BBC TV HD Come Bell Ringing with Charles Hazelwood
Not sure if this can be viewed outside the UK. It is only available on BBC Viewer for 6 more days (as from 10/12/2011.
For over 1,200 years church bells have called the faithful to worship, helping people celebrate triumph and commemorate tragedy. But the fact that they are one of the largest and loudest musical instruments in the world is often overlooked.
This is something musical innovator Charles Hazlewood wants to change - he wants to see if church bells can be used to make original music in their own right.
Choosing Cambridge for his musical experiment, Charles immerses himself in the world of bells and bell ringing. He tries his hand at ringing church bells, handbells and even a carillon - an instrument which resembles an organ made out of bells. He discovers why church bell ringing sounds the way it does and tries out some radical techniques - pushing the boundaries, he re-rigs a whole church tower so it can play a tune.
At the culmination of his investigations Charles devises and performs an extraordinary piece of music which involves three separate church towers and 30 handbell ringers gathered from across the eastern counties
Duration of the program 1 hour.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01803s3
I did try and record the final session where, by electroic means, the various types of bells were brought together. The recording does NOT do justice to the true music.
Not sure if this can be viewed outside the UK. It is only available on BBC Viewer for 6 more days (as from 10/12/2011.
For over 1,200 years church bells have called the faithful to worship, helping people celebrate triumph and commemorate tragedy. But the fact that they are one of the largest and loudest musical instruments in the world is often overlooked.
This is something musical innovator Charles Hazlewood wants to change - he wants to see if church bells can be used to make original music in their own right.
Choosing Cambridge for his musical experiment, Charles immerses himself in the world of bells and bell ringing. He tries his hand at ringing church bells, handbells and even a carillon - an instrument which resembles an organ made out of bells. He discovers why church bell ringing sounds the way it does and tries out some radical techniques - pushing the boundaries, he re-rigs a whole church tower so it can play a tune.
At the culmination of his investigations Charles devises and performs an extraordinary piece of music which involves three separate church towers and 30 handbell ringers gathered from across the eastern counties
Duration of the program 1 hour.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01803s3
I did try and record the final session where, by electroic means, the various types of bells were brought together. The recording does NOT do justice to the true music.
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