home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Risc World 3
/
Risc World 3.iso
/
SOFTWARE
/
ISSUE2
/
BELLS
/
CALLCHANGE
/
!CallChnge
/
Docs
/
TryThese
< prev
Wrap
Text File
|
2002-04-14
|
5KB
|
122 lines
An Introduction to some Call Changes you can try
You may want to print out this file for reference while running !CallChnge
Rounds
This is the name given to ringing the bells in order from the highest to the
lowest note, and is how all ringing begins and usually ends. The bell ropes
in a tower are usually arranged in a circle so that all the ringers can see
each other, but the sequence order is usually written in a line.
For six bells, rounds is written out as 1 2 3 4 5 6
Queens
You can swap the bells order by clicking with the mouse between the numbers
in the line below the bells, shown by the X in the text below. Only the
'inner' bells on the line swap, and it does not matter whether you swap 2
and 3 or 4 and 5 first.
Start in rounds 1 2 3 4 5 6
X swap 2 and 3
gives 1 3 2 4 5 6
X swap 4 and 5
gives 1 3 2 5 4 6
X swap 2 and 5
gives 1 3 5 2 4 6
this is called 'Queens', because it is thought that when Queen Elizabeth I
was on one of her tours of the country she heard bells ringing in this
sequence and liked it very much. Usually the conductor will call the
sequences to get back to rounds before the ringers 'stand' their bells.
To get back to rounds from Queens you do the changes in reverse order,
swap 5 and 2, then 5 and 4, then 2 and 3.
Queens on 8 bells is the sequence 1 3 5 7 2 4 6 8
Try making this for yourself with !Callchnge, and see what is the minimum
numbers of changes it needs.
Another named change is Tittums
Tittums (ti-tum-ti-tum-ti-tum)
on 6 is 1 4 2 5 3 6
on 8 is 1 5 2 6 3 7 4 8
on 12 is 1 7 2 8 3 9 4 0 5 E 6 T (0 means bell 10, E bell eleven, T twelve)
These are the more popular named changes, others are:
Back rounds, Whittingtons, Roller Coaster, and Weasels.
Their sequences are are given below for various numbers of bells.
Back Rounds (or nearly)
The tenor (the heaviest bell with the lowest note) may be at either end of
the sequence; the ends are called 'front' (the 1st one to ring) or 'back',
the last one to ring.
on 6 6 5 4 3 2 1 or 5 4 3 2 1 6
on 8 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 or 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 8
Local tradition has it that in time of war bells rung in this fashion were a
signal that the country had been invaded.
Whittingtons
This is the sequence which Dick Whittington and his cat is said to have
heard on his way out of London where he had gone to seek his fortune and
finding it more difficult than he had expected was on his way home, when
resting on Highgate Hill he heard the 12 bells of St Mary-le-Bow, ringing
5 3 1 2 4 6 E 9 7 8 0 T ( 0=bell 10 E=eleven T=twelve)
which he thought were saying to him
Turn A- gain Whit-ting-ton Thrice Lord Mayor of Lon-don
5 3 1 2 4 6 11 9 7 8 10 12
on 6 it is 5 3 1 2 4 6 and on 8 1 2 7 5 3 4 6 8
on 10 there are 2 possibilities
3 1 2 4 9 7 5 6 8 0 or 1 2 9 7 5 3 4 6 8 0
Roller Coaster
(some say only works well on 10) 3 2 1 6 5 4 9 8 7 0
Others say they like it on 8
as 3 2 1 7 6 5 4 8 or 4 3 2 1 7 6 5 8 or 3 1 2 4 7 5 6 8
Weasels
only exists on 5 and is the only change that has to be struck badly to sound
right; it is 1 4 2 3 5, but for best effect should be rung 1-4-23-5 so it
may not sound right in !Callchnge where you cannot alter the timing at which
one bell sounds relative to the next.
the name comes from the last line of the nursery rhyme, which is apparently
thought by ringers to go
Pop Goes the Wea- sel
1 4 2 3 5
-----------------------------------------------------------------
You can read more about the origins of these names and change ringing in
Steve Coleman's useful book
'The Bellringer's Bedside Companion' published in 1994 ISBN 0 9523896 0 6.
You can find out more about change ringing on the Internet, we have a list
of useful links on our page at:
http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/fortran/Hobbies/Bells/links.htm
You may like to look at Michael Williams list of 'Call Changes' for more
interesting sequences to ring.
Then start at the Central Council for Church Bell Ringers site where they
list all the ringing societies grouped into Guilds by geographic area, so
you should be able to find a local one. They also have educational pages and
sell books on change ringing. Any profits are used to support the
restoration of bells and towers. Bell ringers are friendly people and
welcome visitors, if you want to learn this life-long hobby, contact your
local tower captain and start learning. It's never too late, our oldest
visitor so far was 92 and still ringing.