Aluminium Bells

[Ben Willetts]

David wrote:
> Forgot to say in my last email on the subject, but Malmark provide the
> option of aluminium handbells around the larger end of bigger sets.
> presumably the reason is that they are lighter - I've not heard one so I
> don't know whether they sound any different. So far as I'm aware,
> neither of the English foundries casts aluminioum handbells.

Yes, as far as I know, it's only Malmark that casts aluminium handbells. I
have rung them several times. They are larger than bellmetal bells for the
same note (for the same reason that steel bells are larger) but are lighter,
so they are useful for the bass octave (36C to 30B - not sure if you can get
them above this octave or not).

The tone is good. It is a little "gruff" and growls a bit when rung loudly,
but this is not necessarily a bad thing with very bass bells! However, the
enormous amount of table space needed makes them little more than a
gimmick - mind you, handbells that size are little more than a gimmick
anyway.

I have a photo somewhere of me (several years ago) holding two of the
aluminium bass bells, if anyone is interested to see their size. Email me
if so.

Ben