Handbell

A handbell is a small bell designed to be rung by hand. To ring a handbell, a ringer grasps the bell by its slightly flexible handle — traditionally made of leather, but often now made of plastic — and snaps it to make the hinged clapper inside strike. An individual handbell can be used simply as a signal to catch people's attention or summon them together, but handbells are generally heard in tuned sets.

Change ringing

Tuned sets of handbells were originally assembled to give change ringers a way of rehearsing outside their towers. Rather than standing for hours in the draughty towers and annoying neighbors with their practice, they could sit comfortably indoors while they practiced the complicated algorithms of change ringing. The handbell sets used by change ringers had the same number of bells as in the towers — generally six or twelve tuned to a diatonic scale.

The bells themselves

The bells used in American handbell choirs are almost always English handbells. "English handbells" is a reference to a specific type of handbells, not to the country of origin. (While some American handbell choirs do use bells made in England, a large majority play bells made either by Malmark Bellcraftsmen or by Schulmerich Carillons, both based in Pennsylvania.) The major defining characteristic of an English handbell is its clapper; the clapper is on a hinge and moves back and forth in a single direction, unlike a school bell in which the clapper swings freely in any direction. It also has a spring which holds the clapper away from the casting after the strike to allow the bell to ring freely.

(In the United Kingdom there is a distinction between what are classed as "American handbells" and "English handbells" — "English handbells" are of a traditional type, with leather clapper heads and handles, while "American handbells" instead use modern matterials such as plastic and rubber to produce the same effect. In America, however, they are all called English handbells.)

To ring the bell, the ringer moves it in such a way that the clapper strikes the inside surface of the bell, usually holding it against his or her shoulder, bell-upwards, and using the wrist to snap. The tone of the bell will continue to resonate, decaying naturally until it stops completely, or until the ringer stops the tone by damping the bell with a hand, on the body, or on a padded surface.

Tuning is a critical part of the manufacturing of the English handbell. Obviously each bell's fundamental tone must be carefully tuned; but for a sweet sound manufacturers also give their attention to each bell's overtones, being especially careful to give all the bells in a set a consistent harmonic profile. Each of the foundries has a unique formula for emphasizing or de-emphasizing certain harmonic overtones to produce that bellmaker's unique sound. Many makers of English handbells emphasize the overtone a 12th (an octave and a perfect fifth) above the fundamental; while Dutch handbell-makers Petit & Fritsen focus on the overtone a 10th (an octave and a minor third) above the fundamental.

Handbells can weigh as little as 4 oz. or upwards of 22 lbs.

Handbell performance

A handbell choir or handbell ensemble is typically armed with a fuller set of bells, as it aims to ring recognizable music with melodies and harmony, as opposed to the mathematical permutations used in change ringing. The bells generally include all notes of the chromatic scale within the range of the bell set used. While a smaller group uses only 25 bells (two octaves), the sets are often larger, ranging up to the eight-octave set used by Westminster Choir College. The bells are typically arranged chromatically on foam-covered tables; these tables protect the bronze surface of the bell, as well as keep the bells from rolling when placed on their sides. Unlike an orchestra or choir in which each musician is responsible for one line of the texture, in a bell ensemble each musician is responsible for particular notes, sounding his or her assigned bells whenever that note appears in the music.

Handbell techniques have changed very much over the years. Donald Allured, founding director of Westminster Concert Bell Choir, is credited with fully realizing an American "off the table" style of ringing that includes many non-ringing sound effects including stopped techniques such as plucking the clapper with the bell on the table. He is also credited for promoting precise damping or stopping of the bell sound by touching the bell casting to a soft surface, in the service of more musical results.

In the United States, handbell choirs have become more popular over the last thirty years. They are often associated with churches, although the past decade has seen a dramatic rise in the number of community groups. Most community groups use larger sets of handbells than an average church handbell choir. Twelve to fifteen members is a common size for a four- or five-octave choir.

There is some ambiguity regarding the phrase "handbell ensemble," as some in the handbell world use "ensemble" in reference to smaller groups than a typical handbell choir — four ringers playing three octaves of bells, for example. However, several American groups have elected to change their names to use "ensemble" instead of "choir" to reduce confusion when touring internationally. In their experience, concert venues did not understand that they were contracting a handbell choir rather than a voice choir. (The concept of a musical handbell is difficult to translate into some eastern European languages.)

Well-known U.S. handbell choirs include the aforementioned Westminster Concert Bell Choir in Princeton, N.J.; Sonos in the San Francisco area; The Raleigh Ringers in North Carolina; Cast of Bronze in Central Ohio;Cascabel in Dallas, Texas; The Agape Ringers in the Chicago area; the Pikes Peak Ringers in Colorado Springs, CO and Los Angeles' now defunct Campanile.

Four-in-hand/Shelley

Two alternative ways of ringing upper handbells are four-in-hand and Shelley. In four-in-hand, ringers hold two bells in one hand with the clappers at right angles to each other, either by putting one handle over the other or by putting one handle through another. By ringing each hand normally ("ring") or by ringing knuckles-first ("knock"), a ringer can produce two different notes with the same hand. The two notes can also be played together with a twist of the wrist.

Shelley ringing is similar, except that the clappers are each positioned the same direction; a ringer can then produce two notes with one ring.

Six-in-hand Ringing

There are several ways to ring three bells in each hand. The most common involves the linking of the handles of either two of the bells or all three of the bells.

Handbell music

Handbell choirs generally ring music composed specifically for the instruments because of their highly resonant sound and the unique pitch-by-pitch division of the staff among the ringers.

The coordination of the bell ringers requires a different approach from other ensembles. All the ringers read off of a single score. This score is similar to a piano score, but with an additional convention: The C# above middle C and all notes below are always written in the bass clef, and the Db above middle C and all notes above are always written in the treble clef. (This formatting is not always the convention for solo and small-ensemble handbell music.) Handbell music is written one octave lower than the actual sound the bells make, so a "middle C bell" or bell is actually playing a note with a high C frequency. (For simplicity, the bell would still always be referred to as middle C or as C5.)

There are also a number of abbreviations and notations used exclusively or almost exclusively in handbell music: LV ("let vibrate," similar to a piano's sustain pedal); R ("ring," meaning to end the LV); SK ("shake," i.e. shaking the bell continuously during the duration of the note); TD ("thumb damp" — ringing the bell with a thumb on the casting); PL ("pluck," which means to throw down the clapper while the bell lay on the table); a small upward triangle ("martellato" — to hit the bell on to a table, pushing most of the lip into the table); and SW ("swing" — to play the bell in a normal position, swing it down to the waist, then bring it and back up).

Handbell Groups

The number of handbell choirs has increased greatly in the past thirty years. Each group has at least 13 members.

Cascabel--

Cascabel is perhaps one of the most inspiring and influential groups of our time. Cascabel comes from a small Seventh-Day Adventist school, Mount Vernon Academy. The premier handbell ensemble consists of 18 highschool age kids, who are focused, driven, and dedicated to their music. Cascabel performs regularly all ove Ohio, but also partakes in extended tours that sometimes even take them out of the country. website

Assignments

Three-octave handbell music is often assigned in diatonic note pairs starting at low C (C4) — i.e. one ringer has low C and the D above (along with the corresponding accidentals), one ringer has the E and F above that, and similarly until the final ringer has the B below high C and high C. Bells are not always assigned in this manner, however, particularly in smaller ensembles.

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