Carrion at the Albert Hall in Nottingham

[George Dawson]

Sent: Friday, August 20, 2004 1:39 PM
Subject: FW: [Orgue-l] Carrion at the Albert Hall in Nottingham


> Wouild this enquiry below be of any interest to the bell community?
>
> David
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Pike Mander [mailto:ManderUK at c...]
> Sent: 20 August 2004 12:38
> To: Orgue-l posting
> Subject: [Orgue-l] Carrion at the Albert Hall in Nottingham
>
>
> Dear List,
>
> Yesterday I went to The Albert Hall in Nottingham to look at the Carrion
on
> the organ there which was built by Binns in about 1909. The stop is said
to
> have originally a been a set of reveille bells. I have never come across
> anything like them at all. I was wondering if I were to describe them to
you
> if any of you would recognise anything in the description that would give
> you a clue as to what they are and if one could get a set now.
>
> The general construction seems to be a brass tube closed at the top which
> from approximately half way down has slots cut in the side rather like a
> tuning fork. The tube is hit very close to the bottom, so it works like a
> tuning fork in that respect as well. In addition, just above the slots
there
> is a hole in the tube which is in one side I think. Only thinking about it
> now do I realise that I am not sure if the hole is on both sides.
>
> The largest of the tubes (for tenor G) is 648mm long and has a diameter of
> 84mm. The smallest (top e) has a length of 108mm and a diameter of 42mm.
It
> would appear that every bell is of an individual diameter although the
> graduation reduces just like an organ pipe as you go up the scale. The
bells
> also have horizontal grooves cut into them the purpose of which totally
> eludes me.
>
> I am not sure how these bells were made, but I get the impression that
they
> were all cast individually. They must then have been turned to give a
smooth
> outer finish and then had the grooves cut into them at the same time. The
> grooves appear to be all the same distance apart at approximately 10mm.
The
> holes were clearly drilled in and the slots which vary between about 20
and
> 30mm milled out. The width of the slots does not graduate, but seems
random.
> I assume (but don't know) that this might have something to do with the
> tuning of the notes. The tubes all appear to be of the same thickness
which
> is approximately 4.5mm.
>
> Does this mean anything to any of you? I could look out a picture and send
> it individually if that would help. Just send me an e-mail
> (ManderUK at m...). My guess is that this is something which was
> common enough in theatre organs or maybe even street organs, but I think
it
> is too large and bulky for the latter. I also wonder if it was something
> which might have been imported from America.
>
> Any clues would be appreciated. There is talk of Birmingham Town Hall
> wanting a similar stop.
>
> John Pike Mander
>
>
>
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