0:00:02 > 0:00:04BELLS CHIMING
0:00:08 > 0:00:10For over 1,200 years,
0:00:10 > 0:00:13church bells have called the faithful to worship,
0:00:13 > 0:00:16helped us to celebrate triumph and tragedy.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19But the fact that they're one of the largest
0:00:19 > 0:00:22and loudest musical instruments in the world
0:00:22 > 0:00:24is often overlooked.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27This is something musical innovator Charles Hazlewood
0:00:27 > 0:00:29wants to change.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31There's something about the sound of bells.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34Even as a very small child
0:00:34 > 0:00:36hearing them from our village church,
0:00:36 > 0:00:37you get this amazing unearthly,
0:00:37 > 0:00:39ghostly, sort of ethereal, sound.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42The sense of the music
0:00:42 > 0:00:45kind of coming almost as if it were out of the earth.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47If I'm honest with you,
0:00:47 > 0:00:50I'm really sad about the fact that there's only one
0:00:50 > 0:00:52grand piece of symphonic music I can think of
0:00:52 > 0:00:54that really exploits the potential
0:00:54 > 0:00:57of towers near and far in a performance
0:00:57 > 0:00:59and that's the 1812 Overture.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01I mean, the reasons why you don't find
0:01:01 > 0:01:04more church or tower bell pealing in orchestral music is pretty obvious.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07You can't exactly take an orchestra to a tower
0:01:07 > 0:01:10and you can't bring the tower into the concert hall.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13But they're such a powerfully evocative part
0:01:13 > 0:01:16of Englishness, the English landscape,
0:01:16 > 0:01:18and they're great carriers of drama.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21What I want to see is if we can go right back
0:01:21 > 0:01:22to ground zero, as it were,
0:01:22 > 0:01:25with these amazing ancient instruments
0:01:25 > 0:01:27and really make some fabulous music.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34With a track record of
0:01:34 > 0:01:37innovative and exciting performances,
0:01:37 > 0:01:41Charles wants to see if church bells can be used to make original music in their own right.
0:01:41 > 0:01:46I'd love to hear what would happen if you had a three-note chord.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49These things have never been done, Charles. You're pushing barriers!
0:01:49 > 0:01:51Charles is going to immerse himself
0:01:51 > 0:01:54in the world of bells and bell-ringing.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58FURIOUS CACOPHONY
0:01:58 > 0:01:59Blimey!
0:01:59 > 0:02:02He will discover what can and can't be achieved
0:02:02 > 0:02:05with these neglected musical instruments.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09It's like Heath Robinson comes from the bell tower, isn't it?
0:02:10 > 0:02:11At the end of it all,
0:02:11 > 0:02:14Charles hopes to bring different worlds together
0:02:14 > 0:02:16in a unique piece of music
0:02:16 > 0:02:19the like of which has never been heard before.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40Conductor Charles Hazlewood
0:02:40 > 0:02:44has given himself the challenge of devising and mounting
0:02:44 > 0:02:46a piece of music just for bells.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50And as the stage for his unique musical adventure,
0:02:50 > 0:02:52he has chosen the Market Square
0:02:52 > 0:02:54in the centre of Cambridge.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01When I came up with this scheme, I was very clear about
0:03:01 > 0:03:04the thing we needed, a central space like this
0:03:04 > 0:03:06and close by,
0:03:06 > 0:03:07working bell towers.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11That may sound like an easy thing to deliver. It's not at all.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13In fact in the UK, at least 50%
0:03:13 > 0:03:15of all churches that have got towers,
0:03:15 > 0:03:19don't have bells, either that work or maybe have been removed.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21I've searched the country, ending up in Cambridge,
0:03:21 > 0:03:24because here in this wonderful square,
0:03:24 > 0:03:26we've three working bell towers. Fantastic!
0:03:26 > 0:03:28Over there is Great St Mary.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31Just round the corner there you've got St Edward's
0:03:31 > 0:03:33and then just over there, St Andrew the Great.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37All three towers in magnificent working condition.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41Great St Mary's, overlooking the Market Square,
0:03:41 > 0:03:46has dominated bell-ringing in Cambridge for over 300 years.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48Here in the Middle Ages,
0:03:48 > 0:03:51the university bell-ringer would ring the start
0:03:51 > 0:03:53and end of meals, lectures and prayers.
0:03:53 > 0:03:58And it was here the Westminster Chimes were invented,
0:03:58 > 0:04:01the tunes Big Ben strikes every quarter-hour.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03- Hello.- Hello.
