A bell is a
directly struck idiophone percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...
. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong
strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient
resonator
A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance or resonant behavior. That is, it naturally oscillates with greater amplitude at some frequencies, called resonant frequencies, than at other frequencies. The oscillations in a resonator ...
. The strike may be made by an internal "clapper" or "uvula", an external hammer, or—in small bells—by a small loose sphere enclosed within the body of the bell (
jingle bell
A jingle bell or sleigh bell is a type of bell which produces a distinctive 'jingle' sound, especially in large numbers. They find use in many areas as a percussion instrument, including the classic sleigh bell sound and morris dancing. T ...
).
Bells are usually cast from
bell metal (a type of
bronze) for its resonant properties, but can also be made from other hard materials. This depends on the function. Some small bells such as ornamental bells or cowbells can be made from cast or pressed metal, glass or ceramic, but large bells such as a church, clock and tower bells are normally cast from bell metal.
Bells intended to be heard over a wide area can range from a single bell hung in a turret or
bell-gable, to a musical ensemble such as an English
ring of bells
A "ring of bells" is the name bell ringers give to a set of bells hung for English full circle ringing. The term "peal of bells" is often used, though peal also refers to a change ringing performance of more than about 5,000 changes.
By ri ...
, a
carillon or a Russian
zvon which are tuned to a common scale and installed in a
bell tower. Many public or institutional buildings house bells, most commonly as
clock bells to sound the hours and quarters.
Historically, bells have been associated with religious rites, and are still used to call communities together for religious services. Later, bells were made to commemorate important events or people and have been associated with the concepts of peace and freedom. The study of bells is called
campanology
Campanology () is the scientific and musical study of bells. It encompasses the technology of bells – how they are founded, tuned and rung – as well as the history, methods, and traditions of bellringing as an art.
It is common to collect t ...
.
Etymology
![13th-12th Cent](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/13th-12th_Cent._BC_Shang_Bronze_Bell.jpg)
''Bell'' is a word common to the
Low German dialects, cognate with
Middle Low German
Middle Low German or Middle Saxon (autonym: ''Sassisch'', i.e. " Saxon", Standard High German: ', Modern Dutch: ') is a developmental stage of Low German. It developed from the Old Saxon language in the Middle Ages and has been documented i ...
and
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
but not appearing among the other
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken Germanic language, E ...
except the
Icelandic which was a loanword from
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...
.
It is popularly but not certainly
related to the former sense of ''to bell'' ( ang, bellan, 'to roar, to make a loud noise') which gave rise to ''
bellow''.
History
![Bianzhong](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Bianzhong.jpg)
The earliest archaeological evidence of bells dates from the 3rd millennium BC, and is traced to the
Yangshao culture
The Yangshao culture (仰韶文化, pinyin: Yǎngsháo wénhuà) was a Neolithic culture that existed extensively along the middle reaches of the Yellow River in China from around 5000 BC to 3000 BC. The culture is named after the Yangsh ...
of
Neolithic China. Clapper-bells made of pottery have been found in several archaeological sites. The pottery bells later developed into metal bells. In West Asia, the first bells appear in 1000 BC. The earliest metal bells, with one found in the
Taosi
Taosi () is an archaeological site in Xiangfen County, Shanxi, China. Taosi is considered to be part of the late phase of the Longshan culture in southern Shanxi, also known as the Taosi phase (2300 BC to 1900 BC).
Archaeology
Taosi was surround ...
site and four in the
Erlitou
The Erlitou culture was an early Bronze Age urban society and archaeological culture that existed in the Yellow River valley from approximately 1900 to 1500 BC. A 2007 study of radiocarbon dating proposed a narrower date range of 1750 to 1530 B ...
site, are dated to about 2000 BC. With the emergence of other kinds of bells during the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 – c. 1050 BC), they were relegated to subservient functions; at Shang and
Zhou sites, they are also found as part of the horse-and-chariot gear and as collar-bells of dogs. By the 13th century BC, bells weighing over 150 kg were being cast in China. After 1000 AD, iron became the most commonly used metal for bells instead of bronze. The earliest dated iron bell was manufactured in 1079, found in
Hubei Province
Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...
.
Bells west of China did not reach the same size until the 2nd millennium AD. Assyrian bells dated to the 7th century BC were around 4 inches high. Roman bells dated to the 1st and 2nd century AD were around 8 inches high. The
book of Exodus
The Book of Exodus (from grc, Ἔξοδος, translit=Éxodos; he, שְׁמוֹת ''Šəmōṯ'', "Names") is the second book of the Bible. It narrates the story of the Exodus, in which the Israelites leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through ...
in the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...
notes that small gold bells were worn as ornaments on the hem of the robe of the
high priest in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
.
Among the
ancient Greeks
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
, handbells were used in camps and garrisons and by patrols that went around to visit sentinels. Among the Romans, the hour of bathing was announced by a bell. They also used them in the home, as an ornament and emblem, and bells were placed around the necks of cattle and sheep so they could be found if they strayed. As late as the 10th century AD, European bells were no higher than 2 feet in height.
See also
Klang Bell (Malaysia, 2 c. BC) of the British Museum collection.
Styles of ringing
![St Bees bells in up position](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/St_Bees_bells_in_up_position.jpg)
In the
western world
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania. , the common form of bell is a
church bell
A church bell in Christian architecture is a bell which is rung in a church for a variety of religious purposes, and can be heard outside the building. Traditionally they are used to call worshippers to the church for a communal service, and to ...
or town bell, which is hung within a tower or bell cote. Such bells are either fixed in a static position ("hung dead") or mounted on a beam (the "headstock") so they can swing to and fro. Bells that are hung dead are normally sounded by hitting the sound bow with a hammer or occasionally by pulling an internal clapper against the bell.
