell. This gives the factory something to grab while tuning and polishing the bell. This additional metal is called “Tang”. There is some controversy among manufacturers as to what to do with the spigot. Some manufacturers leave some left over to attach the grip and handguard; others remove it entirely. TR believes that it has no effect on the bell’s tone quality, so its presence or absence is purely a matter of convenience, weight, and aesthetics. Manufacturers [DC: Yes, we really avoided bell wars.] The main differences between the bells of the different manufacturers are in the casting profile and the clapper mechanism. The profile (the shape of the bell) is determined empirically since the mathematics are such that exact analytical solutions are impossible to calculate. They are based on years of trial and error and are closely guarded trade secrets. Composition and profile determine the sound of the bell; The folding mechanism determines things like serviceability and longevity. Malmark attempts to push unwanted overtones to the highest frequencies possible. [DC: I think that’s what Jake said, but I suspect he meant that they try to reduce the amplitude of the overtones (other than the fundamental and 12th of course) as much as possible.] This produces a thinner, drier tone than usual. Other manufacturers strive for a different sound quality. Mallets Mallets should strike the bell the same distance from the lip as the clapper. Many people strike the bell far too low, which means that not all of the energy they put into the bell gets into the root note. Also, the casting is thickest at the striking point of the clapper and thinnest towards the waist of the bell. So not only do you have to hit harder to get sound, you hit the casting at its weakest point. Improper hammering cracks more bells than martellato. Chimes Malmark use standard square section aluminum tubing – the same material used to make table and chair legs (but with increased demand for chimes they are investigating custom stock which should further enhance the tone). Suzuki rounds the edges of the tubes, introducing dissonant [Jake’s word] overtones. [DC: Of course, the rounded edges are *much* more comfortable to hold and play with.] Back to: Bells Main Comments? Questions? Complaints? Send me an email! kingsbur at unagi dot cis dot upenn dot edu Last modified: Fri Jul 10 23:14:18 GMT

Handbell notation symbols and definitions

Need a quick guide or teaching aid for current handbell, solo, or ensemble notation? We offer handbell and solo/ensemble sheet music lifters to fit in your notebook, as well as a 20″ x 26″ handbell sheet music poster.

Brush Damp A BD indicates a tinkling handbell being brushed down against the chest, resulting in a sudden decrease in volume. This technique can be used when a soft ringing follows a loud ringing of the same handbell(s). The effect simulates a fortepiano.

Controlled Diminuendo The CD is performed after ringing a handbell, specifically sliding a large handbell, a gloved hand, or one or more fingers on the outside of the handbell to the edge of the casting. Different degrees of pressure control the diminuendo. An explanatory footnote can be used.

Damp sign The damp sign indicates the end of the tone in LV passages.

Echo To perform the Echo technique, the handbells are rung on strike one and then touched lightly but precisely on the padded table the specified number of times.

Spinning Top To perform a spinning top, ring the handbell while holding the handbell in the vertical position, slowly rotate the handbell to create a slight vibration in the sound.

Belltree Belltree: 3 or more bells with interlocking handles.

handbells

hand chimes

Hand Damp HD is used with large handbells. If one or two fingers on the cast are not enough to produce the desired staccato effect, each hand can be placed on the outside of the handbell cast while the handbell is being rung. This technique is also useful when a staccato note is rapidly following a rung, or vice versa.

Notehead Shape used for a handbell part to distinguish it from a handbell part when both are notated on the same staff.

Hand Martellato A martellato with the hand on the outside of the handbell casting instead of on the handle.

Let Vibrate LV is a term meaning Let Vibrate or Laissez Vibrer, allowing handbells to vibrate independently of note values ​​or rests until a damping is indicated. LV only applies to that staff when placed above the treble or below the bass staff. A LV centered between staves applies to both staves.

Mallets The mallet technique can be used either on a hanging handbell held by the handle and struck with a mallet, or on a handbell resting on a padded table and struck with a mallet.

