Glossary
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ARCHAIC BELL:
Tower bell of the Middle Ages whose shape gradually evolved into that commonly seen today. Features include a straight tapered side, elongated waist, narrow top with rounded shoulder, and rather crude cannons for suspension.

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BATON:
Common name for the wooden key of the carillon clavier.

BEIAARD:
Flemish and Dutch for carillon.

BEIAARDIER:
Flemish and Dutch for carillon player (carillonneur).

BELL:
From Anglo-Saxon bellan, to roar. Old Norse bjalla, bell, from bylja, to resound. A hollow vessel, usually cup-shaped and of some hard, brittle material-in most cases metal-which is capable of ringing upon being struck near the rim. The striking agent in the Westem world is normally of metal, but in the Orient is of wood.

BELL CAGE:
Framework, formerly wooden but now usually metal, which rests on the bell deck rather than on beams embedded in the tower wall. Housed in it are bells mounted for swinging, as in English change ringing.

BELL DECK:
Term in England for the belfry floor.

BELL FOUNDER:
One who makes bells, usually of bronze, by the casting technique (pouring molten metal into a mold).

BELL FOUNDER'S WINDOW:
At York Minster, England, on the north wall of the nave, is a finely detailed stained-glass window which was presented to the cathedral by Richard Tunnoc early in the fourteenth century as a unique memorial to the craft of bell founding. Included in its various scenes are representations of steps in bell casting, and there are no fewer than 200 bells featured in the design.

BELL METAL:
A bronze alloy of roughly 80 percent copper and 20 percent tin.

BELLS OF JUSTICE:
In China for many centuries a bell was hung outside the palace gate to be rung by a citizen seeking redress from some wrong or injustice.

BIG BEN:
England's most famous bell, located in the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament in London. It is named in honor of Sir Benjamin Hall, a man of large physique, who was chief commissioner of works in charge of its installation. Cast in 1858 at the Whitechapel Foundry in London, the bell has a diameter of 9 feet and weight of slightly more than 15 tons. Its distinctive sound is partly due to a crack in the rim which occurred shortly after the bell was hung.

BOURBON BELL:
Largest bass bell, whether in a chime, carillon, or peal-or simply a single large church bell. Exception: In the English "ring" of bells for change ringing, the largest is called the "tenor."

BOW BELLS (OF LONDON):
Ring of 12 bells at St. Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside, London, first cast in 1738 but recast several times due to periodic destruction. These bells are Englands most famous set.

BROEK (BREECHES) TRANSMISSION SYSTEM:
Early action of carillon, still used in some carillons, especially in Holland and Germany.

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CAMPANA:
Large tower bell.

CAMPANIFORM:
Cup-shaped. Shaped like a bell.

CAMPANILE:
Free-standing bell tower.

CAMPANOLOGY:
The study of bells and bell ringing.

CANON A. B. SIMPSON:
English clergyman whose interest in improving the quality of church bells during the closing years of the nineteenth century led to the rediscovery. of the tuning process perfected by the Hemony brothers, knowledge of which had become lost both in England and on the Continent.

CANTIGAS DE SANTA MARIA:
Book of musical poetry written by Alfonso the Wise in the thirteenth century, in which are described all contemporary musical instruments, including sets of bells (with illustrations).

CARILLON:
  1. From medieval Latin quadrilionem, which refers to four stationary bells commonly used in France to indicate the time. Three high-pitched bells chimed the quarter-hours, while a fourth- and deeper-toned one-tolled the hour.

  2. A set of cast bronze bells arranged in chromatic order and so tuned as to be capable of concordant harmony. They are normally played from a clavier of wooden keys and pedals but may also be played from an ivory keyboard with electric action.

CARILLION:
Anglicization of carillon; a term chiefly employed in Great Britain.

CARILLONNEUR:
Term most widely applied to the player of the carillon. (See also Beiaardier; Klokkenspeler.)

CASTING PIT:
Large bells of several tons are normally cast in a hole dug in the ground because of the ever-present danger of the mold's giving way and spilling out the molten metal.