0:04:03 > 0:04:04- I'm Charles.- Nice to meet you.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06- Hi, David.- Good to meet you.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10David Pipe is the ringing master here at Great St Mary's
0:04:10 > 0:04:13and George Unsworth is the ringing secretary.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16They have offered to help Charles in his musical adventure.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21I love the sound in between the strikes
0:04:21 > 0:04:24- when the bell is on the move. - Yeah, yeah.- Beautiful!
0:04:24 > 0:04:25Absolutely, yeah.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28Their first task is to help Charles understand the basics
0:04:28 > 0:04:32of how bell-ringing actually works.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35A bell has two strokes to it. We have a hand stroke,
0:04:35 > 0:04:37where you are holding onto
0:04:37 > 0:04:40the furry bit called the sally, and the back stroke.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42The most important thing is that
0:04:42 > 0:04:45what happens to this after you've pulled it.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49It goes through the ceiling, through that rather small hole there.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52If you're still holding it while it goes through that hole...
0:04:52 > 0:04:54Let's face it, we've all seen those cartoons!
0:04:56 > 0:04:58This is it. This is for real.
0:04:59 > 0:05:00BELL PEALS ONCE
0:05:00 > 0:05:02No. It's not coming yet. Put your arms down.
0:05:04 > 0:05:05- Right, you ready now? - Hungry for it!
0:05:05 > 0:05:08Here it comes.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10And pull...that's it.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14The bells here weigh up to a tonne
0:05:14 > 0:05:17and swing with huge momentum.
0:05:17 > 0:05:18There we go.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21Charles must pull with just enough force to ease the bell
0:05:21 > 0:05:26off its upright position and propel it around a full circle.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28- You could feel it, then? - Right on the calfs!
0:05:28 > 0:05:30You pulled quite hard, then.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32The other factor is timing.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35The ringer should pull just as the bell reaches the top of its swing.
0:05:35 > 0:05:40Pull too soon or too late and he risks losing control.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44Oh. Let go.
0:05:46 > 0:05:47Yoh!
0:05:48 > 0:05:51So what happened there? I pull it to come down, is it?
0:05:51 > 0:05:53- It didn't go up.- Right.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55- You were pushing it up, effectively. - Right.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57You held on a little bit. How are the hands?
0:05:57 > 0:05:59All right. Slightly shooting pain up the back,
0:05:59 > 0:06:01I must say, but there we are.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03All in a day's work.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09In the Middle Ages, bells were swung from side to side,
0:06:09 > 0:06:13by a rope attached onto or near the head of the bell.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16It was the Reformation that changed everything.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19In a wave of anti-Catholic iconoclasm,
0:06:19 > 0:06:23church fixtures and fittings were destroyed up and down the country.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27As the nation's bells were recast and rehung,
0:06:27 > 0:06:29craftsmen took advantage of the latest technology
0:06:29 > 0:06:32and mounted their bells on wheels.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36Now ringers could control the timing of the bell,
0:06:36 > 0:06:39the direct result was change-ringing,
0:06:39 > 0:06:42the sound of bells being played one after another
0:06:42 > 0:06:45that we hear every Sunday morning.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48Change ringing quickly became
0:06:48 > 0:06:50a hugely popular secular hobby.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52Groups sprang up in almost every town and city
0:06:52 > 0:06:55vying with each other for recognition.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59There are now about 40,000 ringers across the country,
0:06:59 > 0:07:04but amazingly, the wheel mechanism and change-ringing
0:07:04 > 0:07:06never took root on the continent
0:07:06 > 0:07:09where they still use the medieval system.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18The ringers of Great St Mary's
0:07:18 > 0:07:20belong to the Cambridge Youths,
0:07:20 > 0:07:24one of the oldest ringing societies in the world.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26There's been change-ringing in this room
0:07:26 > 0:07:29since at least 1724.
0:07:29 > 0:07:30So what's going to happen,
0:07:30 > 0:07:35is that Patrick, behind us, will start calling pairs of bells to swap
0:07:35 > 0:07:38and gradually swapping the pairs of bells
0:07:38 > 0:07:41will produce a different sequence,
0:07:41 > 0:07:45and it's one that's called Whittingtons.
0:07:47 > 0:07:497 to 11.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51As nice as it may sound to the ear,
0:07:51 > 0:07:54no-one in this room is trying to make music.