Where a bell is swung, it can either be swung over a small arc by a rope and lever or by using a rope on a wheel to swing the bell higher. As the bell swings higher the sound is projected outwards rather than downwards. Larger bells may be swung using electric motors. In some places, such as the
Salzburg Cathedral
, native_name_lang =
, image = Salzburg Cathedral 1.jpg
, imagesize =
, imagelink =
, imagealt =
, landscape =
, caption =
, pushpin map ...
, the clapper is held against the sound bow with an electric clasp as the bell swings up. The clasp would release the clapper to provide a cleaner start to ringing. To silence the bell, the clasp catches and locks the clapper back in place.
Bells hung for
full circle ringing
Full circle ringing is a technique of ringing a tower bell such that it swings in a complete circle from mouth upwards to mouth upwards and then back again repetitively.
Technique
Full-circle tower bell ringing in England developed in the ea ...
are swung through just over a complete circle from mouth uppermost. A stay (the wooden pole seen sticking up when the bells are down) engages a mechanism to allow the bell to rest just past its balance point. The rope is attached to one side of a wheel so that a different amount of rope is wound on and off as it swings to and fro. The bells are controlled by ringers (one to a bell) in a chamber below, who rotate the bell to through a full circle and back, and control the speed of oscillation when the bell is mouth upwards at the balance-point when little effort is required.
Swinging bells are sounded by an internal clapper. The clapper may have a longer period of swing than the bell. In this case, the bell will catch up with the clapper and if rung to or near full circle will carry the clapper up on the bell's trailing side. Alternatively, the clapper may have a shorter period and catch up with the bell's leading side, travel up with the bell coming to rest on the downhill side. This latter method is used in English style full circle ringing.
Occasionally the clappers have leather pads (called ''muffles'') strapped around them to quieten the bells when practice ringing to avoid annoying the neighbourhood. Also at funerals, ''half-muffles'' are often used to give a full open sound on one round, and a muffled sound on the alternate round for a distinctive, mournful effect. This was done at the
Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales
The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, started on Saturday 6 September 1997 at 9:08am in London, when the tenor bell of Westminster Abbey started tolling to signal the departure of the cortège from Kensington Palace. The coffin was carried ...
in 1997.
A
carillon, which is a musical instrument consisting of at least 23 cast bronze cup-shaped bells, is tuned so that the bells can be played serially to produce a melody, or sounded together to play a chord. A traditional carillon is played by striking a baton keyboard with the fists, and by pressing the keys of a pedal keyboard with the feet. The keys mechanically activate levers and wires that connect to metal clappers that strike the inside of the bells, allowing the performer to vary the intensity of the note according to the force applied to the key.
Church and temple bells
In the
Eastern world
The Eastern world, also known as the East or historically the Orient, is an umbrella term for various cultures or social structures, nations and philosophical systems, which vary depending on the context. It most often includes at least ...
, the traditional forms of bells are temple and palace bells, small ones being rung by a sharp rap with a stick, and very large ones rung by a blow from the outside by a large swinging beam. (See images of the great bell of
Mii-dera
, formally called , is a Buddhist temple in Japan located at the foot of Mount Hiei, in the city of Ōtsu in Shiga Prefecture. It is a short distance from both Kyoto, and Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake. The head temple of the Jimon sect ...
below.)
The striking technique is employed worldwide for some of the largest tower-borne bells because swinging the bells themselves could damage their towers.
In the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and among some High
Lutherans
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...
and
Anglicans, small hand-held bells, called
Sanctus
The Sanctus ( la, Sanctus, "Holy") is a hymn in Christian liturgy. It may also be called the ''epinikios hymnos'' ( el, ἐπινίκιος ὕμνος, "Hymn of Victory") when referring to the Greek rendition.
In Western Christianity, th ...
or
sacring bells, are often rung by a server at Mass when the priest holds high up first the host and then the chalice immediately after he has said the words of consecration over them (the moment known as the
Elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...
). This serves to indicate to the congregation that the bread and wine have just been transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ (see
transubstantiation
Transubstantiation (Latin: ''transubstantiatio''; Greek: μετουσίωσις '' metousiosis'') is, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, "the change of the whole substance of bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and of ...
), or, in the alternative
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
teaching, that Christ is now bodily present in the elements, and that what the priest is holding up for them to look at is Christ himself (see
consubstantiation).
In
Russian Orthodox bell ringing
Russian Orthodox bell ringing has a history starting from the baptism of Rus in 988 and plays an important role in the traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Theology
The ringing of bells is one of the most essential elements of an Orthodox ...
, the entire bell never moves, only the clapper. A complex system of ropes is developed and used uniquely for every bell tower. Some ropes (the smaller ones) are played by hand, the bigger ropes are played by foot.
Bells in Japanese religion
Japanese
Shinto
Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...
ist and
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
bells are used in religious ceremonies. ''
Suzui'', a homophone meaning both "cool" and "refreshing", are spherical bells which contain metal pellets that produce sound from the inside. The hemispherical bell is the ''
Kane'' bell, which is struck on the outside. Large suspended temple bells are known as ''
bonshō
, also known as or are large bells found in Buddhist temples throughout Japan, used to summon the monks to prayer and to demarcate periods of time. Rather than containing a clapper, are struck from the outside, using either a handheld malle ...
''. (See also
:ja:鈴,
:ja:梵鐘).
Bells in Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism
Jain
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...
,
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
and
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
bells, called ''"
Ghanta
Ghanta (Sanskrit: घण्टा, IAST: ghaṇṭā; Tibetan: drilbu) is the Sanskrit term for a ritual bell used in Hinduistic religious practices. The ringing of the bell produces what is regarded as an auspicious sound. Hindu temples genera ...