CHAGHANA:
Called Turkish crescent, chapeau chinois, or jingling johnnie. A ceremonial staff of ancient Central Asian origin which was adopted by the Turks and gained importance following their capture of Constantinople, when the crescent became the emblem of Turkish power. This symbolic and highly ornate staff is surmounted by a crescent and a metal ornament shaped like a Chinese hat. Attached are two horsehair tassels, and hanging at different points are a considerable number of bells and crotals which jingle as the staff is carried in procession. The chaghana was highly valued by Europeans as a war trophy during periods of conflict with Turkey and was incorporated in miltary bands following the Turkish custom. It still exists today.

CHANGE RINGING:
A traditional English practice, having its beginnings in the fifteenth century, whereby a series of bells is rung in mathematical permutations. The sequence of the changes is based on a "method" which has been previously composed. Ringing is done by pulling ropes which swing the bells in full circle. (See also Ring; Peal.)

CHIME:
Early English term was chymme bells, from chymbals, an Anglicization of the Latin cymbala. A set of bells usually numbering up to 16 (but not more than 22) and hung stationary. They are played melodically-occasionally with simple harmony-either by automatic action, from an electric keyboard, or from a chime stand of wooden levers and sometimes pedals. If sounded automatically, the chime may be set off by clock action or by controls which permit designated periods of play. To chime refers to the automatic ringing of the bells of the chime. In England it also refers to the ordinary swinging of a church bell in a limited arc (as opposed to the full circle of 360 degrees for bells in change ringing).

CHIMING CYLINDER:
Also called chiming barrel or drum. Metal cylinder-sometimes wood- whose surface is perforated, often with thousands of holes, for receiving projecting pegs or cogs. Mounted on a horizontal axis, it is made to rotate in the early days by a suspended weight whose cable unwound from the barrel shaft. The pegs engage levers attached by wire to hammers mounted outside the bells, and as the barrel revolves, the levers are pushed down, thereby pulling the hammers away from the bells. When the levers become disengaged, the hammers fall through a spring to strike the bells. Sometimes there are as many as five hammers per bell in order to permit the rapid repetition of a note.

CHINESE BELLS AND OTHER IDIOPHONES (SELECTED LIST):

CLAPPER:
A striking agent suspended inside a bell, consisting of a shaft with a solid metal sphere at the end.

CLAVIER:
Console of wooden levers and pedals, the means of playing the bells of a carillon.

CLEPSYDRA:
Water clock used by Chinese and Romans. The latter sometimes attached a bell, thus making their clocks the first to chime.

CLOCCA:
Medieval Latin for bell. (See Monastery bells.) Klok (Dutch), Glocke (German), cloche (French)-all meaning bell-derive from the Latin. Even our word cloak (bell-shaped) comes from the same root.

CLOCK JACKS (JACQUERMARTS):
English term for mechanical figures, often a pair of armored knights, which strike a bell with battle-axes to indicate the time.

CLOCKING:
In England, the ringing of a few stationary bells to announce the time by pulling ropes to swing clappers.

COTE (BELL COTE):
A housing for a suspended bell in the form of an arched opening in a thick masonry wall. Bell cotes traditionally have been a Spanish architectural practice but nowadays are being incorporated in contemporary structures.

CROTAL:
One of the oldest types of bell. It is a small perforated sphere, usually of metal, inside which are loose jingling pellets.

CROWN:
Also known as canons or cannons. Two loops at right angles to each other are welded to the head of a bell. This has been the method of hanging bells since cast bells first appeared in the Catholic Church. A majority of church bells made today, however, lack crowns and are bolted directly to a beam or headstock. In the British Isles, crown refers to the top of the bell proper, and cannon to the loop for suspension.

CYMBALUM (PL., CYMBALA):
From Greek kýmbalon, hollow vessel. Medieval Latin for bell (and specifically one struck by hand with a hammer). In earlier times it meant cymbal. Since cymbals were slightly convex with a hemispherical center, they bore a resemblance to the cuplike bell. Some cymbals eliminated the rim entirely and thus were exact hemispheres. This similarity accounts for the borrowed name. (See also Chime.)

CZAR KOLOKOL (EMPEROR BELL):
Commonly called (incorrectly) the King of Bells. At 222 tons it is the largest bell ever cast. Completed in 1735, it was still in its casting pit when a fire in 1737 caused a large chunk to be broken off. It was raised in 1836 and placed on a pedestal beside the Tower of St. Ivan in the Kremlin, where it still stands. (156Kb JPG image available)

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DEGRUYTTERS, JOHANNES (1709-1772):
Carillonneur and organist at Antwerp Cathedral; his Carillon Book of 194 pieces is the largest single source of carillon music from the past.