0:07:55 > 0:07:59The bells are numbered 1 to 12 from the highest to the lowest,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02and the ringers swap the order they're rung in
0:08:02 > 0:08:05to create ever-changing sequences of notes.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10So that's number eight
0:08:10 > 0:08:13and number nine. Yeah?
0:08:13 > 0:08:14Dah-dah dah-dah dum!
0:08:15 > 0:08:178 to 11.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19This is called change-ringing,
0:08:19 > 0:08:22a system that has barely altered in over 350 years,
0:08:22 > 0:08:25and although it's simple in theory,
0:08:25 > 0:08:28it requires furious concentration.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35It's the raw material Charles has to work with.
0:08:38 > 0:08:39Bravo. That was amazing!
0:08:39 > 0:08:42Turn again, Whittington, I do believe. Incredible!
0:08:45 > 0:08:49Musically speaking, let's face it, bells haven't much to recommend them.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51They can only play loud.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53They can only play on beats.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56They can't even do dotted rhythms or syncopations.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59They certainly can't pick out melody.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01Plus, bell-ringers don't think in the same way
0:09:01 > 0:09:03as a musician like me.
0:09:03 > 0:09:08They don't think even in terms of tunes or melody.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10They're thinking in terms of numbers.
0:09:10 > 0:09:118 to 11.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14So that's a challenge, for me as much as for them,
0:09:14 > 0:09:17to find some common ground in the middle.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19We don't want to end up with something
0:09:19 > 0:09:21which sounds like an artful experiment.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23We've got to end up with something
0:09:23 > 0:09:25which is just bloody good music.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32Charles is starting to understand the musical constraints
0:09:32 > 0:09:35of church bells and change-ringing,
0:09:35 > 0:09:37but more challenges lie ahead.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40I've come to the top of the tower at Great St Mary's
0:09:40 > 0:09:41to get the lie of the land,
0:09:41 > 0:09:44to see where my various musical components
0:09:44 > 0:09:45are going to be.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48So the Market Square's down there.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52Beyond that you see the tower of St Andrew the Great, tower number two.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56Then over here, St Edward's.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59I've never conducted anything where the individual
0:09:59 > 0:10:01musical elements are this far apart before.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04I simply have no idea if I'm going to be able to make it work.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10One thing that will greatly help create a harmonious piece of music,
0:10:10 > 0:10:13is if the bells of the different churches
0:10:13 > 0:10:15are in tune with each other.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18Great St Mary's has a modern ring of 12 bells,
0:10:18 > 0:10:21beautifully tuned in the key of D major.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26Charles' second church is St Andrew the Great.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29Rebuilt in 1842, the medieval church on this site
0:10:29 > 0:10:32used to guard one of the gateways to the old city.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36Four to five.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38Now, the University Guild of Ringers
0:10:38 > 0:10:41hold their practice sessions here every Thursday night.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49Bravo, guys! Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!
0:10:49 > 0:10:52They don't seem that loud, the bells outside.
0:10:52 > 0:10:54Are there windows or...
0:10:54 > 0:10:57There's large wooden sheets over the, all the louvres
0:10:57 > 0:10:59because there's a college over the road.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03We've heavily dampened the sound of the bells.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05Do you think you'd be allowed to take those off?
0:11:05 > 0:11:07They're fairly permanent.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10If you can't remove the baffles, you can't remove them.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12- You've got eight bells here?- Yes.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14Eight bells. Nice descending major scale,
0:11:14 > 0:11:16about A major, I'd say, roughly.
0:11:16 > 0:11:17Everyone agree?
0:11:17 > 0:11:20The authority in these believes they're in G.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22Does he?
0:11:22 > 0:11:23That's open to dispute.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27Yeah, well, I suppose it depends on what part of the country you're from.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30G or A, any ringing here
0:11:30 > 0:11:35won't be in tune with the D major bells at Great St Mary's.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39Charles' final church is St Edward's,
0:11:39 > 0:11:42just off the southwest corner of the Market Square.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46St Edward's holds a unique place in English history.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49Here in 1525,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52standing in what is now called the Latimer Pulpit,
0:11:52 > 0:11:55Robert Barnes gave one of the first sermons
0:11:55 > 0:11:57of the English Reformation.