"'' (IAST: Ghaṇṭā) in Sanskrit, are used in religious ceremonies. See also
singing bowls
A standing bell or resting bell is an inverted bell, supported from below with the rim uppermost. Such bells are normally bowl-shaped, and exist in a wide range of sizes, from a few centimetres to a metre in diameter. They are often played by st ...
. A bell hangs at the gate of many
Hindu temple
A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hin ...
s and is rung at the moment one enters the temple.
File:RyoanJi-Kane.jpg, Japanese temple bell of the Ryōanji Temple, Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...
File:Bell Simoda 1856.jpg, "Bell house at Shimoda" in Japan
File:Big bell. Rewalsar.jpg, Buddhist bell, Rewalsar, India
File:Bell Patan Durbar Square Mangal Bazaar Patan Lalitpur Nepal Rajesh Dhungana (3).jpg, Bell of Taleju Bhawani temple (Patan Durbar Square
Patan Durbar Square is situated at the centre of the city of Lalitpur in Nepal. It is one of the three Durbar Squares in the Kathmandu Valley, all of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. One of its attractions is the ancient royal palace w ...
, Nepal
Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...
Bellfounding
The process of casting bells is called
bellfounding, and in Europe dates to the 4th or 5th century. The traditional metal for these bells is a
bronze of about 23%
tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal.
Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...
. Known as ''
bell metal'', this alloy is also the
traditional alloy for the finest Turkish and Chinese
cymbals. Other materials sometimes used for large bells include
brass
Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wit ...
and
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...
. Steel was tried during the busy church-building period of mid-19th-century England, because it was more economical than bronze, but was found not to be durable and manufacture ceased in the 1870s.
Casting
Small bells were originally made with the
lost wax process
Lost-wax casting (also called "investment casting", "precision casting", or ''cire perdue'' which has been adopted into English from the French, ) is the process by which a duplicate metal sculpture (often silver, gold, brass, or bronze) i ...
but large bells are cast mouth downwards by filling the air space in a two-part mould with molten metal. Such a mould has an outer section clamped to a base-plate on which an inner core has been constructed.
The core is built on the base-plate using porous materials such as
coke or brick and then covered in
loam well mixed with straw and horse manure. This is given a profile corresponding to the inside shape of the finished bell and dried with gentle heat.
Graphite
Graphite () is a crystalline form of the element carbon. It consists of stacked layers of graphene. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Synthetic and natural graphite are consumed on lar ...
and
whiting are applied to form the final, smooth surface.
The outside of the mould is made within a perforated cast-iron case, larger than the finished bell, containing the loam mixture which is shaped, dried and smoothed in the same way as the core. The case is inverted (mouth down), lowered over the core and clamped to the base plate. The clamped mould is supported, usually by being buried in a ''casting pit'' to bear the weight of metal and to allow even cooling.
Historically, before rail or road transport of large bells was possible, a "bell pit" was often dug in the grounds of the building where the bell was to be installed. Molten bell metal is poured into the mould through a box lined with
foundry sand Molding sand, also known as foundry sand, is a sand that when moistened and compressed or oiled or heated tends to pack well and hold its shape. It is used in the process of sand casting for preparing the mold cavity.
Green sand
Green sand is an a ...
. The founder would bring his casting tools to the site, and a furnace would be built next to the pit.
Bell tuning
![Erfurt Bell](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Erfurt_Bell.png)
Large bells are generally around 80% copper and 20% tin (
bell metal), which has been found empirically to give the most pleasant tone. However, the tone of a bell is mostly due to its shape. A bell is regarded as having a good tone when it's "in tune with itself". In western bell founding, this is known as "harmonic tuning" of a bell, which results in the bell's strongest harmonics being in harmony with each other and the strike note. This produces the brightest and purest sound, which is the attractive sound of a good bell. A huge amount of effort has been expended over the centuries in finding the shape which will produce the harmonically tuned bell.
The accompanying musical staves show the series of harmonics which are generated when a bell is struck. The
Erfurt bell is notable that it although it is an old bell, it is harmonically tuned, but was not typical of its time.
Pieter and François Hemony
Pieter Hemony (born Pierre Hemony; 161920 February 1680) and his brother François Hemony (24 May 1667) were the greatest bellfounders in the history of the Low Countries. They developed the carillon, in collaboration with Jacob van Eyck, ...
in the 17th century reliably cast many bells for carillons of unequalled quality of tuning for the time, but after their death, their guarded trade secrets were lost, and not until the 19th century were bells of comparable tuning quality cast. It was only in modern times that repeatable harmonic tuning using a known scientific basis was achieved. The main partials (or harmonics) of a well-tuned bell are:
* hum note (an octave below the named note)
* strike tone (also called tap note or named note)
* tierce (a minor third above named note)
* quint (a fifth above named note)
* nominal (an octave above named note)
Further, less-audible, harmonics include the major third and a perfect fifth in the second octave above the named note.
This quest by various founders over centuries of bell founding has resulted in the development of an optimum profile for casting each size of a bell to give true harmonic tuning. Although bells are cast to accurate patterns, variations in casting mean that a final tuning is necessary as the shape of the bell is critical in producing the desired strike note and associated harmonics. Tuning is undertaken by clamping the bell on a large rotating table and using a cutting tool to remove metal. This is an iterative process in which metal is removed from certain parts of the bell to change certain harmonics. This process was made possible historically by the use of tuning forks to find sympathetic resonance on specific parts of a bell for the harmonic being tuned, but today electronic
strobe tuners are normally used. To tune the strike note, the nominal or the strike note are tuned; the effect is usually the same because the nominal is one of the main partials that determines the tone of the strike note. The thickness of a church bell at its thickest part, called the "sound bow", is usually one thirteenth its diameter. If the bell is mounted as cast, it is called a "maiden bell".
