Two van Aerschodt carillons
Details of two historic van Aerschodt carillons, one at Eaton Hall, Cheshire and the other at Holy Trinity, Philadelphia, USA […]
Author: Bill Hibbert
Posts by Bill Hibbert
Ewald Riepe, Naylor-Vickers and Bochumer Verein
Research published in Germany in 1972, recently drawn to my attention by Heino Strobel, shows that the technology used by Naylor Vickers to cast steel bells was invented by Bochumer Verein in Germany and licensed from them, leading to an extensive collaboration between the two companies. […]
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Partial groups in the bell sound
This paper by André Lehr is one of the two key papers investigating the modes of vibration of bells. This 1986 paper gives the practical bellfounder’s view of modes of vibration, and includes analysis of a number of bells including some specially cast for the investigation. […]
Weights, sizes and frequencies
Finding ways to relate the weight, size (generally mouth diameter) and nominal frequency of bells is useful, because it allows values to be estimated what data is not available. Some work on this was done by André Lehr, as reported in his 1986 paper. Other models have been developed and refined since by bellfounders and […]
Anomalies in the tuning of Gillett & Johnston bells
Analysis of recordings of three Gillett & Johnson carillons from the 1920s and 1930s, and comparison against the original tuning book figures from the Gillett & Johnston archive, suggests that there is a surprising variation of up to a fifth of a semitone in the frequencies of the tuning forks used to measure and tune the partial frequencies. […]
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Gillett and Johnston
Gillett and Johnston, formerly Gillett and Bland, were bellfounders in Croydon, Surrey from the late 19th century to the early 1950s. For the first half of the 20th century they were one of the premier founders of carillons and change-ringing bells. Cyril Johnston, son of the original partner Arthur Johnston, joined the company in 1902 […]
Scale of thickness of bells
An investigation into the scale of thickness of 7,653 bells and how it affects prime and octave nominal tuning […]
Identifying Bell Partials
Description of a simple experimental procedure for identifying the nodal patterns of bell partials. […]
Strike notes and tuning of old-style bells
Investigation of the tuning of 31 historic peals of eight and ten showing their strike pitches were tuned more accurately than expected, followed by a review of the few written accounts of historic methods of bell tuning. […]
Tubular bells
Determining the strike pitch of tubular bells. […]