[Bell Historians] Elphick on Whitechapel

[Carl S Zimmerman]

At 22:29 +0000 2003/01/12, David Bryant asked:
>What's the view of list members on the practice of matching old bells in
>a ring?

As compared to what alternative?
- doing nothing? (not feasible if an existing bell is damaged)
- adding new-style bells? (in an expansion)
-- with or without (re)tuning of existing bells?
- replacing the entire ring?
Some of these alternatives may be economically impossible in the circumstances.

My carefully considered opinion (admittedly *not* expert) is "it 
depends" -- on the quality of the old bells, and the consistency 
thereof; on the acoustics of the tower in which they are located, 
etc., &c. I'd worry much more about the right kind of treble to add 
to a heavy old five than I would about how to replace a light bell in 
a middling ten, for example.

To illustrate, I'll describe three very different American 
installations, each of which began with an old-style (i.e., un-tuned) 
American chime.

1) In the 1950s and 60s, there were a number of instances of a 
couple of bells being added to expand the musical range--typically a 
treble and a sharp 4th (in musical, not ringing, terms). In every 
case that I've seend and heard, the result is disastrous, because the 
new bells (which are modern profile and perfectly in tune with 
themselves) make the old bells sound worse.

2) More recently, there's been at least one instance where Eijsbouts 
added two bells to an existing chime, replicating the old American 
profile. The result is highly satisfactory--it's almost impossible 
for the ear to distinguish which two bells are new if you don't 
already know that. So the character of the instrument has been 
retained, but its musical possibilities have been expanded.

3) Within the last 20 years, there are several instances where Rick 
Watson has tuned an existing American-made chime and added bells to 
it, producing a very nice-sounding large chime or small carillon. 
(Some old American bells have profiles which will permit such tuning; 
some don't.) Unfortunately I don't know just what accommodations he 
may have made in the profiles of the new bells when he cast them (or 
in some cases had them cast).

To put it another way, I'd say that matching old bells is a valid 
alternative which should be seriously considered; but whether to do 
it or not in a particular situation depends on a lot of other factors 
which should also be considered. Call for impartial expert advice! 
:-)

CSZ