Using tuning forks.

[jim phillips]

Nigel Taylor wrote:-
"There has been some chat recently on the subject of tuning forks. Jim
Phillips seems to think that this is a lost art, and considers that
rings tuned with forks are somehow superior"

All the classic rings such as York Minster, Worcester Cathedral, Beverly,
Truro, Chewton Mendip etc were all tuned with forks. The post war classics
of St Nicolas, Liverpool, Bow, Cripplegate, Jewry were all tuned without the
aid of band pass filters, computer pitching programmes etc. Something was
lost with the introduction of electronic paraphernalia with regard to
tuning, and at the end of the day it is the sound that greets the human ear
which counts. My ear does not hear figures, or even needles pointing to
figures on the indicator scale of some electronic machine.
It was good to learn that tuning forks are back in use in the tuning of
bells. I know that if I had sufficient funds to install a private ring of
12 with a tenor of 87cwt in Aflat I would insist that the ring was tuned
solely with forks.

The question has yet to be answered as to why it is not possible these days
to cast a tenor requiring no tuning (a maiden bell) or very little tuning.
Surely the science and measuring devices are available to achieve this or
has the art been lost? If a founder could cast a good sounding maiden
tenor of 62 cwt in the 1870's it ought to be possible today. It would
certainly make economic sense.