0:11:57 > 0:12:02Here Charles will be working with tower captain Ali Finn.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05So we go through the tower door, here.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08Ali first became involved with the church in 1994,
0:12:08 > 0:12:13as part of a restoration effort to save its original medieval bells.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15They're amazingly old! They look almost like Grecian urns.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19Yes! So this is the base of the old frame,
0:12:19 > 0:12:23the actual oak frame that the bells were hanging in,
0:12:23 > 0:12:26which, as you can see, is quite fragile.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28It's lovely you've been able to keep it,
0:12:28 > 0:12:29the original structure.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33All the bells here are 17th century or earlier,
0:12:33 > 0:12:36but Sancta Anna, cast in 1470,
0:12:36 > 0:12:40is one of the oldest ringable bells in the county.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43It's a bit narrow as you come through here.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45And here we are, on the gallery.
0:12:45 > 0:12:46What a great view!
0:12:46 > 0:12:50You can see everything going on down there and they can see you at work.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54Yes, yeah. And you often catch the, er, little children,
0:12:54 > 0:12:56especially down in the corner there,
0:12:56 > 0:13:00they're looking up to see how the sound's being made
0:13:00 > 0:13:01and all the people pulling on these ropes.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05At St Ed's,
0:13:05 > 0:13:08Charles has a ring of six bells in the scale of D major.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11They should match Great St Mary's perfectly,
0:13:11 > 0:13:14but they were cast over a period of 200 years,
0:13:14 > 0:13:18when bell technology was in its infancy.
0:13:20 > 0:13:25BELL RESOUNDS REPEATEDLY
0:13:28 > 0:13:33- That's the tenor. - OK, that's roughly an A. Very nice.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36So now the oldest one.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40BELL PEALS A TINNIER NOTE
0:13:40 > 0:13:42A very bright B!
0:13:44 > 0:13:47One thing that's really interesting about these bells,
0:13:47 > 0:13:49and more than at Great St Mary's,
0:13:49 > 0:13:52is when the clapper rests on the bell, it damps it very fast.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54You don't get that ringing on.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59BELL CHIMES WITH A CLEARER NOTE
0:13:59 > 0:14:02This one will probably sound louder cos it's nearer the door.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09Charles has now heard all the bells at his disposal
0:14:09 > 0:14:12and no one set matches another.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15Nothing on this project is turning out as he had expected.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17Beautiful.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20Before I set out on this journey of discovery into bells
0:14:20 > 0:14:23I had some, I think, what were actually
0:14:23 > 0:14:26totally outlandish notions of what might be possible.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29I thought in my mind it would be perfectly possible
0:14:29 > 0:14:32to ghost out the elements of a theme, a tune, in one tower
0:14:32 > 0:14:35and then halfway through, pass it on seamlessly to the next
0:14:35 > 0:14:39which would then pass it on seamlessly to the third tower.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43I mean, that's pie in the sky. Completely impossible,
0:14:43 > 0:14:45the very idea that you can actually get towers
0:14:45 > 0:14:49in separate places to synchronise with each other,
0:14:49 > 0:14:52as I now realise, it's a completely nuts idea!
0:14:52 > 0:14:54But when you're working creatively,
0:14:54 > 0:14:58it actually gets interesting when you recognise the limitations
0:14:58 > 0:15:00around what it is you're trying to do.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02In a way, if the sky was always the limit,
0:15:02 > 0:15:05you'd be embarrassed by the range of choice.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15Charles is ready to start devising his bell extravaganza,
0:15:15 > 0:15:16but before he does,
0:15:16 > 0:15:20he's come to visit Taylor's Bell Foundry in Loughborough.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29Up close and personal with bells, Charles has realised that
0:15:29 > 0:15:33each one produces a complex sound full of different notes.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39Taylor's are one of only two bell foundries remaining in the UK,
0:15:39 > 0:15:42and it was here that the art of bell-tuning
0:15:42 > 0:15:45was perfected more than 100 years ago.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49This is the main part of the works. The works was built here in 1859.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51- Specifically for the bell foundry? - Yes.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54Across the road, through those double doors,
0:15:54 > 0:15:56is where the bells are moulded and cast.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59Down the far end, we've got the joiners' shop,
0:15:59 > 0:16:01which is where all the woodwork that we need is made.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03That's where the wheels are made?
0:16:03 > 0:16:06That's it - stays, sliders, all sorts of bits and pieces.
0:16:06 > 0:16:10And the really exciting bit for me is the room over there
0:16:10 > 0:16:11which is the tuning shop,
0:16:11 > 0:16:14where the bells that come across from the foundry
0:16:14 > 0:16:16get tuned and turned into musical instruments.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20Every bell produces thousands
0:16:20 > 0:16:22of different notes called partials.
