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Cyril Johnston’s tuning forks
In the period that Gillett & Johnston were active, between the late 1800s and the early 1950s, bells were tuned using tuning forks to check their partial frequencies. All three bellfounders in the...
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A history of Gillett and Johnston in bell sounds
This article follows a similar pattern to the corresponding article on Taylors. That article gives the technical background, which is only summarised here. The assumption on which the investigation...
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Simpson, Van Aerschodt, Lower Beeding and Kilburn
The nine original bells at Lower Beeding, Sussex were a chime cast by Séverin Van Aerschodt in 1885. Five bells were retuned and four recast by Gillett & Johnston in 1926. Canon Simpson in his...
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Manipulating bell sounds
This page explains the mathematical techniques and software algorithms I use to manipulate bell sounds for various purposes. The results in the next section, showing how the partial frequencies of...
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Long-waisted bells
This page was updated on 5/8/2024 with five more ancient bells on which the partials were identified from nodal patterns. This process has now been carried out on 12 long-waisted bells. For an...
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Hemispherical bells
Hemispherical bells were produced by a number of bellfoundries (including Mears and Stainbank, Warners and Taylors) in the second half of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. Used as...
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Modes of vibration of a tubular bell
To supplement the investigation of tubular bell acoustics, I carried out an experiment on a tubular bell at St Mary, Caterham, Surrey aimed at identifying the physical modes of vibration. I am...
View Articlethe van Aerschodts
The van Aerschodt family of Leuven, Belgium were one of the most significant founders of bells in the low countries in the latter part of the 19th century. They cast 25 carillons comprising almost 900...
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The musical quality of van Aerschodt bells
At the time they were cast, the carillons and bells of the van Aerschodts were highly praised. They claimed to tune their bells, and there is evidence they had a tuning machine. Séverin in his...
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The Van Aerschodts of Louvain
This article by Paul-Félix Vernimmen, grandson of Félix Van Aerschodt, the last bellfounder with the family name, was originally published in French in Le Folklore Brabaçon, 1983, no. 237-238, pp7-30....
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