[Bell Historians] Tower movement

[John Norris]

On Tue 30 Mar, Bill Hibbert wrote:
> 
> John Norris:
> 
> > Many years ago I saw a short film purporting to show
> > that cracks in a foreign bell tower were caused by
> > the tower resonating at the frequency of its single
> > bell when the latter was rung. I wasn't wholly
> > convinced; surely the tower would have a much lower
> > resonant frequency?
> 
> No, I believe this is a proven phenomenon. The Towers and Belfries 
> Committee held a seminar on tower movement recently - I seem to 
> recall Brailes was one example - at which this subject was well 
> covered. My memory is hazy (I didn't attend) but I'm sure someone on 
> this list will give authoritative details. One of the results of the 
> resonance is that hanging a peal of bells lower in a tower can make 
> it sway more.
> 
> Bill H


But isn't this due to the period of swing coinciding with the natural
frequency of the tower, rather than the frequency of the sound?

John Norris