0:16:22 > 0:16:27As bell master, it's Andrew's job to tune these partials.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31So what we've got is a modern bell that's harmonically tuned
0:16:31 > 0:16:34and, if memory serves me, it's somewhere round about note B.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37BELL RINGS
0:16:37 > 0:16:41But what we're actually hearing there is not just one note,
0:16:41 > 0:16:44there are five very obvious notes
0:16:44 > 0:16:46fairly low down in the human hearing range.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50The lowest is where the whole bell is resonating in and out,
0:16:50 > 0:16:52if you can imagine that.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54And that's called the hum note.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58LOW NOTE RESONATES
0:17:00 > 0:17:03And now the next partial is an octave above that.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06Again, another note B.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09HIGHER NOTE WHISPERS
0:17:09 > 0:17:11- It's magic, isn't it? - Beautiful.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14And then we've got a minor third
0:17:14 > 0:17:17which is the mournful sound you get out of a church bell.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19HIGH NOTE RESONATES
0:17:19 > 0:17:22- Right, there it is. - And then there's another octave.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24Another B, the nominal.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27VERY HIGH NOTE JUST AUDIBLE
0:17:27 > 0:17:31That one is the most important one in terms of determining the pitch of the bell,
0:17:31 > 0:17:35cos although it doesn't come out strongly when you hit it with a fork,
0:17:35 > 0:17:39it's that one that drives the pitch that the ear perceives.
0:17:39 > 0:17:41If I strike the bell again...
0:17:41 > 0:17:42ALL NOTES RESONATE RICHLY TOGETHER
0:17:42 > 0:17:45All of a sudden, you can hear all of those partials.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48The mind can reconcile it because it's just had it pointed out to it.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51Why is it that a bell produces so many notes?
0:17:51 > 0:17:54It's to do with the complexity of the shape.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58You've got, if you like, the marrying together of two shapes.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01You've got this vase-shaped aspect to the bell
0:18:01 > 0:18:03where it comes up and it's flared out,
0:18:03 > 0:18:07and there is some modes of vibration that are involved in the whole body of the bell,
0:18:07 > 0:18:09certainly the hum note - the lowest one we can hear.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13In addition to that, you've got the ring-driven mode of vibration
0:18:13 > 0:18:17which is, if you could imagine lopping the top part of the bell off
0:18:17 > 0:18:19and just having a ring of metal,
0:18:19 > 0:18:24and imagine that vibrating in a mode that's effectively at right angles
0:18:24 > 0:18:26to the way that the whole body vibration goes.
0:18:26 > 0:18:31And that is the one that gives the very much more intense harmonics.
0:18:35 > 0:18:36Up until the 19th century,
0:18:36 > 0:18:41tuning a bell was an unsophisticated process that consisted largely of
0:18:41 > 0:18:44hacking chunks of metal from the rim of the bell.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49But in the 1860s, John William Taylor I became obsessed with
0:18:49 > 0:18:54the fact that all English bells sounded out of tune.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57For decades, he and his sons experimented
0:18:57 > 0:19:01until they had devised a completely new system of tuning.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05Using perfectly pitched tuning forks
0:19:05 > 0:19:08and a huge vertical borer, Taylor started to reach
0:19:08 > 0:19:12parts of the bell which had hitherto been left untouched,
0:19:12 > 0:19:16allowing the main partials in the bell to be isolated and tuned.
0:19:18 > 0:19:23Machining metal out of the bell counter-intuitively actually lowers the pitch of the bell.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26By machining metal, say, out of the corner of the bell,
0:19:26 > 0:19:28we can lower the fundamental.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31By machining the sound bar of the bell, we can lower the nominal.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34- That's a lot of metal that's come out of there.- Yes.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38So this is the computer programme
0:19:38 > 0:19:41and you can see there's a discrete set of peaks
0:19:41 > 0:19:44which relates to each of the partials.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48A desired finish pitch, and then it tells you in sense,
0:19:48 > 0:19:51which is a hundredth of a semitone, how are away we are from that.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55And having seen that, I can then relate that to how much metal
0:19:55 > 0:19:58needs to be machined off it in order to get the finished result.