DENYN, JEF (1862-1941):
Belgian carillonneur; the most distinguished in carillon history.

DOPPLER EFFECT:
Slight change in pitch noted when one moves rapidly toward or away from a sound source (or when the latter moves toward or away from the ear). Upon approach, the pitch sounds a little higher; when receding, a little lower.

DROHNDORF, GERMANY:
Location of the oldest known dated bell in Europe (A.D. 1098).

DRUM GONG (OR KETTLE GONG, BRONZE DRUM):
Unique version of the deep basin gong indigenous to Indochina and environs. It was first used around the time of Christ by aboriginal tribes (the Miao) in regions bordering on the south of China for a war summons and to accompany prayers for rain. Its stylized, decorative flat head, in whose center is a 12-rayed sun from which radiate 21 concentric zones containing geometric designs, suggests the taut skin of a drum. Some gongs possess ornamental frog figures symbolizing fertility, others the egret (bird figure). They have survived down through the years and are even used today.

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ENGLISH HANDBELLS:
Sets of tuned bells rung by hand, whose original purpose in the seventeenth century was to permit the private practicing of change ringing before moving into the tower. A by-product was the expansion of some sets for musical use, that is, the performance of melodies with harmony. The latter is now most common in the United States, where there are thousands of sets. English handbells should be distinguished from other types of handbells, in England and elsewhere, that are rung for other purposes.

EQUAL TEMPERAMENT:
The present system of tuning bells (and other instruments), whereby all half-tones are identical; the octave is divided into 12 divisions of 100 "cents" each.

ERFURT CATHEDRAL, SAXONY:
Bourdon bell at Erfurt Cathedral, weighing 14 tons, was cast in 1497 by Dutch founder Geert van Wou. In its early years it was the most distinguished (and largest) bell in Western Europe, being of superior tone and with partials in perfect alignment. It still rings today.

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GLOCKENSPIEL:
German for carillon or chime. (See Voorslag.)

GONG:
A round metal plate of bronze or brass with turned drumlike edge, with or without a raised center (boss) and struck with a knobbed wooden mallet. The gong may be suspended either vertically or horizontally, and its side can range from a shallow lip to one of several inches, resembling an inverted cauldron. Its resonance is greatest at the center and least at the lip.

GREAT BELL OF KYOTO:
This impressive barrel-shaped bell at 74 tons is the world's second-largest ringing bell. Cast in 1633, it is 17.9 feet high, 8.9 feet in diameter, and about a foot thick. On its upper wall are three fields of knobs or bosses totaling 108 (a symbolic number). It takes sixteen priests to ring it, which is done by swinging a huge wooden ramrod suspended on chains. The bell hangs in a low belfry near the Chion-in Temple in Kyoto, Japan.

GREAT BELL OF PEKING (OR CHINA). CALLED TA CHUNG.
One of the world's most celebrated bells, this masterpiece was cast around A.D. 1420 during the reign of the third Ming emperor, Yung-lo, as a memorial to the removal of the national capital from Nanking to Peking. It is China's largest, reputedly weigbing around 60 tons, with a height of 14 feet and diameter of 10 feet. It is in the form of an elongated bowl with dome-shaped top and lotus rim. At the top is a large hole made for tonal purposes. Most striking is its decoration: extracts from Buddhist classics cast on the bell both inside and out, consisting of no fewer than 160,000 words. The bell still hangs in the bell temple of a Buddhist monastery on the western outskirts of Peking.

"GREAT PAUL":
Bourdon bell at St. Paul's Cathedral, London. Cast in 1881 by Taylor of Loughborough, its weight of 18¾ tons makes it the largest in the British Commonwealth.

GUDGEONS:
English term for pivots upon which rests the headstock of a swinging bell. The axis of the swing is at this point.

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HAMMER:
With bells, an exterior striking agent of metal, pivoting from above, which is usually activated mechanically.

HEAD OF BELL:
Top of bell proper and main node of its vibrations. In England, it is known as the crown. (See Crown.)