Mallet On Suspended Handbell A indicates a suspended handbell being held by the grip and struck with a hammer. Handbells struck in this way are generally not muted.

Mallet with handbell on table This indicates that the handbell is resting on a padded table and being struck with a mallet.

Mallet Lift A mallet lift is performed by raising the hand bell immediately after striking.

Mallet Roll On Suspended Handbell A mallet roll is similar in technique to a drum roll. Using a hammer in each hand, the ringer quickly and repeatedly strikes the handbell with mallets while holding the handbell by the handle.

Mallet roll with handbell on the table A mallet roll is similar in technique to a drum roll. With a hammer in each hand, the ringer rapidly and repeatedly strikes the handbell with mallets while the handbell rests on a padded table.

Martellato Martellato indicates that the handbell is rung by holding it by the handle and gently striking the entire body of the handbell horizontally on a properly padded table.

Martellato Lift Martellato Lift indicates the martellato followed by an immediate raising of the handbell to allow the tone to continue.

MutedMartellato A MutedMartellato is a technique used primarily in solo ringing. It is performed by placing a finger or two on the cast of the handbell while gently striking it on the table.

Optional Notes Optional notes are written as continuous notes without stems, the same size as the required notes. They are denoted by a longitude bracket and the word optional or opt. marked.

Inserts for optional notes

Pluck Pl refers to the “plucking” technique. Handbells are placed on a padded table and chimed by manually moving the clapper.

Pluck Lift To perform a pluck lift, pluck the handbell in the normal manner and immediately lift it off the padded table to keep it ringing.

Ring R shows the normal way of ringing and muting according to the note values. Also, the use of R indicates a return to normal ringing and muting technique after a passage when a different style or technique (such as LV or PI) has been used. It is understood that handbells must be rung normally at the beginning of a piece without the use of the R symbol.

Rim Brush A rim brush is performed by sounding notes on beat one, positioning them horizontally across the table on beat two, and then dragging them across the table to the wrestler on beat three.

Ring Touch RT will indicate that a handbell is being rung near the shoulder, with an immediate touch of the handbell on the shoulder stopping the sound.

Rolled Chord A rolled chord can be created by sounding the notes of the chord in quick succession from low to high instead of sounding the notes simultaneously.

Selective Damp for Chord Tones The Selective Damp icon indicates that only the handbells represented by the cue notes should be damped. A muting sign built into the stem of a chord indicates the selective muting of that chord.

Selective Damp For Single Note The Selective Damp icon indicates that only the handbells represented by the cue notes should be damped. A damping mark built into the stem of a single full-size note indicates the selective damping of that note.

Shake The Sk symbol indicates the rapid shaking of a handbell, with the clapper striking either side of the handbell.

Singing Bowl The SB is made using an 8 inch wooden dowel, at least 1 inch in diameter or larger, either covered with suede or leather or dipped in a plastic coating. The rubberized shaft/handle on some of the larger bell mallets also work well. Gently tap the rim of the bell to start the tone, then quickly rub the wand clockwise over the rim of the bell to start “singing”. Some pressure is required. For more information, visit the internet and search “singing bowl”.

Soft suspended mallet reels can be used in place of SB if required.

Swing SW indicates a full arm swing after ringing the handbell. SW and/or arrows are used to indicate swings. Arrows should be synchronized with the beats on which the swings occur. Numbers can be used to indicate the strokes on which the swings are made.

Thumb Damp TD indicates that the thumb of the hand holding the handbell is placed on the outside of the handbell casting, creating a stopping sound when the clapper hits the handbell. Adding a finger or two on the cast for all but the smallest handbells may be necessary to achieve a fully stopped sound.

Table Land Damp To achieve a TLD, dampen the handbell by mouth-down on a padded table on a specific hit. This technique may not be possible on handbells with clapper sticks that extend beyond the lip of the handbell. An explanatory footnote should be used.

Tap Pluck Tpl indicates that the handbells are placed on a padded table and sounded by tapping the clapper down with the thumb.