Major third bell
The traditional harmonically tuned bell has a minor third as a main harmonic. On the theory that western music in major keys may sound better on bells with a major third as a harmonic, production of bells with major thirds was attempted in the 1980s. Scientists at the Technical University in Eindhoven, using computer modelling, produced bell profiles which were cast by the Eijsbouts Bellfoundry in the Netherlands. They were described as resembling old Coke bottles in that they had a bulge around the middle;
In 1999 a design without the bulge was announced. However, the major bell concept has found little favour, and minor third bells are almost universally cast today.
Use in clock chimes
![Big Ben 2001-06-27](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Big_Ben_2001-06-27.jpg)
Bells are also associated with
clock
A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and t ...
s, indicating the hour by the striking of bells. Indeed, the word ''clock'' comes from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
word ''Cloca'', meaning ''bell''. Bells in clock towers or
bell towers can be heard over long distances, which was especially important in the time when clocks were too expensive for widespread use.
In the case of clock towers and grandfather clocks, a particular sequence of tones may be played to distinguish between the hour, half-hour, quarter-hour, or other intervals. One common pattern is called "
Westminster Quarters
The Westminster Quarters, from its use at the Palace of Westminster, is a melody used by a set of four quarter bells to mark each quarter-hour. It is also known as the Westminster Chimes, Cambridge Quarters or Cambridge Chimes from its place of ...
," a sixteen-note pattern named after the
Palace of Westminster which popularized it as the measure used by
Big Ben.
Notable bells
![Tsar Kolokol with humans for perspective](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Tsar_Kolokol_with_humans_for_perspective.JPG)
![CologneCathedralBell02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/CologneCathedralBell02.jpg)
*The
Great Bell of Dhammazedi (1484) may have been the largest bell ever made. It was lost in a river in
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
after being removed from a temple by the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
in 1608. It is reported to have weighed about .
*The
Tsar Bell
The Tsar Bell (russian: Царь–колокол; ), also known as the Tsarsky Kolokol, Tsar Kolokol III, or Royal Bell, is a , bell on display on the grounds of the Moscow Kremlin. The bell was commissioned by Empress Anna Ivanovna, niece o ...
by the
Motorin Bellfounders is the largest bell still in existence. It weighs , but it was never rung and broke in 1737. It is on display in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
, Russia, inside the
Kremlin.
*The Great
Mingun Bell is the largest functioning bell. It is located in
Mingun
Mingun ( ) is a town in Sagaing Township of Sagaing Region, north-west Myanmar (Burma), located 11 km up the Ayeyarwady River on the west bank from Mandalay. Its main attraction is the ruined Mingun Pahtodawgyi.
Mingun Pahtodawgyi
The Ming ...
,
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
, and weighs .
* The Gotenba Bell is the largest functioning swinging bell, weighing . It is located in a tourist resort in
Gotenba
is a city on the southeastern flank of Mount Fuji in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 88,370 in 36,096 households, and a population density of 450 persons per km². The total area of the city is .
Geogra ...
, Japan. Hung in a freestanding frame, it is rung by hand. It was cast by
Eijsbouts
Royal Eijsbouts ( nl, Koninklijke Eijsbouts) is a bell foundry located in Asten, Netherlands.
The workshop was founded in 1872 by Bonaventura Eijsbouts as a "factory for tower clocks." In 1893 Eijsbouts was joined by his 15-year-old son, Johan ...
in 2006.
*The
World Peace Bell
The World Peace Bell Association (WPBA) is a Japanese organisation which attempts to raise awareness of the World peace movement by casting and installing Japanese temple bells in locations around the world.
The association was effectively beg ...
was the largest functioning swinging bell until 2006. It is located in
Newport, Kentucky,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, and was cast by the
Paccard Foundry of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
. The bell itself weighs ; with clapper and supports, the total weight which swings when the bell is rung is .
*The largest Bell of the
People's Salvation Cathedral
The People's Salvation Cathedral ( ro, Catedrala Mântuirii Neamului), also known as the National Cathedral ( ro, Catedrala Națională, link=no), is an Eastern Orthodox cathedral under construction in Bucharest to serve as the patriarchal cathe ...
is the largest free-swinging church bell in the world, surpassing the
Petersglocke of
Cologne Cathedral
Cologne Cathedral (german: Kölner Dom, officially ', English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese o ...
. Weighing more than 25 tons, it was cast by the
Grassmayr Bell Foundry on the 11th of November 2016 and has a height of 3,130 mm, thickness of 273 mm.
* The
Bell of King Seongdeok
The Bell of King Seongdeok is a large bronze bell, the largest extant bell in Korea. The full Korean name means ''"Sacred (or Divine) Bell of King Seongdeok the Great."'' It was also known as the Emille Bell, after a legend about its casting, and ...
is the largest extant bell in
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
. The full Korean name means "Sacred Bell of King Seongdeok the Great." It was also known as the Bell of Bongdeoksa Temple, where it was first housed. The bell weighs about 25 tons and was originally cast in 771 CE. It is now stored in the National Museum of Gyeongju.
*
Pummerin
Pummerin is the name of the bell in the Stephansdom, St. Stephen's Cathedral, in Vienna.
Old Pummerin ''(Josephinische Glocke)''
The Old Pummerin was originally cast in 1705 from 208 of the 300 cannons captured from the Muslim invaders in ...
in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
's
Stephansdom
St. Stephen's Cathedral (german: Stephansdom) is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, OP. The current Romanesque and Gothic form of the cathedra ...
is the most famous bell in
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
and the fifth largest in the world.
*The
St. Petersglocke, in the
local dialect
Local may refer to:
Geography and transportation
* Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand
* Local, Missouri, a community in the United States
* Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administra ...
of
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
also called ' ("fat Peter", ), is a bell in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
's
Cologne Cathedral
Cologne Cathedral (german: Kölner Dom, officially ', English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese o ...