HEMONY, FRANÇOIS AND PIETER:
Seventeenth-century Dutch bell founders whose bells reached a perfection in timbre and tuning previously unequaled. Only in recent years have bells of comparable quality been made.

HORLOGE A CARILLON:
French for chiming clock.

HUM TONE:
Lowest partial (frequency) of bell. In the carillon bell it is one octave lower than the prime tone.

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IDIOPHONE:
Naturally sonorous body (as the bell). One of the basic tone-producing media. Its vibrations are inherent in the material and are produced by striking.

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JUST INTONATION:
Mathematical computation of the scale which puts most notes in perfect alignment but results in two "wolf" or false intervals, off to the extent of a syntonic comma (22 "cents"). Some bells-when not sounded harmonically- have been tuned according to this system.

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KLOKKENGIETER:
Dutch for bell founder.

KLOKKENSPEL:
Dutch for chimes or carillon. (See Voorslag.)

KLOKKENSPELER:
Dutch for carillonneur.

KLOKKETOREN:
Dutch for bell tower.

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LANCASHIRE RINGERS:
Famous nineteenth-century group of English handbell ringers who performed worldwide. P. T. Barnum brought them to America in the 1840's, calling them Swiss Bell Ringers. The first full "peal" of 5,040 changes to be heard in the United States was rung by this group at Christ Church, Philadelphia, in 1850.

LEADS:
In a carillon, the wires from the keys terminating at the clappers.

LESTER, THOMAS:
Proprietor at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London, where the original casting of the Liberty Bell was made in 1752.

LIBERTY BELL:
America's most famous bell and emblem of liberty, located in Independence Hall, Philadelphia. It was first cast by Whitechapel of London in 1752 but had to be recast twice (by Pass and Stow of Philadelphia) before it could be used. It became immortal when it was used to call an assembly in the State House yard on July 8, 1776, for the reading of the proclamation declaring independence from England. Although its inscription reads PROCLAIM LIBERTY THROUGHOUT ALL THE LAND UNTO ALL THE INHABITANTS THEREOF (Leviticus 25:10), it did not assume its title of Liberty Bell until after 1839. The bell weighs 2,080 pounds, and is one of the earliest bells cast in the United States.

LIP (OF BELL):
Same as rim. The bottom edge of a bell where inner and outer surface come to a point.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND:
The bells in the Cathedral Church of Christ here constitute the world's heaviest ring, with a tenor bell of 4.6 tons. While twelve bells are maximum for a ring, a thirteenth is included to form a lighter scale whenever the heavier one is not desired.

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MEAN-TONE TEMPERAMENT:
The system of tuning employed for most bells from around 1500 to 1900. This temperament permits a closer conformity to the frequency ratios of the intervals found in the natural overtone series but limits the amount of transposition, the sharps not being identical with the flats.

MERIDIANS:
In a bell, those vertical nodal lines resulting from its geometric form which are associated with various wavelengths of the vibratory movement. (See Parallels.)

METALLOPHONE:
A type of musical instrument consisting of a series of tuned metal bars or slabs whose ringing sound is usually amplified by resonators. It first appeared in Southeast Asia around the tenth century. First its metal was bronze, but in today's celesta, glockenspiel, and vibraphone it is usually steel or an aluminum alloy. The Dutch borrowed the idea of the metal slab for the carillon practice clavier.

MINGUN BELL:
World's largest ringing bell (97½ tons). Located 7 miles north of Mandalay, Burma, it has a diameter of 16 feet, 3 inches, and height of 12 feet. It was cast in 1790 to accompany the nearby Mingun Pagoda, whose intended height of 500 feet would have made it the highest in the Orient. Due to the king's untimely death, however, the pagoda was never completed. The bell is still in regular use.

MOLD (BELL MOLD):
Consists of an inner core of brick and clay, over which is placed an outer form called the cope. Molten metal-usually bronze-is poured in to fill the space between core and cope.

MONASTERY BELLS:

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NABATNY BELL:
In Russia, the public tocsin or alarm bell.

NOMINAL:
Partial of tuned bell an octave above prime.

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PARALLELS:
Horizontal nodal lines positioned at different elevations on a bell's wall. These are associated with vertical waves of varying length and frequency. (See Meridians.)

PARTIAL:
Refers to one of the frequencies constituting a bell's ring. The five lowest partials in the tuned carillon bell are the most important.

