[Bell Historians] Digest Number 317

[Andrew Aspland]

Why is it that the key notes of many rings of bells are wrong. For example,
St Helens Parish Church, Dove says Eb but my tuning fork (A=440htz) and
perfect pitch say it is Db. It's not just the odd one or two many are wrong.

Some of it depends upon which harmonic you listen to. A modern octave hum
bell is fairly easy to pitch. An old bell with a seventh hum might lead you
to pick one of two (or more) notes. Listen to the bell strike outside the
tower and sing (to yourself!) the note you hear - straightaway, don't let
the sound die away or you will be drawn to the hum - then pitch it relative
to a known fork. That will give you a good enough note for Dove. Or use a
recording and Bill Hibbert's Pitcher program to geta frequency.
Andrew