. It weighs 24 tons and was cast in 1922. It is the largest functioning free-swinging bell in the world that swings from its top. (The Gotenba Bell and the
World Peace Bell
The World Peace Bell Association (WPBA) is a Japanese organisation which attempts to raise awareness of the World peace movement by casting and installing Japanese temple bells in locations around the world.
The association was effectively beg ...
swing around their
center of gravity
In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the balance point) is the unique point where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. This is the point to which a force ma ...
, which is more like turning than swinging. So, depending on the point of view, the St. Petersglocke may be considered the largest free-swinging bell in the world.)
*Maria Dolens, the bell for the Fallen in
Rovereto
Rovereto (; "wood of sessile oaks"; locally: ''Roveredo'') is a city and ''comune'' in Trentino in northern Italy, located in the Vallagarina valley of the Adige River.
History
Rovereto was an ancient fortress town standing at the frontier ...
(Italy) weighs 22.6 tons.
*The South West tower of
St Paul's Cathedral in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, houses
Great Paul, the second largest bell at 16.5 tons in the British Isles. One can hear Great Paul booming out over Ludgate Hill at 1300 every day.
* The
Olympic Bell
The Olympic Bell was commissioned and cast for the 2012 London Olympic Games, and is the largest harmonically-tuned bell in the world. Cast in bronze bell metal, it is high with a diameter of , and weighs . The bell is now displayed in the Olympic ...
, commissioned and cast for the
2012 London Olympic Games
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
, is the largest harmonically-tuned bell in the world.
*
Big Ben is the fourth-largest bell in the British Isles, after The Olympic Bell (used at the opening of the 2012 Olympic Games), Great Paul (St Paul's Cathedral, City of London) and Great George (
Liverpool Cathedral
Liverpool Cathedral is the Cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool, built on St James's Mount in Liverpool, and the seat of the Bishop of Liverpool. It may be referred to as the Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool (as recorded in th ...
). Big Ben is the hour bell of the Great Clock in the
Elizabeth Tower
Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England, and the name is frequently extended to refer also to the clock and the clock tower. The official ...
(formerly called the Clock Tower) at the
Palace of Westminster, the Houses of
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
.
*The
Dom Tower in the city of Utrecht, the Netherlands, houses the Salvator, weighing 8.2 tons and cast in 1505 by Geert van Wou.
*
Great Tom is the bell that hangs in
Tom Tower
Tom Tower is a bell tower in Oxford, England, named after its bell, Great Tom. It is over Tom Gate, on St Aldates, the main entrance of Christ Church, Oxford, which leads into Tom Quad. This square tower with an octagonal lantern and facet ...
(designed by
Christopher Wren) of
Christ Church,
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. It was cast in 1680 and weighs over 6 tons. Great Tom is still rung 101 times at 21:05 every night to signify the 101 original scholars of the college.
*The
Liberty Bell is a
American bell of great historic significance, located in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. It previously hung in
Independence Hall
Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted by America's Founding Fathers. The structure forms the centerpi ...
.
*
Sigismund Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German ''sigu'' "victory" + ''munt'' "hand, protection". Tacitus latinises it '' Segimundus''. There appears to be an older form of ...
is a 12 tonne bell in the
Wawel Cathedral
The Wawel Cathedral ( pl, Katedra Wawelska), formally titled the Royal Archcathedral Basilica of Saints Stanislaus and Wenceslaus, is a Roman Catholic cathedral situated on Wawel Hill in Kraków, Poland. Nearly 1000 years old, it is part of the ...
in
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
, cast in 1520. It is rung only on very significant national occasions.
*The
Maria Gloriosa in
Erfurt Cathedral
Erfurt Cathedral (german: Erfurter Dom, link=no, officially ''Hohe Domkirche St. Marien zu Erfurt'', English: Cathedral Church of St Mary at Erfurt), also known as St Mary's Cathedral, is the largest and oldest church building in ...
, Germany was cast by
Geert van Wou in 1497, weighs more than 12,500 kg (13 tons) and is the world's largest medieval free-swinging bell.
*The
Lutine Bell, is the
ship's bell
A ship's bell is a bell on a ship that is used for the indication of time as well as other traditional functions. The bell itself is usually made of brass or bronze, and normally has the ship's name engraved or cast on it.
Strikes Timing of s ...
of the wrecked
HMS ''Lutine'', weighs and bears the inscription "ST. JEAN – 1779". It rests in
Lloyd's of London
Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is an insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gove ...
Underwriting Room where it used to be struck when news of an overdue ship arrived—once for the loss of a ship (i.e., bad news, last in 1979), and twice for her return (i.e., good news, last in 1989).
*The tenor (heaviest bell) of the
change-ringing peal at Liverpool Cathedral is the heaviest bell hung for
full-circle ringing.
Usage as musical instruments
![Bienenkorbglocke](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Bienenkorbglocke.jpg)
Some bells are used as
musical instruments, such as
carillons, (clock)
chimes,
agogô
An agogô ( Yoruba: ''agogo'', meaning bell) is a single or a multiple
bell now used throughout the world but with origins in traditional Yoruba and Edo music and also in the samba '' baterias'' (percussion ensembles). The agogô may be the old ...
, or ensembles of bell-players, called
bell choirs, using hand-held bells of varying tones. A "ring of bells" is a set of four to twelve or more bells used in
change ringing, a particular method of ringing bells in patterns. A
peal
In campanology (bell ringing), a peal is the special name given to a specific type of performance of change ringing which meets certain exacting conditions for duration, complexity and quality.
The definition of a peal has changed considerably ...
in changing ringing may have bells playing for several hours, playing 5,000 or more patterns without a break or repetition. They have also been used in many kinds of
popular music
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fu ...
