From a sad occasion, an opportunity
My uncle ‘Steve’ (real name John William Stephenson) passed away in early 2023 aged 92 having been a regular ringer at St. Andrew’s in Hornchurch for over 60 years. He had also rung at many churches across London including Westminster Abbey. I never discussed bell ringing with him but at his funeral I offered to record my cousin and his ringing team when they rang a peal in celebration of his life at St. Andrew’s a few weeks later. The rang ‘5040 Yorkshire Surprise Royal in just over 3 hours and I recorded part of it for the family and posterity. A very small mp3 sample of that recording can be heard on this page.
Recording Church Bells.
I have been fascinated by Bell Ringing for many years now. Perhaps it is the classic sound of the English countryside in summer, or perhaps the mathematical structures of the ‘changes’ (imposed by the weight of the bells), but definitely the challenge of capturing the combined resonances of the fundamentals, overtones and harmonics of the ‘ring of bells’. Each ‘ring’ is unique, having been cast by specialist foundarys, and added to over the years, producing its own ‘sonic’ fingerprint. Combine all of this with the variable atmospheric conditions (they have to be recorded from outside the tower) and the challenge is complete.