Change ringing software

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The "Blue Line" of Plain Bob Minor produced by change ringing software.
The "Blue Line" of Plain Bob Minor produced by change ringing software.

Change ringing software is a generic term that encompasses the several different types of software in use today in connection with change ringing.

Contents

[edit] Modern day change ringing software

The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers keeps a list of all "current change ringing software" There are four general types of software used in connection with change ringing.

[edit] Composition Proving

The most common use of software in change ringing is composition proving. This type of software is used to take the tedium out of calculating change ringing compositions and then proving that they are true. The software will perform the complex mathematics of proving a composition in seconds rather than the hours or days required for paper based proving methods.

The main examples of proving software are: "Ringing Master" "Excalibur" "Beltower"

[edit] Simulator

Simulator software's original use was to allow the practicing of change ringing in the tower, but is perhaps used more in the home now, using a dumbbell or keyboard. There are different scenarios that can now be accommodated by the latest software. Sensors are used to give temporal information to the computer.

  • Single or multiple learner silent practice with computer producing sound of the bell.
  • Whole band silent practice with computer producing sound of all the bells.
  • Practice on more bells than you have with the computer adding in the extra bells.
  • Practice methods that are more advanced that your band is capable with the computer filling in all the bells.

The main examples of simulator software are: "Ringing Master" "Abel" "Beltower"

[edit] Record Keeping

Keeping records is very important to some change ringers. Records are often kept in the following areas:

  • Grabs (towers visited)
  • Peals.
  • Quarter peals.

The main examples of record keeping software are: "Ringing Master" "WinRK"

[edit] Tower Directory

An up to date directory of towers is often used to plan outings and, used in conjunction with the record keeping software to decide what towers still need to be grabbed.

The main examples of tower directory software are: "Ringing Master" "TowerBase"

[edit] History of Change Ringing Software

The earliest known change ringing programs can be traced back to the 1950s. Some of this history is traced in this article on software firsts http://www.ringing.info/shaggy.html

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

  • "Ringing Master" bell ringing composition proving, simulator and record keeping software
  • "Abel" simulator software
  • "Excalibur" composition proving software
  • "Beltower" bell ringing simulator, prover, composer, method/touch editors and printing software
  • "Visual Method Archive (VMA)" - simple, FREE, web-based tool to view blue lines for methods and experiment with generating your own