Trill A tr alternately indicates the ringing of two handbells of adjacent pitches. The simultaneous shaking of two handbells of adjacent pitches is often used to simulate a trill. In handbell notation, both pitches can be notated.

Vibrato To achieve vibration. Effect, ring the handbell, gently move the handbell from side to side with your wrist, not your arm, to create a swaying tone.

Voice leaders The movement of any voice, melody, or other line from one staff to another can be indicated using voice leaders. Voice leading lines should run from notehead to notehead whenever possible. Pauses can be added for additional clarity.

The above information is based on Standard Handbell Notation developed under the auspices of The American Guild of English Handbell Ringers, Inc.

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Scientific and musical study of bells

Campanology ( ) is the scientific and musical study of bells. It covers the technology of bells—how they are founded, tuned, and rung—as well as the history, methods, and traditions of bell ringing as an art.[2]

It is common to put together a set of tuned bells and treat the whole as one musical instrument. Such collections – like a Flemish carillon, a Russian zvon or an English “ring of bells” used for change ringing – have their own practices and challenges; and campanology is also the study of perfecting such instruments and composing and performing music for them.

In this sense, however, the word campanology is most commonly used in reference to relatively large bells, often suspended in a tower. It is not usually applied to assemblages of smaller bells, such as B. a glockenspiel, a collection of tubular bells or an Indonesian gamelan.

Etymology and definition[edit]

Campanology is a mixed word. The first half derives from Late Latin campana, meaning “bell”; the second half is derived from Ancient Greek -λογία (-logia), meaning “the study of”.

A campanologist is someone who studies campanology, although it is popularly misused to refer to a ringtone.

Shapes of ringing[edit]

full circle ringing[edit]

Change the ringing at a church in Devon, England

The bells at St Bees Priory, England, are shown in the “up” position. When called, they swing a full circle from mouth up, around mouth up, and then back again.

In English-style (see below) full-circle ringing, the bells in a church tower are hung in such a way that with each strike the bell swings through a complete circle; actually a little more than 360 degrees. Between beats, it briefly sits “upside down,” with the mouth facing up; By pulling on a rope connected to a large-diameter wheel attached to the bell, it swings down, and the assembly’s intrinsic momentum propels the bell back up on the other side of the swing. Each alternate pull or punch is identified as either a handshake or back punch – a handshake in which the ‘lung’ (the fluffy area covered with wool) is pulled, followed by a pull on the plain ‘tail’. In East Bergholt, Suffolk, England, there is a unique carillon that is not in a tower and is chimed by hand in a circle.[4] They are the heaviest ringing of five bells listed in Dove’s Guide for Church Bell Ringers [5], with a tenor of 26 long cwt 0 qr 8 lb (2,920 lb or 1,324 kg) and a total weight of 4 long tons 5 cwt 2 qr 24 lb (9,600 lb or 4,354 t)

These bell rings have relatively few bells compared to a carillon; Towers with six or eight bells are common, with the largest rings counting up to sixteen bells. The bells are usually tuned to fall in a diatonic scale with no chromatic notes; They are traditionally numbered from top to bottom, so that the highest bell (called the treble) is numbered 1 and the lowest bell (the tenor) has the highest number; it is usually the tonic of the bells’ scale.

In order to swing the heavy bells, you need a ringtone for each bell. Furthermore, the large inertias involved mean that a chime has limited ability to delay or speed up its chime cycle. This, together with the relatively limited range of tones available, means that such chimes do not readily lend themselves to ringing melodies.

This is a diagram of one type of method ringing. Each bell strikes once in each sequence or alternation and repetition is avoided. Here 1 is the highest and 6 is the lowest

Instead, a system of alternating ringing centered on mathematical permutations probably developed in the early 17th century. The wrestlers begin rounds, which simply chimes down the scale in numerical order. (For six bells, this would be 123456.) The ringing then continues in a series of series, or changes, each of which is a permutation of rounds (z is also known as the Steinhaus-Johnson-Trotter algorithm).

