NOTES ON THE PRESENTATION OF BELL TUNING

Where bells form a ring which consists of a major scale (which is the vast majority), the interval between each bell can be subtly different from tower to tower. Different founders can adopt different scales, and again this is better explained in Bill Hibbert’s work.

The different partials of a particular bell and the relationship of one bell to another can be represented on paper in different ways using established presentations and a colour presentation which is an invention of my own. They are as follows:

1. By giving the individual frequencies of the different partials in Hertz.

These are empirical measurements, how frequencies are initially measured and is the raw form from which other calculations are made. The example given below is from the Gillett & Johnston ring of 8 bells from Bromley Parish Church.
 

2. By giving the same information but in the notation of notes and the variation from them in terms of cents.

This gives a bit more information that translates the frequencies into something more intuitive.

Bell

Hum

Prime

Tierce

Quint

Nominal

Superquint

OctNom

8

F(0)-21

F(1)-24

Ab(1)-1

C(2)-29

F(2)-21

A(2)+10

C(3)-50

7

G(0)-18

G(1)-22

Bb(1)-1

D(2)-16

G(2)-18

B(2)+32

D(3)-31

6

A(0)-36

A(1)-38

C(2)-19

E(2)-34

A(2)-36

C#(3)-28

F(3)+49

5

Bb(0)-23

Bb(1)-25

C#(2)-9

F(2)-21

Bb(2)-23

D(3)+12

E(3)+11

4

C(1)-19

C(2)-19

Eb(2)-2

G(2)-18

C(3)-19

E(3)+3

G(3)-32

3

D(1)-37

D(2)-37

F(2)-14

A(2)-35

D(3)-37

F#(3)-37

A(3)-47

2

E(1)-34

E(2)-32

G(2)-13

B(2)-31

E(3)-32

Bb(3)+2

B(3)-48

1

F(1)-21

F(2)-30

Ab(2)+1

C(3)-31

F(3)-29

B(3)+33

F(4)-46

For individual bells, the partials are shown as cents above or below the nominal. However the figures in the “Nominal” column show the number of cents above the tenor nominal, with the tenor nominal figure showing as zero.

The intervals shown above are given with respect to the tenor nominal. The difference from the different scales can also be given with respect to the tenor nominal, and this is the way preferred by the bell tuners I have spoken to. However I am more inclined to show the difference with respect to the mean of the whole ring. I prefer the latter option since, if only the tenor is sharp or flat with respect to the rest of the ring, all the bells appear to be out of tune using the former option.

For Bromley, the examples are shown below:

Variations from the Mean of the Nominals: