Neil Jones the Tower Captain for Rochester Cathedral and the Current Chairman of the KCACR (Kent County Association of Change Ringers), Mark Elvers OR and Laura MacDonald OR have all enjoyed sharing the unique skill of bell ringing to a variety of enthusiastic King’s pupils who have joined the school bell ringing club this term.
Every Wednesday the bell ringing club climbs the 100 stone spiral steps of the Cathedral bell tower. At the top, there is a moment to enjoy the spectacular views over Rochester before walking across the Cathedral roof into the Ringing Chamber. There the pupils have become familiar with the technique of ringing and are beginning to control the bell more independently under close supervision.
During the practice sessions the bells are silenced so the clapper (the swinging part inside the bell) is prevented from striking the bell. However, there is a computer simulator inside the ringing chamber which essentially allows bell ringers to practice their skills by simulating the sound of the bells ringing. This allows them to develop their listening ability and rhythm by hearing the immediate effects of their actions. This also teaches them to “ring in a row” by accurately timing their strikes based on the simulated sound.
The Bell ringing team has also been using handbells to practise the concept of call changes, where the ringers are instructed on how to generate each new change by calls from a conductor, where strictly, only two adjacent bells swap their position at each change. Once this has been mastered then the art of Method ringing will follow. This is a form of change ringing in which the ringers commit to memory the rules for generating each change of sequence. This creates a form of bell music which is continually changing, but which cannot be discerned as a conventional melody. It is a way of sounding continually changing mathematical permutations.
We are looking forward to continue developing our bell ringing techniques further and we hope to have a King’s School bell ringing team ringing out across Rochester before the end of the year. Well done to everyone involved.
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