In change call, one of the ringers (referred to as the leader) calls to tell the other ringers how to change their order. The timing of the calls and concomitant pattern changes are at the conductor’s discretion and therefore do not necessarily involve a change in the sequence of calls on each successive beat, as is characteristic of method calls. Some ringing devices, particularly in the west of England where there is a strong ringing tradition, ring ringing exclusively, but for others the essence of ringing is the significantly different ringing technique. As of 2015, there are 7,140 English-style rings. The Netherlands, Pakistan, India and Spain each have one. The Windward Isles and Isle of Man have 2 each. Canada and New Zealand have 8 each. The Channel Islands have 10. Africa as a continent has 13. Scotland 24, Ireland 37, USA 48, Australia 59 and Wales 227. The remaining 6,798 (95.2 %) are located in England (including three mobile phone rings).[6]

Veronese bell ringing[ edit ]

Bolognese Bell Ring[ edit ]

Change ringtone [ edit ]

This section is an extract from the Change ringing Peal Board commemorating the ringing of a bell by Bob Minor in 1910 at St Peter and St Paul Church, Chatteris, Cambridgeshire. Alternating ringing is the art of ringing a series of tuned bells in a tightly controlled manner to create precise variations in their successive striking sequences, known as “changes”. This can be done through ringing procedures, in which the ringers memorize the rules for generating each change, or through call changes, in which the ringers are instructed by instructions from a conductor how to generate each change. This creates a form of bell music that is not recognizable as a conventional melody, but is a series of mathematical sequences. Alternating ringing arose after the invention of English full-circle tower bell-ringing in the early 17th century, when bell ringers found that swinging a bell through a much larger arc than was required for swinging the clapper allowed control over the time between successive strikes. Normally a bell will only swing through a small arc at a fixed rate, determined by its size and shape in the nature of a simple pendulum, but by swinging through a larger arc approaching a full circle, control over the Beat interval to be exercised ringtone. This culminated in the technique of full-circle ringing, which allowed ringers to accurately change the speeds of their individual bells independently to combine various mathematical permutations known as “changes” when ringing. A tower bell’s speed control is exercised by the ringer only when each bell is mouth-up and slowly moving near the equilibrium point; This limitation, and the complicated rope manipulation involved, usually requires each bell to have its own ringtone. The considerable weight of full circle turret bells also means that they cannot be easily stopped or started and practical changing of the interval between successive strikes is limited. This restricts the rules for generating easy-to-understand changes; Each bell must strike once on each change, but its strike position on consecutive changes can only change by one digit. Alternating ringing is practiced worldwide, but is by far the most common on church bells in English churches, where it first developed. Alternating ringing is also performed on handbells, where conventionally each ringtone holds two bells and rings on carillons and chimes, although these are more commonly used to play conventional tunes.

Method Ringing[edit]

When ringing methodically or scientifically, each ringer has memorized a pattern that describes the course of his or her bell from row to row; Taken together, these patterns (along with just the occasional call from a conductor) form an algorithm that cycles through the various permutations available, dictated by the number of bells available. There are hundreds of these methods, compiled over the centuries, all of which have names, some of which are very imaginative. More familiar examples such as Plain Bob, Reverse Canterbury, Grandsire and Double Oxford are familiar to most wrestlers.

Serious ringing always begins and ends with rounds; and it must always be true – each line must be unique and never repeated. A performance of a few hundred lines or so is called a touch. An execution of all possible permutations possible on a set of bells is called an extent, with n {\displaystyle n} bells there are n {\displaystyle n} ! possible permutations. With five bells 5! = 120, which takes about 5 minutes. With seven bells 7! = 5,040, which takes about three hours to ring. This is the definition of a full chime on 7 (5,000 or more for other chime numbers). The quarter stroke with 1,260 changes is less demanding. Ringing chimes and quarter chimes on fewer bells will sound multiple full tones in succession. When ringing at higher bell numbers, less than a full range is rung. With eight bells, the circumference is 8!=40,320, which was achieved only once and took almost nineteen hours.