PAULINUS (353-431):
Bishop of Nola in Campania, Italy. Tradition ascribes to him the distinction of introducing the first tower bell in the Christian church, but this is probably inaccurate.

PEAL:
A group of different-sized bells, usually from two to six, located in a belfry of the Christian church and rung according to the liturgical calendar and on other special occasions. Each bell of the peal swings at its own rate, thus producing an ensemble of disorganized sound. This ringing is referred to as pealing. In the British Isles, peal refers to 5,040 "changes" rung in continuous succession (See Change ringing) on a "ring" of bells. Seven bells or more permit this number of changes; if the ring contains fewer than seven, a peal will consist of the maximum number of changes possible on that number.

PRACTICE CLAVIER:
Replica of the regular carillion clavier but with metal bars to produce the tone.

PRIME TONE:
Synonymous with the fundamental tone of a tuned bell.

PRIMITIVE BELL:
Term now used to describe the earliest cast bronze bells in the Christian church, which superseded the earlier bell of iron plates hammered and riveted. With convex sides, it resembled an inverted bowl and has been referred to as the beehive bell. Its wall was of uniform thickness; in time a ring of metal was added to the rim as reinforcement-which later developed into the sound bow.

PROFILE (OF BELL):
The geometric shape of a bell, including the wall cross section.

PYTHAGOREAN TUNING:
The prevailing tuning during the Middle Ages. All intervals of the fifth were pure (in accordance with the frequency ratio of 3:2), but as a result the thirds were false. This tuning remained in general use until superseded by the mean tone.

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QUINT:
Perfect fifth partial (above prime) of a tuned bell.

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RING:
A set of bells, numbering 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, or 12, hung for change ringing (See Change ringing). Mounted to each headstock is a wheel from whose grooved rim a rope extends to the floor below. When the rope is pulled, the bell is made to swing in an arc of slightly more than 360 degrees. The bells are so arranged that the suspended ropes form a circle. The great majority of rings are in the British Isles.

"RINGING ISLE":
Term frequently bestowed on Great Britain because of its great number of tower bells and their frequent use.

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SACRING BELL:
Small bell rung at the altar of the Catholic church during a sacred function. Also known as Sanctus or Holy Bell, tintinnabulum, and parva campanula.

SEMANTERION:
Greek for signal. Hanging, or sacred, board, struck with a heavy wooden mallet. Probably first used in Europe by the Greeks in the Orthodox Church. Under different names the hanging board has been found in China, Japan, the Balkan countries, the Ukraine, and elsewhere.

SHOKO:
Japanese flat gong suspended vertically in an ornamental wooden frame. It is employed in gagaku, or court music.

SHOULDER (OF BELL):
Curved area between the head and wall.

SINGING TOWER:
Term sometimes used to refer to a tower housing a carillon.

SISTRUM:
Oval frame with handle in which are loosely placed metal crossbars which jingle upon being shaken. On the bars are sometimes strung small bells. While of ancient Middle Eastern origin, the sistrum came to be chiefly associated with the worship of the Egyptian goddess Isis.

SLIDER:
Horizontal bar mounted on the bell cage directly beneath a bell so as to pivot slightly. It serves as a stopper when a stay contacts it upon a bell's reaching an inverted position. Only bells used in English change ringing have need for this device because of the full circle of stroke. (See Stay.)

SOUND BOW:
Bulging area of the bell wall just above the lip.

SPANISH MISSION BELLS IN AMERICA (SELECTED):

STAY:
In English change ringing, in which bells are required to swing in a full 360-degree circle, it is necessary to brake the movement of each bell when it arrives in "up" position in order to keep it from continuing in the same direction instead of starting its return. The stay is a projecting wooden arm or bar attached to the bell yoke which is stopped by a slider when the bell has reached an inverted position. (See Slider.)

ST. PETER (PETRUS) BELL, COLOGNE CATHEDRAL, GERMANY:
Weighing 27½ tons, it is the heaviest tuned and swinging bell in the world.

STRICKLE BOARD:
Also called sweep. A board whose inner side is contoured to the shape of the inner or outer surface of a bell. As it rotates on an axis, the contoured side forms the shape of the mold's core (inner surface of bell). When a "false" bell of clay is mounted on the core, a second and larger strickle board forms the outer contour of the bell.