0:19:58 > 0:20:03- Obviously, this is of paramount importance. If you took too much off, you've blown it.- Absolutely, yeah.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06Well, you don't look worried.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09- Well, we're a bell factory. - THEY LAUGH
0:20:09 > 0:20:14Taylor's produced their first set of harmonically tuned bells in 1896.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18Since that date, they have cast and hung
0:20:18 > 0:20:21some of the most important bells in the country.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24Among them, in 2009,
0:20:24 > 0:20:28the 12 bells of Great St Mary's in Cambridge.
0:20:32 > 0:20:37Charles has decided that whatever music he creates with tower bells,
0:20:37 > 0:20:40change-ringing must be at the heart of it.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43And one of the ringers from Great St Mary's, Philip Earis,
0:20:43 > 0:20:45has offered to help him compose
0:20:45 > 0:20:48something completely new for the event.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51From my side, I think...
0:20:51 > 0:20:56there are several very attractive arrangements of bells.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59So, I say we start with rounds. A straight scale.
0:20:59 > 0:21:021, 2, 3, ,4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06There's a very well-known change where all the odd-numbered bells ring first
0:21:06 > 0:21:09and all the even-numbered bells ring after that, so the interval...
0:21:09 > 0:21:12CHARLES HUMS THAT PATTERN
0:21:12 > 0:21:16Exactly, exactly. And that change is called Queens.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19OK, so your challenge
0:21:19 > 0:21:22- is to get to go from here to here... - Mmm.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24..but moving only one bell at a time.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27- Oh, goodness. It's like doing a Rubik's Cube.- It is.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30We might start just swapping six and seven.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33What Philip is composing is called a method.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36A mathematical pattern for ringers to follow,
0:21:36 > 0:21:40so that they can ring countless changes without repeating any.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43The earliest methods have names like Grandsire and Plain Bob
0:21:43 > 0:21:47and were first recorded in 1668
0:21:47 > 0:21:49by Fabian Stedman in his book, Tintinnalogia.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55Methods allow ringers to ring changes almost endlessly,
0:21:55 > 0:21:58but any performance of 5,000 or more
0:21:58 > 0:22:01is recorded for posterity and called a peal.
0:22:01 > 0:22:03The longest peal that has been rung,
0:22:03 > 0:22:07which I was in and which David Pipe was in, was 72,000 changes
0:22:07 > 0:22:11on six bells. That lasted a bit over 24 hours.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14What did you do about, like, toilet breaks?
0:22:14 > 0:22:16Er, that was slightly delicate.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20We, er, for food, drink and toilet breaks, as you might imagine,
0:22:20 > 0:22:22there are some challenges there.
0:22:22 > 0:22:27We managed to...this was ringing hand bells, so we had two hand bells each, so our hands weren't free.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31- Did someone else have to, you know? - No, er... - HE LAUGHS
0:22:31 > 0:22:34There was once a peal of 40,000 changes rung on tower bells,
0:22:34 > 0:22:38- and for toilet breaks a bucket was passed around for that. - HE LAUGHS
0:22:38 > 0:22:40That was an all-male band.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43We had a sort of arrangement
0:22:43 > 0:22:46which babies more frequently are used to, really,
0:22:46 > 0:22:48- to cover for our toilet breaks. - Did you?
0:22:48 > 0:22:50And, of course, it must feel terrible
0:22:50 > 0:22:52if you are the one that lets the side down?
0:22:52 > 0:22:55Once, when I was ringing a long peal,
0:22:55 > 0:22:59the ringing broke down after about 13 or 14 hours.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03As we'd been ringing for quite a long time, one of the ringers tried to feed themselves.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05It was like a Greek tragedy,
0:23:05 > 0:23:08watching the bell just go from order into chaos.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11What did you do? Walk out with your tail between your legs?
0:23:11 > 0:23:13There was a bit of silence for a while,
0:23:13 > 0:23:17then we decided we would go to the pub and have a few beers
0:23:17 > 0:23:19and find a date when we could do it again.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22In due course, we did manage to complete the peal.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24Anyhow, back to the work in hand. So...
0:23:26 > 0:23:27That should be a six.
0:23:27 > 0:23:292, 4, 6, 8, 10...
0:23:29 > 0:23:321, 3, 2, 5, 7, 4, 9, 6, 8, 11, 10, 12,
0:23:32 > 0:23:3611, 9, 7 and 5, 3, 1.
0:23:36 > 0:23:37HE SIGHS
0:23:37 > 0:23:41Well, my head is just bulging with numbers - rrrrrrr! -
0:23:41 > 0:23:44running through like some abacus gone mad.