The ringing of English bell towers became a popular hobby in the late 17th century, during the Restoration era. The scientific approach that led to the modern ringing method can be traced back to two books from this period, Tintinnalogia or the Art of Ringing (published in 1668 by Richard Duckworth and Fabian Stedman) and Campanalogia (also by Stedman; first published in 1677; see bibliography) . Today, alternating ringing remains most popular in England, but is practiced worldwide. Over four thousand bells are rung every year.

Dorothy L. Sayers’ mystery story The Nine Tailors (1934) revolves around the alternating ringing of bells in a Fenland church; her father was a clergyman.

Russian Orthodox Bell Ringing [ edit ]

Hunchback demonstrates Russian carillon on a portable belfry

The bells in the Russian tradition are sounded by their clapper attached to ropes; A special cable system is developed individually for each bell tower. All the ropes are gathered in one place where the bell ringer stands. The ropes (usually all ropes) are not pulled but pushed with hands or legs. Since one end of each rope is fixed and the ropes are held under tension, a push or even a blow on a rope will move a clapper.

The Russian Tsar Bell is the largest surviving bell in the world. [citation required]

Chime[edit]

Chimes [ edit ]

Ellacombe apparatus [ edit ]

Ellacombe apparatus for 6 bells

The Ellacombe apparatus is an English mechanism designed for ringing by striking stationary bells with external hammers. However, it does not have the same sound as a full-circle ringing because of the absence of the Doppler effect that comes from the bell’s rotation and the dampening effect of the clapper after each strike.

Only one person is required for operation. Each hammer is connected by a rope to a fixed frame in the bell ringing room. In use, the ropes are taut, and pulling one of the ropes towards the player will bang the hammer against the bell. To allow normal full circle ringing on the same bells, the ropes are loosened to allow the hammers to fall off the moving bells.

The system was developed in 1821 by the Reverend Henry Thomas Ellacombe of Gloucestershire, who first had such a system installed at Bitton in 1822. He created the system to eliminate the need for traditional bell ringers, so churches would not have to tolerate the behavior of what he thought was unruly bell ringers.

In reality, however, it required very rare expertise for a person to call changes. The sound of a carillon was a poor substitute for the rich sound of swinging bells, and the apparatus fell out of fashion. Consequently, the Ellacombe apparatus was disconnected or removed from many towers in Britain. In towers where the apparatus remains intact, it is generally used like a carillon but to play simple tunes or, where expertise is available, to play alterations.

Bellfounding[ edit ]

Bell tuning [ edit ] [11] or any well-tuned bell:[12] Striking note on E with hum, minor third, fifth, octave or nominal, and major third and perfect fifth in the second octave. The overtones produced by the Erfurt bell (1497), or any well-tuned bell: strike tone on E with hum, minor third, fifth, octave or nominal, and major third and perfect fifth in the second octave.

[13] “The bell produces a secondary tone (f’) which falls outside of this ‘inharmonic series, although clearly audible when the bell is struck, ‘with strangely exciting and disturbing effect'”[14] ( Help Info ) Spectrum of a Winchester Cathedral bell analyzed by Jonathan Harvey using FFT “The bell produces a secondary pitch (f’) which is outside of this ‘inharmonic series’, although clearly audible when the bell is struck,’ with strangely exciting and disturbing effects. “The percussion is a middle C, the hum an octave lower.

The tuning of a bell depends entirely on its shape. When it’s first cast it’s about right, but it’s then machined on a tuning lathe to remove metal until it’s in tune. This is a very complex exercise that has required centuries of empirical practice and, most recently, modern acoustic science to understand.