STRIKE TONE:
Initial timbre and pitch of a bell upon impact, resulting from all possible frequencies at their initial amplitude. Its pitch corresponds with that of the fundamental, or prime tone.

SWISS BELL RINGERS:
A common designation in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries for players of English handbells, especially in the United States. How this term originated is obscure; perhaps it derived from the Swiss custom of performing with cowbells.

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TAPPING (BELLS):
Term applied in medieval England to playing cymbala (bells) by striking with two mallets.

TENOR BELL:
English term for the largest bell in a "ring" of bells used for change ringing. American founders in the nineteenth century borrowed the term to denote the largest bell in a chime, now called the bourdon.

THEOPHILUS PRESBYTER:
Eleventh-century Benedictine monk who wrote one of the earliest treatises on bells, outlining the problems involved in their casting and in the control of tone and tuning.

TIERCE:
Minor-third partial of the tuned bell.

TIMBRE:
Tone quality resulting from a given alignment of fundamental and partials.

TINTINNABULUM:
Small bell. (See Sacring bell.)

TRANSMISSION BAR:
In a carillon, one of a series of horizontal bars set in bearings so as to rotate and located on a level with a corresponding clapper. Attached at appropriate points are two arms at right angles to each other; one has a wire lead to the clapper and the other to the key below. (See Tuimelaar.)

TREZVON:
Most common form of bell ringing in Russia on the zvon; characterized by distinctive rhythmic patterns which have been formally composed for this purpose. On a zvon of sufficient bells, there will be three contrasting rhythms, emanating from the bass, middle, and treble registers. The trezvon represents the most impressive style of Orthodox ringing, especially on the heavier zvons, whose largest bells can weigh as much as 72 tons.

TUIMELAAR (TUMBLER) TRANSMISSION SYSTEM:
Modem action of carillon. Two arms at right angles are attached to a rotating bar, the vertical arm being connected by wire to a clapper and the horizontal arm to a key below. Depression of key results in a lateral movement of the vertical arm and wire, swinging the clapper against the bell.

TULIP-SHAPED BELL:
The shape of the typical tower bell since the fifteenth century, so called because of its general resemblance to the flower.

TURN-BUCKLE:
On the carillon, an adjusting device located just above the clavier for lengthening or shortening the wire connection between key and clapper.

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UMBRELLA:
In the carillon action, a means of preventing water from seeping from the belfry onto the clavier below through the opening where the wire leads of the action descend to the keyboard. A small brass sleeve (hollow cylinder) closed at the top is attached vertically to the wire and moves up and down over a stationary cylinder of smaller bore affixed to the belfry deck.

USPENSKY BELL (ASSUMPTION BELL):
In Kremlin, Moscow. Weighing 72 tons, it is the largest ringing bell in the Russia today, being part of the zvon of 34 bells in the Tower of St. Ivan and adjoining Chapel of St. Nicholas. It was cast in 1817 to memorialize the triumph over Napoleon in 1812.

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VENERABLE BEDE (673-735):
Credited with earliest written reference to church bells in England.

VOORSLAG (FORESTROKE):
Flemish and Dutch for chime. Term applies both to the short automatically produced tune on the divisions of the hour and preceding the striking of the hour and to the set of bells themselves. English: chime; German: Glockenspiel; French: carillon; Dutch: klokkenspel.

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WAIST (OF BELL):
Middle area of the bell wall.

WESTMINSTER CHIME TUNE:
World's most common chime tune for striking the quarter-hours; originated at Cambridge University in 1793 and was known as the Cambridge Quarters until its later association at London's Westininster Palace (and with "Big Ben"), beginning in 1859, led to its present designation. The notes E, D, C, G are heard a quarter after the hour, followed successively by two phrases of eight notes, three of twelve, and four of sixteen-all on the same bells in different sequences reminiscent of change ringing.

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YOKE:
Synonymous with headstock. More common term in America for the inverted U-shaped frame, formerly wooden but now metal, in which a bell is suspended when it is to be swung.

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ZVON:
Russian term for a set of tower bells in the Orthodox Church which are rung liturgically and on various festive occasions by manually pulling ropes attached to inside clappers. Could loosely be translated as chime or peal.

ZVONARI:
Russian bell ringers who play the zvon.
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