The seminal film Andrei Rublev directed by Andrei Tarkovsky and co-written with Andrei Konchalovsky is regarded as one of the best films of all time. That’s nice and all, but what I’m interested in is the extended, dramatized section on bell founding. The final section shows in over 30 minutes the entire casting process ofContinue reading “The Drama of Bell Founding in Andrei Rublev”
Author Archives: Kimberly Schafer
Bell Ringing Methods in the Leaning Tower of Niles
Watching this video, you probably guessed that a computer communicates the programmed melodies to the external bell clappers, and that it keeps the bell performances on a schedule. And you are correct! And you are also correct that the Clock-O-Matic’s Apollo III bell controller can be accessed and manipulated via an onsite controller, remote, orContinue reading “Bell Ringing Methods in the Leaning Tower of Niles”
Niles’ Bell Tunes
On Labor Day weekend 2020, the seven bells of the Leaning Tower of Niles began ringing again, after decades of silence. With seven notes of a major scale, absent the sixth scale degree, we had to do some digging to find suitable tunes that would be recognizable, pleasant, and multi-cultural. In the end, we programmedContinue reading “Niles’ Bell Tunes”
Hell’s Bells
In honor of the invasion of spooks and ghouls tomorrow on Halloween, I thought we’d focus on bells representing the profane. I give you . . . “Hell’s Bells” by AC/DC. That is a real, honest-to-goodness one-ton bronze bell hanging above the stage. Michael Milsom, former bellmaster at Taylor foundry in Loughborough, England, gives usContinue reading “Hell’s Bells”
The Long Resonance of Bronze
Christians once ascribed powerful properties to bells—the power to drive away demons, for example, and still today some Christians believe they embody the voice of God. Before Christians, the members of ancient civilizations ascribed magico-sacral properties to bells too. Why were bells thought to hold so much sacred power? I never thought about this tooContinue reading “The Long Resonance of Bronze”