0:23:44 > 0:23:49It definitely takes a very particular kind of mind and a mind that I don't have, really.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53Philip, however, could eat, breathe and sleep numbers - he would feel complete comfort.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56It is really interesting to understand that
0:23:56 > 0:23:59within the world of music, which is a very broad world,
0:23:59 > 0:24:05there are some almost intangible things to some of us.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08My whole approach to music, my experience in music and how it's made
0:24:08 > 0:24:10has come from such a contrary position -
0:24:10 > 0:24:16not a contrary position, but a very different position. So I find it baffling. Interesting, but baffling.
0:24:16 > 0:24:22With Philip, Charles has now devised one element of his piece of music.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25But the limitations of tower bells and change-ringing
0:24:25 > 0:24:27are still causing him concern.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30It's obvious that we should base the performance
0:24:30 > 0:24:33here in the Market Square, equidistant between the three towers
0:24:33 > 0:24:36but - and it's a big "but" - I had really hoped that
0:24:36 > 0:24:39the bell towers would be able to give me more melodic interest.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42But the fact is, for all sorts of good reasons,
0:24:42 > 0:24:44they're stuck in change-ringing.
0:24:44 > 0:24:45I need another element.
0:24:45 > 0:24:50Also something to root us here. To give us a reason to be here. To cement the whole thing together.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55In search of a solution, Charles has come to Bottisham,
0:24:55 > 0:24:59a small village about five miles outside Cambridge.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03MUSIC: "If I Were A Rich Man" from Fiddler On The Roof
0:25:03 > 0:25:05Here at Mary Batten's house,
0:25:05 > 0:25:08the Bottisham Hand Bell Ringers meet every Wednesday night.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38Bravo. Thank you very much indeed.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40Wow. It's so nice to hear that sound.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43I've been in that kind of wonderful, great big brash world
0:25:43 > 0:25:46which is tower bell-ringing for the last few days,
0:25:46 > 0:25:48and to hear the sweet, unctuous tones
0:25:48 > 0:25:51of your hand bells is a really lovely contrast to that.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54I sense a lot of passion for hand bell-ringing in the room.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58How long have we been ringing? About 24, 25 years?
0:25:58 > 0:25:59- Yes, some of us.- I would say.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02This team has been ringing 24, 25 years?
0:26:02 > 0:26:03Not the same people, obviously.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06- How long have you been hand bell-ringing?- Five years.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10- And how long have you been ringing? - Same.- So you came into it together?
0:26:10 > 0:26:15Wow, that's an amazing thing. I try and do things with my kids and they go, "Don't, Dad, it's embarrassing!"
0:26:15 > 0:26:18How lovely that you don't feel this about your mum.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20LAUGHTER
0:26:20 > 0:26:24- He's saying nothing. - Moving on!
0:26:24 > 0:26:27I'm intrigued to know that you've never played anything from memory,
0:26:27 > 0:26:30only because obviously the nature of it is that
0:26:30 > 0:26:33you are very, very focused on what's in front of you.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36- Yeah, oh yes. - And we never smile.- Ah!
0:26:36 > 0:26:39No, you look like you're in pleasure, a pleasurable mode.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41- Yeah, yeah.- You don't look grim.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45I'm intrigued because, because what is music if it's not communication?
0:26:45 > 0:26:49In a way, when music really lifts off, certainly I find as a conductor,
0:26:49 > 0:26:54is when the orchestra with whom I'm working are so familiar with the music they're finding the spaces
0:26:54 > 0:26:58in between having to hoover up the information, if you see what I mean.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02- Yes. Mmm.- The difference with this is you're playing a part
0:27:02 > 0:27:06and so it's not always as easy to pick up the direction of where you're going.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10That's such a valid point. Normally with any melodic instrument you are used to,
0:27:10 > 0:27:14- to, spinning melodies.- Yes. - And you play all the notes of that melody,
0:27:14 > 0:27:17whereas you were all kind of individual components
0:27:17 > 0:27:19within a larger organism.
0:27:19 > 0:27:20It's like a rehearsal.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24If we've got one person missing, you haven't got the complete tune.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27Have you tried ringing bells yourself?
0:27:27 > 0:27:31A little tiny bit. Not very much.
0:27:31 > 0:27:32MUTED LAUGHTER
0:27:32 > 0:27:34Why, do you want to challenge me?