When a bell is part of a movement that is to be rung or played together, the originally dominant perceived sound, known as the strike note, must be tuned to a specific note of a common scale. In addition, each bell emits overtones or partials, which must also be tuned so that they do not discord with the bell’s striking tone. This is what Fuller-Maitland meant in Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians when he said: “Good tone means that a bell must be in tune with itself.”[12]

The most important partials are;

Sum note – an octave below the strike note,

beat note

tierce – minor third above the strike note

Fifth – a perfect fifth above the strike note

nominal – octave above the strike note

Other, less dominant partials include the major, third, and perfect fifth in the octave above.

“However, whether a fundamental tunes the nominal or the strike tone makes little difference, because the nominal tone is one of the main partials that determines the tuning of the strike tone.”[15] A heavy mallet produces lower partials (mallets are often around 3% of a bell’s mass), while higher clapper speed amplifies higher partials (0.4 m/s is moderate). The relative depth of the “bowl” or “chalice” portion of the bell also determines the number and strength of the partials to achieve a desired timbre.

Bells are generally made of about 80% copper and 20% tin (bell metal), with the tone varying depending on the material.

Pitch and pitch are also affected by the way a bell is struck. Asian large bells are often bowl-shaped but lack a lip and are often not freely vibrating. Also note the special shape of the Bianzhong bells, which allows two tones. The scaling or size of most bells to each other can be approximated by the equation for circular cylinders:

f=Ch/D2,

where h is the thickness, D is the diameter, and C is a constant determined by the material and profile.[16]

The Great Third Bell[ edit ]

Based on the theory that pieces in major keys can be better accommodated, after many unsuccessful attempts, in the 1980s, using computer modeling to aid in the design, scientists at the Technical University in Eindhoven vom Royal created bells with a major third profile The Eijsbouts bell foundry in the Netherlands[15] is described as reminiscent of old coke bottles[17] in that they have a bulge in the middle[18] and in 1999 a design without the bulge was announced.[16]

Bell Organizations[edit]

The following organizations promote the study, music, collecting, and/or preservation and restoration of bells.[19] Nations covered are given in parentheses.

See also[edit]

References[ edit ]

Bells have been around for thousands of years, but handbells were developed in England in the 17th century.

The first bells in England were huge and found in church towers. They were used for change ringing, the art of changing the order in which the bells rang. Eventually, English towns began to practice ringing change using small, wooden handbells so as not to disturb neighbors and to avoid the awkward environment in the belfry.

In 1660, William and Robert Cor cast the first tuned bronze handbell at the Wiltshire Foundry in England. Small handbell sets were made to match the bells in a particular tower.

Handbells cast from bronze have a fixed, directional clapper. The three physical characteristics of a handbell are its English tuning, the fixed clapper, and the retaining spring.

As bell ringers began to realize the musical potential of handbells, semitones were added to form full chromatic sets, allowing performers to play familiar melodies. By the mid-18th century, group ‘melody-ringing’ was a popular entertainment in England, and soon almost every village had its own band of bell-ringers.

English handbells became a staple of the American scene in the early 20th century thanks to Margaret Shurcliff of Boston. She brought eight Whitechapel handbells with her from England, a set that she continued to add to. She soon introduced her Beacon Hill Ringers to Boston, who became known for their annual Christmas carols on Beacon Hill.

By 1955 the vast majority of handbells in England were manufactured by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. In that year, Petit & Fritsen, Dutch bell founders since 1660, started making handbells. Schulmerich Carillons began mass-producing handbells in the United States in 1963. Jacob Malta opened his own handbell shop, Malmark, in 1974.

English handbells spread across the country, first through family possessions and then in churches. Handbells also appeared in schools in the last half of this century.

Numerous techniques have been incorporated into the art of handbell ringing. Aside from the straight ring, there are a variety of sounds today, including martellato, plucked, thumb dampened, and “wow” effects.

In addition, many wrestlers have become adept at changing dynamics. Many English bell teams ring the table, meaning the bells are rung from a table. This means that the clapper strikes the back of the bell. Most other countries prefer hand-ringing, which means the bells are rung from the shoulder and the clapper strikes the front of the bell.

