Instrument Type Abbreviations

Instrument Type Abbreviations in Indexes

In many index pages on this Website, the first or only line of each entry ends with an abbreviated indication of the type of instrument beiong referenced. That type is determined by the primary (or only) operating mechanism, sometimes in conjunction with the number of bells in the instrument. (For indexes to a single type of instrument, this indication is omitted as unnecessary.) Those abbreviations are explained briefly in the following table, and more extensively below. The final part of this page explains compound types.

Short definitions (primary types and their modified variants):

  trad      - traditional carillon
  trad#     - traditional carillon now,
              but was a chime at the date cited
  trad*     - traditional carillon now,
              but had some other mechanism at the date cited
  non-trad  - carillon with non-traditional mechanism
  non-trad# - carillon with non-traditional mechanism now,
              but was a chime at the date cited
  non-trad* - carillon with non-traditional mechanism now,
              but had a traditional keyboard at the date cited
  hybrid    - carillon with baton keyboard but electric action
              or non-baton keyboard with direct mechanical action
  mech?     - carillon-sized instrument with unknown mechanism;
              might be traditional or non-traditional
  chime     - chime (any mechanism except peals, rings and zvons)
  chimola   - chime of hemispheric bells (any mechanism)
  peal      - chime-sized set of free-swinging bells
  ring      - bells hung for full-circle swinging (chime-sized)
  ring*     - ring that has been converted to a chime
  zvon      - chime hung and rung in the Eastern Orthodox or Maltese church style 
  tubular   - carillon-sized or chime-sized instrument
              made of heavy-gauge tubular bells
  coll      - collection of bells not forming a complete instrument
  great     - great bell (over 4 tons/tonnes weight)
  (...)     - instrument of type "..." which was replaced; 
              link is to a later entry for the same site
  [...]     - instrument of type "..." which is defunct and was not replaced;
              link is to "sites that are no more"

Type abbreviations with "#" or "*" appended are found only in bellfoundry indexes, and reflect physical changes between one or more earlier phases and the latest technical information available about that instrument.

Expanded definitions of primary types (see also the Glossary):

Unless otherwise specified, all bells in all types of instruments are hung "dead", i.e., do not swing.

trad: traditional carillon — at least 23 bells, in chromatic order (though one or more bass semitones may be omitted), with baton keyboard and mechanical action
non-trad: non-traditional carillon — at least 23 bells, with any mechanism other than a baton keyboard
hybrid: hybrid carillon — at least 23 bells, with baton keyboard but electric action, or with non-baton keyboard and direct mechanical action
These are usually listed in both "trad" and "non-trad" type-specific indexes.
mech?: carillon-sized instrument with unknown mechanism, which might be either traditional or non-traditional
Until the mechanism is determined, these may be listed in both "trad" and "non-trad" type-specific indexes.
chime: an instrument of 8 to 22 bells, regardless of mechanism (excluding chimolas, peals, rings and zvons, all of which are separately categorized)
Chimes are usually more diatonic than chromatic. Clock-chimes of fewer than 8 bells are not listed here, though they may be mentioned in conjunction with a great bell which serves as an hour bell.
chimola: a chime made of hemispherical bells
peal: a chime-sized set of bells hung to swing, each at its own natural speed, whether by motor or by hand, but not full circle unless noted in Remarks (e.g., Spanish flywheel)
Peals of fewer than 8 bells are not included in the database, and thus do not have site data pages of their own, but they may be mentioned in Remarks pertaining to great bells or other instruments.
ring: a chime-sized set of five or more tower bells hung to swing full circle
All rings outside Italy are hung and rung English style, and only those outside the British Isles are listed. Rings in Italy may be hung and rung in any of several styles, and only those of eight or more bells are listed. The different styles are indicated by tags — Veronese (V), Milanese (M) or Ambrosian (A).
zvon: a set of bells hung and rung in the Russian or Orthodox church style (non-swinging, non-diatonic, rung by hand with clapper ropes); may be either chime-sized or carillon-sized
Zvons smaller than 8 bells do exist, but are not listed here.
tubular: carillon-sized or chime-sized instrument made of heavy-gauge tubular bells
All carillon-sized tubular-bell instruments have electric action, and hence are indexed as non-traditional.
coll: collection - a group of unrelated tower bells, not forming a musical instrument of any kind (though a subset of the bells may form an instrument); not classified as either carillon-sized or chime-sized; included in geographic indexes but not foundry or type indexes
great: a bell of at least 4 tons/tonnes (avoirdupois, imperial or metric) weight
When this term appears by itself as a index reference, it applies a bell that is not contained within a listed instrument. Great bells that are contained within listed instruments are referenced by compound types, as shown in the next section of this page.

Compound types:

Some instruments have more than one type of operating mechanism and/or contain one or more great bells. In most cases, the type that is used for classification in indexes contains (or utilizes) all or most of the bells, while any additional mechanisms contain (or utilize) the same or a smaller number of them. Those additional mechanisms are usually listed in the "Technical data" section of a site data page, and may be more fully described in the Remarks block of that page, which is also where embedded great bells are typically mentioned.

.../...: Generically, two of the types defined above are contained within one set of tower bells. In most cases, the first type contains (or utilizes) all or most of the bells, while the second type contains (or utilizes) the same or a smaller number of them. Some common examples follow:
.../great: a great bell is included in a larger instrument (specified ...)
trad/great(5): five great bells are included in a traditional carillon
chime/ring chime/ring(V): some or all of the bells within a chime (but not just one or two) are hung for ringing (Veronese style in the second example)
ring/chime: some (but not all) of the bells within a ring may also be chimed

Please note:

If you find an instance where you believe that an instrument has been mis-categorized, please use the email link at the bottom of the site data page for that instrument to inform the owner of the database and to keep track of the source of the information. Any other method of communicating your concern will make it more difficult to find and resolve the problem. Use the email link at the bottom of this page to present a general concern about these type classifications, unrelated to any specific instrument.

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This page was created on 30-Jul-15 and last updated on 9-Mar-24.

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