, such as in
AC/DC's "
Hells Bells" and
Metallica's "
For Whom the Bell Tolls
''For Whom the Bell Tolls'' is a novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1940. It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American volunteer attached to a Republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. As a dynamiter, he is assigned ...
".
Ancient Chinese bells
![VM 4721 Hubei Provincial Museum - bronze zheng bell](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/VM_4721_Hubei_Provincial_Museum_-_bronze_zheng_bell.jpg)
The ancient Chinese bronze chime bells called
bianzhong o
zhong / zeng(鐘) were used as polyphonic musical instruments and some have been dated at between 2000 and 3600 years old. Tuned bells have been created and used for musical performance in many cultures but ''Zhong'' are unique among all other types of cast bells in several respects and they rank among the highest achievements of Chinese bronze casting technology. However, the remarkable secret of their design and the method of casting—known only to the Chinese in antiquity—was lost in later generations and was not fully rediscovered and understood until the 20th century.
In 1978 a complete ceremonial set of 65 ''Zhong'' bells was found in a near-perfect state of preservation during the excavation of th
of
Marquis Yi
The Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng () is an archaeological site in Leigudun Community (), Nanjiao Subdistrict (), Zengdu District, Suizhou (during the Spring and Autumn period called Sui County), Hubei, China, dated sometime after 433 BC. The tomb co ...
, ruler of
Zeng
Zeng (, ) is a Chinese family name. In Cantonese, it is Tsang; In Wade-Giles, such as those in Taiwan, Tseng or Tzeng; in Malaysia and Singapore, Chen or Cheng; in the Philippines, Chan; in Indonesia, Tjan; in Vietnam, Tăng. The surname Zeng is ...
, one of the
Warring States
The Warring States period () was an era in ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded with the Qin wars of conquest ...
. Their special shape gives them the ability to produc
two different musical tones depending on where they are struck. The interval between these notes on each bell is either a
major or
minor third
In music theory, a minor third is a musical interval that encompasses three half steps, or semitones. Staff notation represents the minor third as encompassing three staff positions (see: interval number). The minor third is one of two com ...
, equivalent to a distance of four or five notes on a piano.
The bells of Marquis Yi—which were still fully playable after almost 2500 years—cover a range of slightly less than five octaves but thanks to their dual-tone capability, the set can sound a complete 12-tone scale—predating the development of the European 12-tone system by some 2000 years—and can play melodies in
diatonic and
pentatonic
A pentatonic scale is a musical scale (music), scale with five Musical note, notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale).
Pentatonic scales were developed ...
scales.
Another related ancient Chinese musical instrument is called
qing磬pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally writte ...
qìng) but it was made of stone instead of metal.
In more recent times, the top of bells in China was usually decorated with a small dragon, known as ''
pulao''; the figure of the dragon served as a hook for hanging the bell.
Konguro'o
Konguro'o is a small bell which, like the
Djalaajyn, was first used for utilitarian purposes and only later for artistic ones. Konguro'o rang when moving to new places. They were fastened to the horse harnesses and created a very specific "smart" sound background. Konguro'o also hung on the neck of the leader goat, which the sheep herd followed. This led to the association in folk memory between the distinctive sound of konguro'o and the nomadic way of life.
To make this instrument,
Kyrgyz foremen used copper, bronze, iron and brass. They also decorated it with artistic carving and covered it with silver. Sizes of the instruments might vary within certain limits, what depended on its function. Every bell had its own timbre.
Chimes
A variant on the bell is the
tubular bell
Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillon, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the sound of church bells within a ...
. Several of these metal tubes which are struck manually with hammers, form an instrument named ''tubular bells'' or ''chimes''. In the case of wind or aeolian chimes, the tubes are blown against one another by the wind.
Lithuanian Skrabalai
The
skrabalai is a traditional folk instrument in Lithuania which consists of wooden bells of various sizes hanging in several vertical rows with one or two wooden or metal small clappers hanging inside them. It is played with two wooden sticks. When the skrabalai is moved a clapper knocks at the wall of the trough. The pitch of the sound depends on the size of the wooden trough. The instrument developed from wooden
cowbell
A cowbell (or cow bell) is a bell worn around the neck of free-roaming livestock so herders can keep track of an animal via the sound of the bell when the animal is grazing out of view in hilly landscapes or vast plains. Although they are t ...
s that shepherds would tie to cows' necks.
Farm bells
Whereas the church and temple bells called to
mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...
or religious service, bells were used on
farm
A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...
s for more secular signalling. The greater farms in
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...
usually had a small bell-tower resting on the top of the
barn
A barn is an agricultural building usually on farms and used for various purposes. In North America, a barn refers to structures that house livestock, including cattle and horses, as well as equipment and fodder, and often grain.Alle ...
. The bell was used to call the workers from the field at the end of the day's work.
![Glasgow deid bell](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Glasgow_deid_bell.jpg)
In
folk tradition
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging fro ...
, it is recorded that each church and possibly several farms had their specific
rhymes connected to the sound of the specific bells. An example is the
Pete Seeger
Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...
and
Idris Davies
Idris Davies (6 January 1905 – 6 April 1953) was a Welsh poet. Born in Rhymney, near Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales, he became a poet, originally writing in Welsh, but later writing exclusively in English.
He was the only poet to cover signific ...
song "
The Bells of Rhymney
"The Bells of Rhymney" is a song first recorded by folk singer Pete Seeger, which consists of Seeger's own music accompanying words written by Welsh poet Idris Davies.
Composition
The lyrics to the song were drawn from part of Davies' poetic wor ...
".
