The Organ Forum

Choirmaster:

Here in the UK, we have no tradition of handbell ringing at all, thank-goodness. 

So why is buzzyreed trying to blame us? 

I've never had to deal with the bloody bells.  I'd sooner bagpipes in church.  

Being a handbell guy isn't that great either.

Can anyone say "Harmonic Trance" or "Arthritis?"

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First they came for the ABC consoles, then they came for the older consoles. When they finally got to the spinets, they were all gone.

I find it difficult to believe that "there is no tradition of handbells" in the UK, because it is my understanding that they were invented there.  One of the 3 large manufacturers is the Whitechapel Foundry.

David

Jason E:

Choirmaster:

Here in the UK, we have no tradition of handbell ringing at all, thank-goodness. 

So why is buzzyreed trying to blame us? 

I've never had to deal with the bloody bells.  I'd sooner bagpipes in church.  

Surprisingly, I've been to many a service with bagpipe, but not a single one with bells.

By the way, in a pentecostal church (or at least the ones I've been to) you're invited to play your instrument in the pews along with the musicians in stage. I've seen the multitude of tambourinists of course, several flautists, violinists, celloists, and even a few trumpet players. I'd play my Hammond in the pews, but you know the kind of trouble that would bring in already packed church!  

 

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First they came for the ABC consoles, then they came for the older consoles. When they finally got to the spinets, they were all gone.

davidecasteel:

I find it difficult to believe that "there is no tradition of handbells" in the UK, because it is my understanding that they were invented there.  One of the 3 large manufacturers is the Whitechapel Foundry.

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Soubasse32

I'm not sure what's worse, praise songs (and the associated trappings), handbells, or bagpipes,. there is just something abouth the sound of bagpipes I don't particularly care for.

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Once you can tie your arms into a pretzel and your legs into a knot, you've got it under control

I wouldn't mind handbells so much if I could just get the players to stand inside the swellbox! 

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Soubasse32

I love bagpipes. Perhaps its because of my obnoxious personality!

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First they came for the ABC consoles, then they came for the older consoles. When they finally got to the spinets, they were all gone.

Bagpipes always remind me of the line of dialogue in the movie "Paratrooper" where one Tommy says to his mate (as bagpipes are heard in the distance):  "Cursed is he who hears the pipes who wasna' borrrrrn in Scotland!"

Yes, handbells were originally introduced to enable the practice of "change ringing" without incurring the wrath of the townspeople by doing it on the carillon.

David

I like them!! IF, they are played for only ONE selection just not too often in a given church service.  I think they are nice for an offertory, a special, or to accompany the organ and choir on a given selection.

 

I do recall a local church where I was watching the AM Service via TV, and the ENTIRE service had only the handbells for music.  I thought I never wanted to hear them again.  By the time, it was over, and the last hymn had been played using them, my head felt a pounding from all that clanging and banging sounds.

 

Thank God, it was quite sometime before they were used again for just ONE selection.

The church I grew up in has a handbell choir, so as a kid I was exposed to them quite a bit.  My main frustration was not with the sound of the bells, but a low tolerance for mistakes by the ringers.  Even as a young boy, I could tell when mistakes were being made, and it only irritated me more as I grew older.

So, as a youngster, I thought of an idea that I believed would fix the problem of mistakes.  That was to design an automated handbell ringing system that could be controlled by a piano keyboard, thus allowing one musician to arrange his own music and play all the bells himself.  Or, if you were patient, you could program in traditional bell music and have it play it "correctly" without human errors!  All this thought of at the age of about 16 or so.  Sadly, I never had the capabilities to do anything with this idea, but it still remains, only in a slightly different form.

As my experience with organ began, and I became a more serious organist, I thought it would be nice to have a set of handbells that could be controlled by the organ console, much like chimes.  You would depress the "handbell" stoptab, and that would activate the relay, and on the side of the console would be a mode knob, allowing you to adjust the intensity of the clapper to adjust the volume, much like on chimes.  However, I also proposed another switch that would allow for the repeated ringing that you sometimes hear in bell music.  The only complicated part became how to control when the bell mutes.  Do you make it a set time, say 2 seconds?  That may cause bleeding.  Or do you make it mute when the player releases the key?  This may cause the opposite effect.

So, you see how I like bells, in my own little creative fantasy world..LOL.  I just wish I had the money to build it.  IT COULD WORK!   Also, I would position it in the organ chamber, unexpressed, but the distance would take a little of the edge off.  I think it would be best used as an alternative to chimes.

I would appreciate your comments!

-Jon 

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"Unit" is a four letter word!

BTW, What is harmonic trance?  Is that where you get so trapped in the harmonics that you loose track of what the fundemental is?  I.E. a C sounds like a G?  If that's the case, I've been there.  If that's not it, I'd be interested in knowing what it is.

Thanks!

-Jon 

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"Unit" is a four letter word!

Vercus, I think you'd have to make the instrument actuate external strikers instead of attempting to actually move the bells and have the clappers do the striking--sort of the way that door chimes operate.  The problem is that some of the handbells (especially the larger ones) have a significant delay between initiation of movement and when the note actually sounds--the clapper movement can take an appreciable amount of time.  The handbell player becomes accustomed to this and begins moving the bell before the note is to play so that the note sounds at the appropriate time--I think this would be very difficult to handle from a keyboard.  In addition, unlike organ pipes, handbells do have a fairly wide range of intensity--they can be struck softly or really whanged loudly, again something that might be difficult to simulate via a keyboard, especially when some bells are to be loud and others soft.  Finally, modern bell music incorporates a lot of techniques that generate different types of striking:  plucking, martellato, using mallets, etc.  (Of course, for the purpose you envision--occasional use to supplement the organ--perhaps those "enhancements" would not be important.)

The damping situation is quite a complex issue:  during most handbell playing the bell is damped when its note value has elapsed, but in some passages some of the bells are marked "L.V." ("lese vibrir" or "let vibrate") in which case they are not damped until the music calls for it; think of it as a sustaining pedal for the bells, but only for selected ones.  Ignoring the L.V. situation it would probably be appropriate to have the bells damped when their key is released (assuming that you would hold the key for the full note value, as you would for the organ); if you were skillful enough even the L.V. could be handled by keeping the appropriate keys depressed.

Dream on!

David

David,

Thanks for the reply.  I was thinking the same thing as far as the actuator.  Moving the bell itself would be very complex and unnecessary.  Perhaps the intensity could be controlled better by a touch sensitive keyboard?

Ahh it's great to dream..LOL.

-Jon 

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"Unit" is a four letter word!

Harmonic trance (I'm sure there is a technical name for it) is a common band/orchestra problem. When you are required to play a specific part that is rather monotonous and simple, and do it over again and again, you begin to zone out. If you're part is exactly the same through-out a whole song, such as some parts for Pachelbel's Canon in D (search "Pachelbel rant" on youtube for some laughs) you should be OK so long as you keep up tempo. Some music writers purposely avoid writing songs with entrancing repetitive melodies and lyrics. A good example and extreme opposite of Pachelbel's Canon would be Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. If you ever see the sheet music for it (the peice is a ghastly thing to play) you'll notice very few repeated chords progressions and lines. The song goes even so far as to change key a third of the way through!

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First they came for the ABC consoles, then they came for the older consoles. When they finally got to the spinets, they were all gone.