Cast of Bronze CD

[bellringer_sh]

Hey, Nicole, I just wanted to thank you for playing Sabre Dance last week! I hope you'll play it again sometime as well as other pieces from the CD. I tried to reach our director to tell him you were playing it, but he didnt' get my email in time. Thanks again! Did anyone else out there happen to hear it?

Sherry

[Shapley]

Hello, Bellringer!

Welcome back! Sorry to say I missed it. Perhaps Nicole will fit in the schedule again.

V/R
Shapley

[bellringer_sh]

Thanks, Shapley! It HAS been a while. Other classical pieces on the Cast of Bronze (a handbell ensemble from Dallas, Texas) include "Air" from the Holberg Suite by Grieg, "Passacaglia in C Minor" by Bach and "Pastoral" by Bach, as well as some wonderful original pieces written for handbells, such as "Tempest" by Kevin McChesney, "Fantasy in C" by C. Willian Goff and "Gaudeamus" by Arnold Sherman.

Nicole, I'd love to hear your comments!

Sherry

[Shapley]

Nicole can delete this if it violates policy, but the CD can be obtained here.

V/R
Shapley

[BigJon@Work]

How does a bronze CD work in most players? I imagine it wold play havoc with a verticle player.

[bellringer_sh]

Nicole can delete this if it violates policy, but the CD can be obtained here.

V/R
Shapley

Thanks for the plug, Shapley--we'll have to sell 400 CDs before we break even!

[Shapley]

I'll order one today, that'll leave you with 399 to go.

[bellringer_sh]

I'll order one today, that'll leave you with 399 to go.

Awesome!! Thanks!

[bellringer_sh]

Hay Shapley, let me know when you get the CD. I'd be very interested in your comments. Thanks!

Sherry

[Shapley]

It's on order, I expect to arrive any day now...

[bellringer_sh]

well, if you don't get it soon, let me know, and I'll see what the deal is.

[Shapley]

I'll let you know if there is a problem.

I just love the sound of bells. I was browsing the website at usedbells.com and noticed this beauty:



I wish I had a place for it...

I was looking for a cupola bell. I have a cupola on the house, which currently is used solely for ventilation. I thought it would be neat to have a cupola bell there, with a bell rope hanging into the house. They have several, and this one looks like it would fit:



if I could just figure out how to lift it into place without tearing out the living room ceiling. I have a small hatch in the ceiling, but I don't think it's large enough, and it's several yards from the cupola, which would make snaking it through the trusses a necessity. I'm afraid a bit of study would be called for.

Perhaps I should just build a bell tower out front. That way I could buy the Chinese Bell instead. (one can always dream...)

V/R
Shapley

[jamiebk]

The Chinese bell would be beautiful in a garden on a well designed support structure. It could be made to be part of a heavy trellis for climbing roses/vines etc.

[Shapley]

a full-size version of one of these would look good:



Particularly if one has an oriental garden. It would look out-of-place, I'm afraid, in my yard, but it could be the focal point of to-be-built garden.

[jamiebk]

Yeas...exactly what I had in mind...perhaps a little taller and more rough-hewn...but in a similar style. I think a garden of japanese maples, weeping deodar, or weeping cherry might be nice. I know this is a little on the Japanese side rather than Chinese, but the effect is similar.

[Shapley]

Actually, I found this site which shows a foundry in Kyoto with a collection of bells similar to the bell from usedbells.com. Perhaps I was mistaken in referring to it as Chinese bell, since it could well be Japanese or Korean in origin. The Dragons on the top led me to believe it was Chinese in origin.

In any case, I think it'd make a heck of a doorbell.

[barfle]

Hmmm, electric motor to swing the bell, or perhaps a solenoid to strike it? Something along the lines of a carrilon?

Sounds like a fascinating project!

[Shapley]

I helped my uncle grease and adjust the ringer mechanism for the bell at the Catholic church in my home town. the ringer was actually a ringer/toller, and consisted of two mechanisms - a mechanism that swung the bell and rang it in the normal manner, and a similar mechanism that swung a hammer against the side of the bell. I do not know which was used for ringing and which for tolling the bell.

The Buddhist temple bells are usually stationary, and rung with a mallet, I believe. I suppose one could install a rack and pinion system, but using only a half-pinion. A motor would drive the rack away from the bell, against a compression spring, using the half-pinion. When the pinion runs out of toothed area, the spring would drive the rack against the bell, like a battering ram. I believe I've seen a similar mechanism used somewhere.

I wonder how far from the house I would have to place the bell before the wife would allow me to use it?

V/R
Shapley

[Shapley]

Bellringer,

The CD arrived yesterday. I had the opportunity to listen to most of it. I particularly enjoyed Réunir, even though I wasn't familiar with it before.

I'll give it another listen soon, but my backordered copy of I Solisti Veniti's Vivaldi Concerto's for Mandolin/Concerto's for Violin also arrived (I think this makes my third CD by them - some of the selections are repetitive of selections on the previous two, but there are some new ones making it well worth the wait!).

Barfle,

Make sure the doorbell instructions are clearly understood, like these:





V/R
Shapley

[barfle]

I recall many years ago, bar purchased a printing calculator. One of the chapters in the instructions was titled "When the printer fell into an unusual state." We often recite that mantra when instructions make as much sense as your doorbell.

Back in California, I built and installed an electronic doorbell that had about twenty different tunes it could play. After about fifteen years, the novelty wore off, although we never bothered to change it for a more conventional system.