A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually an open-ended hollow drum which resonates upon being struck. The striking implement can be a tongue suspended within the bell, known as a clapper, a small, free sphere enclosed within the body of the bell, or a separate mallet.
Bells are usually made of cast metal, but small bells can also be made from ceramic or glass. Bells can be of all sizes: from tiny dress accessories to church bells weighing many tons.
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In the Western world, its most classical form is a church bell or town bell, which is hung within a tower and sounded by having the entire bell swung by ropes, whereupon an internal hinged clapper strikes the body of the bell (called a free-swinging bell). A set of bells, hung in a circle for change ringing, is known as a ring of bells.
In the Eastern world, the traditional forms of bells are temple and palace bells, small ones being rung by a sharp rap with a stick, and very large ones rung by a blow from the outside by a large swinging beam. This last technique is employed worldwide for some of the largest tower-borne bells, because swinging the bells themselves could damage their towers.
In the Roman Catholic Church and among some High Lutherans and Anglicans, small hand-held bells, called Sanctus or sacring bells, are often rung by a server at Mass when the priest holds high up first the host, and then the chalice immediately after he has said the words of consecration over them (the moment known as the Elevation). This serves to indicate to the congregation that the bread and wine have just been transformed into the body and blood of Christ (see transubstantiation), or, in the alternative Reformation teaching, that Christ is now bodily present in the elements, and that what the priest is holding up for them to look at is Christ himself (see consubstantiation).
Japanese Shintoist and Buddhist bells are used in religious ceremonies. Suzu, a homophone meaning both "cool and refreshing," are spherical bells which contain metal pellets that produce sound from the inside. The hemispherical bell is the Kane bell, which is struck on the outside. See also Kane (musical instrument) (ja:鈴, ja:梵鐘).
Buddhist bells are used in religious ceremonies. See also Tibetan tingsha bells.
Whereas the church and temple bells called to mass or religious service, bells were used on farms for more secular signaling. The greater farms in Scandinavia usually had a small bell-tower resting on the top of the barn. The bell was used to call the workers from the field at the end of the day's work.
In folk tradition, it is recorded that each church and possibly several farms had their specific rhymes connected to the sound of the specific bells. An example is the Pete Seeger song The Bells of Rhymney.
Some bells are used as musical instruments, such as carillons, (clock) chimes, or ensembles of bell-players, called bell choirs, using hand-held bells of varying tones. A "ring of bells" is a set of 4 to twelve bells or more used in change ringing, a particular method of ringing bells in patterns. A peal in changing ringing may have bells playing for several hours, playing 5,000 or more patterns without a break or repetition..
The ancient Chinese had bronze bells called bianzhong or zhong (鐘) which were used as musical instruments. Some of these bells were dated from 2000 to 3600 years old. These bells can each produce two tones. These bells usually have inscriptions on them from which scholars used as references for studying ancient Chinese writings (also known as Bronzeware script). Another related ancient Chinese musical instrument is called qing (磬 pinyin qing4) but it was made of stone instead of metal.
Konguro'o is a small bell, which as well as Djalaajyn firstly had the utilitarian purposes and only after artistic ones. Konguro'o sounded by the time of moving to the new places, being fastened to the horse harness it created very specific "smart" sound background. Konguro'o also hanged on the neck of leader goat, which leads the flock of sheep in some definite direction. That is why in folk memory almost magic sound of konguro'o was associated with nomadic mode of life.
To make this instrument Kyrgyz foremen used cooper, bronze, iron and brass. They also decorated it with artistic carving and covered with silver. Sizes of the instruments might vary in considerable limits, what depended on its function. Every bell had its own timbre.
The process of casting bells is called bellmaking or bellfounding, and in Europe dates to the 4th or 5th century.[1] The traditional metal for these bells is a bronze of about 23% tin. Known as bell metal, this alloy is also the traditional alloy for the finest Turkish and Chinese cymbals. Other materials sometimes used for large bells include brass and iron. Bells are always cast mouth down.
Bells are made to exact formulas, so that given the diameter it is possible to calculate every dimension, and its musical note, or tone. The frequency of a bell's note in Hz varies with the square of its thickness, and inversely with its diameter. Much experimentation has been devoted to determining the exact shape that will give the best tone. The thickness of a church bell at its thickest part, called the 'sound bow' is usually one thirteenth its diameter. If the bell is mounted as cast, it is called a "maiden bell" while "tuned bells" are worked after casting to produce a precise note.
Bells are also associated with clocks, indicating the hour by ringing. Indeed, the word clock comes from the Latin word cloca, meaning bell. Clock towers or bell towers can be heard over long distances which was especially important in the time when clocks were too expensive for widespread use.
In the case of clock towers and grandfather clocks, a particular sequence of tones may be played to represent the hour. One common pattern is called the "Westminster Quarters," a sixteen-note pattern named after the Palace of Westminster which popularized it as the measure used by Big Ben.
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A variant on the bell is the tubular bell. Several of these metal tubes which are struck manually with hammers, form an instrument named tubular bells or chimes. In the case of wind or aeolian chimes, the tubes are blown against one another by the wind.
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