Tower Bells - Introduction
For more than a thousand years, tower bells have spoken to the people with wordless voices. They have shouted in warning, wept in mourning and laughed in rejoicing; they have told time and called to worship; they have brought music to the populace. Although the ceaseless clamor of the mass-transportation era has pushed these voices out of the daily lives of the multitudes, they cannot be entirely silenced. Because they have such power to stir the human soul, they still find a place in the modern world, bringing old traditions with them and making new ones.
This Website is dedicated to serving almost all aspects of tower bells by informing the public about them. It does this in part by presenting information arranged to support those organizations which follow specific tower bell traditions. It also presents information related to tower bell matters which are not directly related to any existing organization.
Do not expect to find completeness here. This is an evolving project, which uses links to other Websites to avoid duplication of information. Nor will you find fancy Webpage formatting here--information is what is important. (The system on which this Website was originally hosted imposed severe filespace limitations, but fortunately that is no longer a constraint.) Also, because the author/editor/owner is a North American, this Website is written in English, and it is most complete with respect to the campanological customs and history of English-speaking countries. Nevertheless, we do our best to provide information about other countries, and are undoubtedly most successful for those countries whose languages utilize the Latin alphabet, with or without the addition of diacritical marks. See also our page about vocabulary oddities and errors.
Contents of this page:
- Carillons
- Chimes
- Rings; change-ringing
- Peals, clock-chimes, zvons, single bells, etc.
- Great bells
- Tubular tower bells
- Hemispherical tower bells
- Other bells
- Bellfounders and bell making
- Weights of bells
Each of the topics listed above is introduced by a few short paragraphs, which have links to other pages that offer more extensive coverage of the topic.
Carillons
Carillons are musical instruments made of at least 23 conventional tower bells which have been tuned so that they can be played together in harmony. The bells are hung fixed in a frame, or "dead", and are played by some kind of mechanism which operates internal clappers and/or external hammers. There are two varieties:
- Traditional carillons use a keyboard with baton-shaped manual keys, a pedalboard, and "tracker" action (direct mechanical connection) for precise dynamic control and dynamic musical expression.
- Non-traditional carillons use electro-mechanical or electro-pneumatic mechanisms, driven by an electric keyboard and/or various kinds of automatic controls. Most have no capability whatsoever for musical expression. Still, they contain real bells, unlike the various electronic devices that attempt (always unsuccessfully) to imitate bells.
The data side of this Website lists and describes all known carillons in North America and elsewhere in the world.
See The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America (GCNA) for a more formal definition of "carillon" and for information about the Guild's activities and related events. The Guild's focus is on what is here called the "traditional" carillon, there called simply a carillon.
The GCNA is one of the member societies of the World Carillon Federation, an association of all national and regional societies which focus their interest on the art of the carillon -- its music, its playing, its manufacture and its history.
Filling out the survey forms for your carillon and its tower will get you a free extract from the database "Carillons and Chimes of the World."
Chimes
Chimes are smaller musical instruments (8 to 22 conventional tower bells, hung fixed) in which the bells may or may not have been tuned, but nevertheless approximate the diatonic or chromatic scales sufficiently well to be able to play tunes recognizably. Some are in fact tuned to the same precision as carillons, and thus can be used to play harmony as well as melody. Several different kinds of mechanisms have been used to play chimes, either manually or automatically, but in comparison to carillons there is less need to distinguish between traditional and non-traditional mechanisms (though we do make that distinction when possible). An additional function as a clock-chime (see below) is fairly common. Among older chimes in churches, the inclusion of one or more swinging bells is also fairly common.
The data side of this Website lists and describes almost all known chimes both in North America and elsewhere in the world. Most in the United Kingdom are omitted, but a link is provided whereby you can find them.
The only known formal organizations for chimers are those which are centered on the various regional bell-ringing traditions in Italy. Those organizations are members of the Federazione Nazionale Suonatori di Campane (FNSC). Elsewhere, chimers whose interests extend beyond their own towers are usually welcomed as members of one of the national or regional societies that make up the World Carillon Federation.
Filling out the survey forms for your chime and its tower will get you a free extract from the database "Carillons and Chimes of the World."
Rings; change-ringing
Rings are chime-sized sets of tower bells (commonly 5 to 12 in number) tuned to the diatonic scale and hung to swing in a full circle, with each bell controlled by one member of a team of ringers by means of a single rope and wheel. Most rings are hung and rung in the English style called "change ringing". However, in the Veronese district of Italy are many rings hung for what may be called "concerto" ringing.
The data side of this Website lists and describes all known rings in North America and elsewhere in the world outside the United Kingdom. For rings in the UK, see the online Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers.