Dead bell
In Scotland, up until the nineteenth century, it was the tradition to ring a
dead bell
A dead bell or deid bell (Scots), also a 'death', 'mort', 'lych', 'passing bell' or ''McKay, p. 130. was a form of hand bell used in Scotland and northern England in conjunction with deaths and funerals up until the 19th century.
Origins
Belief i ...
, a form of handbell, at the death of an individual and at the funeral.
Bell study and ringing organisations
The following organizations promote the ringing, study, music, collection, preservation and restoration of bells. Nation(s) covered are given in parenthesis.
*
The American Bell Association International (United States with foreign chapters)
*The Australian and New Zealand Association of Bellringers (Australia, New Zealand)
*Beratungsausschuss für das Deutsche Glockenwesen (Germany)
*
Central Council of Church Bell Ringers (worldwide) - promotes English style full circle change ringing
*Handbell Musicians of America (United States) - formerly known as The American Guild of English Handbell Ringers (AGEHR)
*Handbell Ringers of Great Britain (United Kingdom)
*Société Française de Campanologie (France)
*Associazione Italiana di Campanologia (Italy) - http://campanologia.org/
*Verband Deutscher Glockengießereien e.V. (Germany)
*Lietuvos kampanologų draugija "Societas campanarum Lituaniae" (Lithuania)
*World Carillon Federation (multinational) - an international association of independent national or regional societies, https://www.carillon.org
**Association Campanaire Wallonne asbl (Belgium/Wallonia) - http://www.campano.be/
**British Carillon Society (Great Britain, Ireland, Northern Ireland) - https://www.britishcarillons.org
**Carillon Society of Australia (Australia) - http://www.carillon.org.au/
**Confraria de Campaners i Carillonistes de Catalunya (Catalonia) - http://campanes.cat/
**Deutsche Glockenspiel Vereinigung (Germany) - https://glockenspieler.de/
**
The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America
The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America (GCNA) is a professional association of carillonneurs in North America, dedicated to the advancement of the art, literature, and science of the carillon. It was founded in Ottawa, Canada, in 1936 by A ...
(Canada, Mexico, United States) - https://www.gcna.org
**Guilde des Carillonneurs de France (France) - http://www.carillonneurs.fr/
**Guilde des Carillonneurs et Campanologues Suisses (Switzerland) - http://www.campanae.ch/
**Associazione Suonatori di Campane a Sistema Veronese (Italy) - https://www.campanesistemaveronese.it/
**Koninklijke Nederlandse Klokkenspel-Vereniging (The Netherlands) - https://www.klokkenspel.org/
**Lithuanian Carillonist Guild (Lithuania) - https://web.archive.org/web/20180911185748/http://www.carillon.lt/ last archived on 11 Sep 2018
**Nordisk Selskap for Campanologi og Klokkespil (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland) - https://www.nsck.org/
**Polskie Stowarzyszenie Carillonowe (Poland) - https://web.archive.org/web/20171101132723/http://www.carillon.pl/ last archived on 1 Nov 2017
**Russian Carillon Foundation (Russia)
**Vlaamse Beiaard Vereniging (Belgium/Flanders) - https://www.beiaard.org/
Gallery
File:Temple bell and clapper. Banna-ji. Ashikaga, Togichi.jpg, Temple bell and clapper. Banna-ji
is a Buddhist temple of the Shingon sect in the city of Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, in northern Kantō region of Japan. The '' honzon'' of the temple is a statue of Dainichi Nyōrai, leading to the temple's nickname of Dainichisama,. The tem ...
. Japan.
Image:Bell, Mingun, Myanmar.jpg, Mingun Bell weighs 55,555 viss, or 90 tonne
The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...
s.
Image:Libertybell alone small.jpg, Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
's Liberty Bell.
Image:ZygmuntDzwon.JPG, The Zygmunt (Sigismund) Bell (from 1520) in Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
, Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
.
Image:WorldPeaceBell-Kentucky.jpg, The World Peace Bell
The World Peace Bell Association (WPBA) is a Japanese organisation which attempts to raise awareness of the World peace movement by casting and installing Japanese temple bells in locations around the world.
The association was effectively beg ...
in Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...
.
Image:Jingyun Bell.JPG, Bronze jingyun bell cast in the year 711 AD, Xi'an
Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqi ...
.
Image:Wuhanbells.jpg, Chinese bells from the ancient Warring States
The Warring States period () was an era in ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded with the Qin wars of conquest ...
, Hubei
Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The ...
Provincial Museum, Wuhan
Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city an ...
, China.
Image:StUlrichGlocken13.JPG, St. Ulrich, Memmingen
Memmingen (; Swabian: ''Memmenge'') is a town in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is the economic, educational and administrative centre of the Danube-Iller region. To the west the town is flanked by the Iller, the river that marks the Baden-W ...
File:Yongle Bell 01.jpg, Yongle Bell
File:Changchun-Temple-TaiQingDian-Bell-0306.jpg, A bell in Chang Chun Temple, Wuhan
Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city an ...
, hanging on its '' pulao''
File:St Cuileain Bell.JPG, St Cuileain's Bell from Ireland, 7th-8th Century AD (British Museum)
File:PK - Bell with Saints Peter, Paul, John, and Thomas - Walters 5479 - View B.jpg, Bronze bell from the second half of the fourteenth century, depicting Saints Peter, Paul, John the Evangelist, and Thomas.
File:Glendale-Fire Bell-1912.jpg, Fire Bell, Glendale, Arizona.
File:Chikanobu The Giant Bell.jpg, The bell as depicted in fine art: This triptych
A triptych ( ; from the Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided ...
depicts Benkei
, popularly known as simply Benkei, was a Japanese warrior monk ('' sōhei'') who lived in the latter years of the Heian Period (794–1185) .html" ;"title="/sup>">/sup>. Benkei led a varied life, first becoming a monk, then a mountain ascetic ...
carrying the giant bell of Mii-dera
, formally called , is a Buddhist temple in Japan located at the foot of Mount Hiei, in the city of Ōtsu in Shiga Prefecture. It is a short distance from both Kyoto, and Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake. The head temple of the Jimon sect ...
