Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1895-11-02
DESCENDANT BELL TONES.
An Assertion That Chimes, as Now Given,
Are Never In Tune.

An Assertion That Chimes, Now Given,
Are Never In Tune.
We assert. as the result of pretty
wide experience, that there is prob
ably not single bell in England that
is really lin tune with itself" and al
most certainly not a single ''pear' of
bells that are properly in tune with
each other. We do not mean to say
that there are not many peals which
are in excellent tune as to the most
important note in each. and their gem
eral musical effect very pleasing. But
we do assert that the best of these
might be much better and in the ma
jority of cases the Irregularities we
com plain of are such as seriously mar
their musical effect, and such as ought
to be, and might be, averted by more
intelligent founding, or, in most cases,
rectified by more intelligent tuning
after founding. This whole matter
turns on the meaning of the express
sion ''in tune with itself" Most <peo-
pie have an idea that every bell has
one prominent, unmistakable note
which characterizes it. and as to whose
pitch no two people with musical ears
could differ. And yet we feel sure
that many have felt a difficulty in de-
termining the note of a familiar bell.
Now, to account for this, we must
understand what is the true theory"
of a bell It would surely be I'M
reasonable to suppose that the very
peculiar form of bell which, with
slight notifications, has been pre-
served for so many hundreds of years,
was adopted without the deliberate
purpose of insuring that the various
tones and sub-tones of each bell should
be in some fixed musical relation to
each other. That relation is this:
Every true bell should give out,
when fairly struck, fundamental
note or tonic it's third, fifth and
octave above, and it's octave be-
low, thus sounding the full
the bass do below. This is the
theory which was, we are satisfied, be-
fore the minds of the original design
ers of the present form of bell. Almost
forgotten Gf ever realizedD by many of
their successors, it is still recognized
by some, and irresistibly forced upon
the acceptance OF those who, like the
present writer, have made study of
the tones of bells as they are.
Let us dismiss all consideration of
thirds and ffths, and confine our at
tention to three more important notes
i. e., the tonic, its octave and it's oc-
tave below. For convenience's sake,
let US call the first of these the ''funda-
mental, the second, or octave above,
the nominal and the third, or octave
below, by the name by which it is
known in English foundries, the
''hum-note" If, then, bell CORE
sponded to its theory" these three
would sound the same note, in three
consecutive octaves, and the bell would,
so far, be sin tune with itself" But
where shall we find such belle What
ever the cause may be-whether found
ers, in ignorance or Indifference as to
the Importance of having these notes
in accord, have ~ for convenience of
ringing, altered the original proper
tions of bells, or (2) to obtain greater
power, put more metal into them-eer-
tain it is that it is quite the exception
to find q bell which has any two of
these notes in unison, and we have not
yet met with one in which all three
were in accord. By far the common
est state of things is this: The hum
note" is almost always the sharpest,
and she 'nominal' generally between
the two. Thus, if the nominal of bell
is C, the fundamental will pro bably be
somewhere between c and 3, in the
octave below, while the hum-note will
probably be between C and sharp in
the octave below that.-Pall Mall Mag
azine.
-"Did the captain of the football
team keep his head?" yes; his head
and the upper portion of his trunk
Detroit Tribune.