_ Source: American Guild of English Handbell Ringers

A handbell choir, ensemble, or team plays music on a series of handbells tuned to the chromatic scale. An entire choir of handbells is itself a single instrument, with one musician responsible for only one or a very few selected notes which, when played together with other musicians, become rich melodies and harmonies. This is unique from other orchestras or bands where a single musician is responsible for a continuous line of music. Handbell choirs may consist of a dozen or more musicians playing any number of bells to scale two octaves (25 bells) and up to eight octaves (97 bells).

With only two hands (and one or two bells each), a ringtone is generally only responsible for two or four notes and their associated sharps/barrels. Relying on multiple ringtones to play just single notes in a continuous musical line is a challenging aspect of handbell ringing, particularly to create a sense of continuity and flow. Group exercises are therefore an essential part of handbell ringing. If a person does not show or find a replacement, their notes are missing from the music.

The smaller the bell, the higher the pitch. The bigger the bell, the lower the pitch. Each handbell is cast from bronze (an alloy of copper and tin), mounted on a single plane with a hinged clapper (they only move from side to side), and fitted with a leather or vinyl handle. A handbell is rung by grasping the handle and flexing the wrist, causing the clapper to tap the inside of the bell before springing back into place. Each bell is marked with the musical note on the handle. Foam covered tables allow hand chimes to rest bells on a smooth surface without chipping or damaging the bell – the foam also prevents unwanted extra “notes” each time a bell is set down.

A start in alternating ringing

Modern handbell choirs owe their origin to groups of tower bell changers who, for the sake of village peace, were not often able to practice in bell towers. Small handbells, corresponding to the larger tower bells, were therefore developed to hone the craft of ringing and to rehearse intricate permutations in a comfortable, tranquil setting. After all, it can be pretty cold and drafty inside a clock tower.

The idea of ​​ringing handbells quickly evolved from change ringing and became an art form in its own right, popularized in church services and open-air performances. As handbell techniques became more sophisticated, larger sets of handbells were cast with precise tuning, allowing for longer ranges, more subtle artistic interpretations, and an independent repertoire of handbell music.

handbell, small bell—usually of brass or bronze, but sometimes of copper, clay, porcelain, glass, wood, or other hard material—with an attached stem, loop, or leather strap for a handle; Most have a clapper, although some are struck from the outside. The earliest handbells were probably made of beaten copper, but since the Bronze Age most metal bells have been cast.

Handbells have been part of rituals from ancient times to the modern Roman Catholic Angelus and Buddhist altar bells. The latter have a lotus flower design at the end of their handles, a symbol of creation that is also present on the handles of Hindu bells. Such handbells are used to punctuate parts of a ceremony. Other handbells were used in ceremonies to cast out demons or cure diseases.

As a sign and warning, handbells have served in the West for street vendors, town criers, and night watchmen. In ancient Greece they heralded the opening of the fish market and in Rome that of the public baths. The 11th-century Bayeux Tapestry records the common practice of ringing handbells during funeral processions (often to ward off demons). Medieval European farmers rang handbells in the fields as a fertility charm.

Chinese artefacts in the shape of fish mouths with handles date back to 1600 BC. Although they may have been shovels for measuring rice, such shapes were used by the 6th century BC. to hanging bells and may have been handbells earlier. Eighty cast bronze finds from Nineveh (in present-day Iraq) from the 7th century BC. seem to be handbells. Some 49 Irish bells of sheet iron, hammered and riveted from the 6th century AD survive, the most famous being the Clog-an-Eadhacta Phatraic (Bell of St Patrick’s Will) of about 552 AD.

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Diatonic (i.e., to a seven-tone scale) tuned handbell sets first appeared in 17th-century England to practice the mathematical permutations of alternating ringing. By the 18th century, wrestling groups had branched out into melody playing, expanding the range of the bells into several chromatic (12-note) octaves. Bell ringing bands were introduced in the United States by showman P.T. Barnum in 1847. Modern Western bell ringing bands generally consist of 8 to 12 players, each controlling 2 to 12 bells, set up on a table.