The nitty-gritty on how bells are made and rung
Watching this video, you probably guessed that a computer communicates the programmed melodies to the external bell clappers, and that it keeps the bell performances on a schedule. And you are correct! And you are also correct that the Clock-O-Matic’s … Continue reading Bell Ringing Methods in the Leaning Tower of Niles
In honor of the invasion of spooks and ghouls tomorrow on Halloween, I thought we’d focus on bells representing the profane. I give you . . . “Hell’s Bells” by AC/DC. That is a real, honest-to-goodness one-ton bronze bell hanging … Continue reading Hell’s Bells
The folks over at UC Berkeley have done it again–they’ve dreamed up a scintillating, beautiful project with bells at the core like their “Natural Frequencies” and “Polartide” performances from recent years. So what’s happening? What’s happening is a performance of … Continue reading Tsar Bell Finally Rings
This graphic of the development of the carillon by Luc Rombouts in Zingend Brons is fantastic. It makes plain that the development of the instrument was not a straight, linear one, but one branch of the varied bell tree. I translated it from Flemish with Luc’s permission and assistance. Thanks, Luc! Continue reading Development of the Carillon Graphic
Bells in a peal swing back and forth to ring, like this: The clapper inside the bell hangs down from the top, and it swings up to strike the bell close to its most extreme position, which makes a flying clapper, or it falls down to strike the bell at the same extreme position, which makes the clapper a falling clapper.* What determines whether the clapper is flying or falling, and what difference does it make? In short, the position of the axis from which the bell is swung and a difference in musical tone and degree of reactive force … Continue reading The Physics of Swinging Bells