See the Website of The North American Guild of Change Ringers (NAGCR) for information about change ringing on this continent. There you will also find links to numerous other Websites focused on the special techniques of hanging tower bells and ringing them in various mathematically-based methods. Some of those links will take you to England, the place of origin of change-ringing and home of more than 95% of the world's "ringable" towers. Another place to look is www.ringing.info, the most extensive collection of ringing-related references to be found anywhere.
A page on Musical Scales in Ringing explains note names in major keys as they relate to the customary arrangement of notes for change ringing.
Filling out the chime survey forms for your ring and its tower will get you a free extract from the database "Carillons and Chimes of the World."
Peals, clock-chimes, zvons, single bells, etc.
Single tower bells and small sets of such bells are (or have been) used for a wide variety of purposes, some of which are described here.
Peals
A peal is a set of two or more bells hung for swinging in less than a full circle. Consequently, each bell swings at its own natural pendulum frequency, so that it appears to sound randomly with respect to the other bell(s) in the peal. In Canada and the USA, some churches and cathedrals have peals of two to five bells; in churches of continental Europe and Spanish-speaking countries, cathedrals and very large churches may have peals of more than a dozen bells. There is no prescribed relationship among the pitches of peal bells, though in the case of three or four they are often arranged in a major or minor chord. Customary usages of peals, as well as methods of hanging them, are quite variable. Peals of 8 or more bells are indexed and described here along with chimes (see above); smaller peals are not explicitly listed here, though they are generally mentioned when associated with a great bell (see below).
Clock-chimes
A clock-chime is a set of two to eight bells (most commonly two, three or four) arranged to be struck under control of a tower clock, usually to indicate the quarter hours in addition to the hour. (A single bell which only strikes the hour is not usually called a clock-chime.) In an independent clock-chime, the bells are hung "dead," i.e., fixed in position. However, it is possible for some or all of them to be hung to swing, for other purposes; in this case, the clock hammer is arranged to rest outside the path of the swinging bell.The most famous arrangement of bells for a clock-chime is the four notes of the Westminster Quarters, more properly called Cambridge quarters; its associated hour strike can be on either the largest of the quarter bells or a separate hour bell pitched at an interval of either a fifth or an octave below the final note of the fourth quarter. Another common arrangement is "ting-tang" quarters, which requires only two bells (plus an hour bell). A variety of other arrangements are known, some being unique to a particular clock. Clock-chimes are not explicitly listed here, though they are generally mentioned when associated with a great bell (see below) or a peal, chime or carillon (see above).
Zvons
A zvon is a set of bells hung dead and rung in rhythmic patterns according to the liturgical principles of the one of the various national (Eastern) Orthodox Christian or Maltese churches. The pitches of the bells in a zvon are not arranged scale-wise, though some of them may fit familiar chords. The heaviest bells ever hung in towers are the basses of Russian zvons.Also falling into this category are the stationary peals of Malta and some other places. Although they are hung dead like zvons, and are likely to be tuned to a chord of the major scale, they are rung in patterns that sound more like the natural pendulum frequencies of peals.
Single bells
Some of the most common uses for single bells are as follows:- A church bell calls members of a congregation to worship, and is usually swung for that purpose. In olden days it was always swung by hand; nowadays it may instead be swung by an electric motor. Sometimes it can also be tolled for funerals, using a separate hammer.
- A clock bell is hung dead to be struck under control of a tower clock to indicate the hours of the day. Some tower clocks also strike once at the half hour, either on the hour bell or on a smaller bell; more complex tower clocks operate clock-chimes (see above).
- A fire bell or alarm bell was usually hung dead, and was struck in distinctive patterns to warn the community of fire or other danger. This usage has become obsolete since the development of electrically-operated sirens. But some fire bells survive as historical artifacts, occasionally in their original locations.
- A fog bell or lighthouse bell was often used to warn ships of coastal hazards when fog obscured the light from the lighthouse. This function was superseded by foghorns of various types, which in turn became obsolete as well. Some fog bells survive as historical artifacts, occasionally in their original locations.
- A plantation bell was a small tower bell used for signalling on a plantation, farm or estate. The smallest of these, mounted in a fork atop a post, was commonly called a farm bell or dinner bell.
- A factory bell was a tower bell used for signalling a shift change or other event in a manufacturing plant.
- A bridge bell was a very small tower bell used for warning street traffic that a drawbridge or turnbridge over a river or canal was about to open.
- A tower bell of appropriate size could be used as a ship's bell on a riverboat or warship. For this purpose it could be hung from a mast or mounted on an upper deck with conventional fittings. It was used to signal the deck crew (and wharf crew) from the pilot house, and was distinct from the small bells used to signal the engine room or to indicate time.