Buddhist temple up Hei-zan Mountain. – Chikanobu Toyohara, c. 1890.
File:Miidera-no-bansho-M2075.jpg, This bell is called ''Mii-dera no Bansho'' (三井寺の晩鐘), the evening bell at Mii-dera
, formally called , is a Buddhist temple in Japan located at the foot of Mount Hiei, in the city of Ōtsu in Shiga Prefecture. It is a short distance from both Kyoto, and Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake. The head temple of the Jimon sect ...
, a Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
in Otsu, which is near Lake Biwa
is the largest freshwater lake in Japan, located entirely within Shiga Prefecture (west-central Honshu), northeast of the former capital city of Kyoto. Lake Biwa is an ancient lake, over 4 million years old. It is estimated to be the 13th ol ...
in Shiga Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,412,916 (1 October 2015) and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to the north ...
, Japan. This image shows the hanging wooden beam positioned to strike the outer side of the resonating surface.
See also
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American Bell Association International
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Bell hanger
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Bellhop
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Bicycle bell
A bicycle bell is a percussive signaling instrument mounted on a bicycle for warning pedestrians and other cyclists. The bell (instrument), bell is a required piece of equipment in some jurisdictions. They are usually mounted on the Bicycle ha ...
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Bermuda carriage bell
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Cat bell
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Cowbell
A cowbell (or cow bell) is a bell worn around the neck of free-roaming livestock so herders can keep track of an animal via the sound of the bell when the animal is grazing out of view in hilly landscapes or vast plains. Although they are t ...
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Doorbell
A doorbell is a signaling device typically placed near a door to a building's entrance. When a visitor presses a button, the bell rings inside the building, alerting the occupant to the presence of the visitor. Although the first doorbells were ...
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Division bell
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Electric bell
An electric bell is a mechanical or electronic bell that functions by means of an electromagnet. When an electric current is applied, it produces a repetitive buzzing, clanging or ringing sound. Electromechanical bells have been widely used at r ...
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Electronic tuner
In music, an electronic tuner is a device that detects and displays the pitch of musical notes played on a musical instrument. "Pitch" is the perceived fundamental frequency of a musical note, which is typically measured in Hertz. Simple tuner ...
s, used to tune bells
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Glockenspiel
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Handbell
A handbell is a bell designed to be rung by hand. To ring a handbell, a ringer grasps the bell by its slightly flexible handle – traditionally made of leather, but often now made of plastic – and moves the arm to make the hinged cla ...
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John Taylor Bellfounders
John Taylor Bell Foundry (Loughborough) Limited, trading as John Taylor & Co and commonly known as Taylor's Bell Foundry, Taylor's of Loughborough, or simply Taylor's, is the world's largest working bell foundry. It is located in Loughborough, ...
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School bell
The ringing of a school bell announces important times to a school's students and staff, such as marking the beginnings and ends of the school day, class period, and breaks.
In some schools it may take the form of a physical bell, usually e ...
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Ship's bell
A ship's bell is a bell on a ship that is used for the indication of time as well as other traditional functions. The bell itself is usually made of brass or bronze, and normally has the ship's name engraved or cast on it.
Strikes Timing of s ...
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Suzu
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Train bell
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Veronese bellringing art
Veronese bell ringing is a style of ringing church bells that developed around Verona, Italy from the eighteenth century. The bells are rung full circle (mouth uppermost to mouth uppermost), being held up by a rope and wheel until a note is r ...
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Whitechapel Bell Foundry
The Whitechapel Bell Foundry was a business in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. At the time of the closure of its Whitechapel premises, it was the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain. The bell foundry primarily made church bells ...
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
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Further reading
* Fadul, Jose A. ''Fadul's Encyclopedia of Bells''. 2015. Lulu Press.
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Murdoch, James. (1903)
''A History of Japan.''London: Paul, Trech, Trubner.
e-issued_by_Routledge,_London,_1996._
*_Richard_Ponsonby-Fane.html" ;"title="Routledge.html" ;"title="e-issued by Routledge">e-issued by Routledge, London, 1996.
* Richard Ponsonby-Fane">Ponsonby-Fane, Richard A. B. (1956). ''Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794–1869.'' Kyoto: The Ponsonby Memorial Society.
*Spencer, Ann ''"And round me rings": bell tales and folklore''. Toronto: Tundra, 2003
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* Willis, Stephen Charles. ''Bells through the Ages: from the Percival Price Collection'' = ''Les Cloches à travers les siècles: provenant du fonds Percival Price''. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 1986. 34 p., ill. with b&w photos. ''N.B''.: Prepared on the occasion of an exhibition of the same title, based on the collection of bell and carillon related material and documentation, of former Dominion Carillonneur (of Canadian Parliament, Ottawa), Percival Price, held at the National Library of Canada (as then named), 12 May to 14 Sept. 1986; some copies come with the guide to the taped dubbings of the recordings played as background music to the displays, as technically prepared by Gilles Saint-Laurent and listed by Stephen Charles Willis, both of the library's Music Division; English and French texts respectively divided into upper and lower portions of each page.
External links
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Tower BellsBell recordings of the Basque Country*
ttps://washingtonringingsociety.org/galleries/animations Animation of English Full-circle ringingVideos of the London Olympic bell being cast, tuned and installed.
Articles containing video clips
Asian percussion instruments
Campanology
Chinese inventions
European percussion instruments
Hand percussion
Idiophones struck directly
Kyrgyz musical instruments
Percussion instruments used as both pitched and unpitched
{{Portal bar, Music