The Bell (song)

"The Bell" is a single by musician Mike Oldfield, released in April 1993. The single features a restructured, shorter version of "The Bell", from the album Tubular Bells II.

Master of Ceremonies and Instruments

"The Bell" is the finale of section one of Tubular Bells II and features a Master of Ceremonies, who introduces the instruments. The single has many versions of "The Bell", with different MCs. They include Billy Connolly, Carlos Finaly (in Spanish), Viv Stanshall, Otto (in English and German) and John Gordon Sinclair (live). The performer on the album was Alan Rickman, although credited as A strolling player. This was due to the final voice not having been picked, when the artwork was produced.^[1] Some releases also include an instrumental version and remixes.

The instruments introduced, in order are; grand piano, pipe organ, glockenspiel, bass guitar, vocal cords, "two slightly sampled electric guitars", "the Venetian effect", "digital sound processor" and tubular bells. "The Venetian Effect" refers to a characteristic mandolin technique, a type of tremolo known as bisbigliando, in which the effect of sustained notes is achieved by repetition.

Track listing

Forest river cover / US release

1. "The Bell" (edit) – 4:06
2. "Sentinel Restructure" (Trance mix) (Tommy Musto) – 5:42
3. "Sentinel Restructure" (Satoshi Tomii interpretation) – 7:41
4. "Sentinel Restructure" (Global lust mix) (Mark Lewis) – 5:55
5. "Sentinel Restructure" (Nobel prize mix) (The Orb) – 12:26
6. "Sentinel Restructure" (Tubular beats) (Tommy Musto) – 4:14

Field cover

1. "The Bell" (MC Viv Stanshall) – 3:28
2. "Sentinel Restructure" (Trance mix) (Tommy Musto) – 5:42
3. "Sentinel Restructure" (Global lust mix) (Mark Lewis) – 5:55
4. "Sentinel Restructure" (Satoshi Tomii interpretation) – 7:41

Metallic cityscape cover

1. "The Bell" (Live – MC John Gordon Sinclair) – 4:19
2. "The Bell" (MC Billy Connolly) – 3:29
3. "The Bell" (MC Otto – German version) – 3:29
4. "The Bell" (MC Strolling Player (Alan Rickman)) – 5:00
5. "The Bell" (Instrumental) – 3:30

Mountain cover

1. "The Bell" (MC Viv Stanshall) – 3:28
2. "The Bell" (MC Otto – English version) – 3:28
3. "The Bell" (MC Otto – German version) – 3:28

Mike Oldfield Photography cover

1. "The Bell" (MC Carlos Finaly – Spanish version) – 3:28

References