Great bells
These are REALLY BIG bells, which impress viewers by their sheer size and listeners by the profundity (both in depth and in volume) of their sound. For more details, including our definition plus lists of such bells around the world, see our Great Bells page. Some regional lists are believed to be complete, while others are known to be incomplete.
Tubular tower bells
Large tubular bells, cast or extruded from approximately the same material as conventional tower bells (or perhaps of brass rather than bronze), have been used to make tower music or to serve as clock bells. The largest such tubes weigh hundreds of pounds. Chimes made of these bells appeared in both England and the USA in the late 19th century. About 180 were made in England, though not much is yet known about them; a few were exported to Canada and other places in the British empire. The early American tubular chimes never became popular--only a couple of dozen are known, and little is known about their makers. But a later American maker produced more than 440 tubular tower chimes of various sizes.
For further information, see our page about Tubular tower bells.
Filling out the tubular chime survey forms for your chime and its tower will get you a free extract from the database "Carillons and Chimes of the World."
Hemispherical tower bells
Large hemispherical bells were made for tower use in both England and the USA in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like tubular bells, they were intended to be an economical substitute for conventional tower bells. About 40 chimes of such bells are known to have been made in England, though many no longer survive. Only about five such chimes were made in the USA, while two were imported from England. All are listed on the chimola index page.
Filling out the chime survey forms for your hemispherical chime and its tower will get you a free extract from the database "Carillons and Chimes of the World."
Other bells
There are some kinds of bells which, while not primarily intended for use as tower bells, have nevertheless been used that way on occasion. They include railroad bells (brass or bronze) and postmount farm or dinner bells (cast steel). Some information about such bells may eventually be included here.
There are many kinds of bells which are not tower bells. A few examples are handbells, doorbells, cowbells, sleigh bells, gongs, thin-wall tubular bells (for orchestra, pipe organ, or long-case clock) and many varieties of collectible small bells. We do not presently intend to cover any of these kinds of bells, though we will provide links to other sites which do so.
There are also things in towers which purport to be bells, chimes or carillons, but are not. All of these things involve large outdoor loudspeakers plus electronic devices which either play recordings of real bells or attempt (always unsuccessfully) to generate sounds which imitate real bells. We will never cover any of these kinds of devices, nor will we provide links to other sites which do so. (Exception: For other sites related to both real bells and electronic imitations, we may provide links with respect to the real bell topics.)
Oriental temple bells: In China, Japan, Korea, and many of the countries of Southeast Asia, bells of different kinds are often associated with worship practices in the temples of indigenous religions. Some of these temple bells are cast from bronze as Western bells are, and the largest of them are among the very largest bells in the world. However, their shape and sound are significantly different from that of Western bells, as is their use. They are hung stationary, usually near ground level, and are rung singly. The largest of these are listed here on a page about great Oriental bells.
Handbells: See the Website of the Handbell Musicians of America (HMA) for information about making music with handbells, and for links to related resources. (HMA was formerly The American Guild of English Handbell Ringers, or AGEHR.)
Collectibles: The principal organization of bell collectors is The American Bell Association International, Inc. (ABAII). However, one need not be a collector to join ABAII. Their bi-monthly magazine, The Bell Tower, often contains articles about other types of bells, including tower bells.
Bellfounders and bell making
Tower bells are typically made in foundries which are essentially dedicated to this function, since there is no longer a market for other cast bronze objects of comparable size. (In bygone centuries, those who made bells in peacetime made cannon in wartime--a variation on the ancient concept of "beating swords into plowshares". But bronze cannon became obsolete, while bronze bells didn't, or at least not to the same degree.)
For further information, see our page about Bell Foundries.
Weights of bells
The weights of bells can be reported in any of several different units of measure, some common and some obscure. The subject is discussed at length in the data section of this Website, beginning at a page about bell weights. Here we add to that an online calculator for converting between different units of measurement of weight. This is especially designed to handle the old British Imperial system of Cwt-Qtr-Lb, which is still in regular use to describe bells hung for change-ringing, but it also handles metric and avoirdupois units.
[Tower Bells Introduction] [Website Map] [The builder] [What's New]
This page was created 2000/03/04 and last revised on 2023/12/25.
(Before the Website merger in 2012,
there was a revision date in a box near the top of this page,
reflecting the most recent change to any page on this Website.)
Please send comments or questions about this page to
csz_stl@swbell.net.
Use similar links on other pages to send specific comments or questions
about those pages.
< - useful resources for Macintosh folks