0:27:37 > 0:27:41MUSIC: "Oh What A Beautiful Morning" From Oklahoma
0:27:45 > 0:27:47As with their weightier cousins,
0:27:47 > 0:27:50hand bells have been around for centuries.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54In medieval times, they were used to ward off evil spirits
0:27:54 > 0:27:56and rung when someone passed away.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59But playing tunes on hand bells
0:27:59 > 0:28:01really took off in the Victorian period.
0:28:01 > 0:28:05Competitions were held in the Belle Vue Gardens in Manchester,
0:28:05 > 0:28:07attracting hundreds of teams.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11And in musical halls up and down the country,
0:28:11 > 0:28:15tappers and novelty ringers became staple acts.
0:28:31 > 0:28:35- Oooh.- Hang on a minute.- We're not together at the end of it.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38Oh I missed the first time bar! I'm so sorry. Oh dear, oh dear.
0:28:38 > 0:28:40Oh, dear, oh, dear!
0:28:40 > 0:28:42I'm glad you get things wrong as well.
0:28:42 > 0:28:46I tell you what, the real challenge for me, I thought, "Blimey, it's suddenly a B flat
0:28:46 > 0:28:50"and I've got a B and an A here," and I'm like this!
0:28:50 > 0:28:53Hey! Terrible. Much to your amusement, I notice.
0:28:53 > 0:28:55Thanks for the support.
0:28:55 > 0:28:59It's a completely different way of thinking. It's fascinating.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01It's been great to meet you all.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04Thank you for, for letting me come to your, to your session.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08- And I'm be seeing you all soon. - Thank you for coming.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11- Yes, we look forward to it. - Great, cool. Thank you.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14- Cheerio, Charles. - Cheers. All the best. - ALL: BYE.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17Charles' plan is to devise a performance
0:29:17 > 0:29:20which combines some church bell change-ringing,
0:29:20 > 0:29:22with some hand bell tune-ringing.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25But these are two worlds which normally never mix.
0:29:25 > 0:29:27I can make a piece of music
0:29:27 > 0:29:29featuring bells work on a number of different levels.
0:29:29 > 0:29:32Er, at the most sophisticated,
0:29:32 > 0:29:35it might be a wonderfully challenging experience
0:29:35 > 0:29:39for the players, but I think what I, what's really clear
0:29:39 > 0:29:42is there are certain limitations to the way hand bell-ringers work,
0:29:42 > 0:29:45just as there are certainly limitations
0:29:45 > 0:29:47to the way that tower bell-ringers work.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50I'm not going to be able to get them to do some wonderful extended thing
0:29:50 > 0:29:53with lots of kind of flashy passages and fanfare-like moments.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56Indeed, I can't even have too many different ideas.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59I think the key thing is going to be simplicity,
0:29:59 > 0:30:02so that everyone can kind of really lock into the groove, as it were,
0:30:02 > 0:30:05of one principal musical narrative.
0:30:05 > 0:30:09So I've got to be immensely careful about not being overly ambitious,
0:30:09 > 0:30:14and my instinct is always to try and push further, go further beyond...
0:30:14 > 0:30:17and I just have to rein that in slightly.
0:30:20 > 0:30:23Determined to keep it simple, Charles decides
0:30:23 > 0:30:28to base his final piece around one well-known folk tune.
0:30:30 > 0:30:34For a long time, it was popularly held that Greensleeves
0:30:34 > 0:30:39was written by Henry VIII, a monarch with close connections to Cambridge.
0:30:42 > 0:30:44He founded Trinity College,
0:30:44 > 0:30:48and completed the world-famous King's College Chapel.
0:30:52 > 0:30:54Now that Charles has chosen his tune,
0:30:54 > 0:30:56he must arrange it for hand bells.
0:30:56 > 0:30:59The key challenge is to find ways of marrying
0:30:59 > 0:31:02what are actually very disparate things -
0:31:02 > 0:31:04tower bells and hand bells.
0:31:04 > 0:31:08Our performance will have started with some very fiery change-ringing.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11Then off the back of that, the hand bells can start very,
0:31:11 > 0:31:14very nakedly and gently to pick out the tune.
0:31:14 > 0:31:17By the time we're getting into the second verse,
0:31:17 > 0:31:20gradually, I'll unleash more harmony from the hand bells,
0:31:20 > 0:31:23and the kind of figuration I'm going to use is based on the changes.
0:31:23 > 0:31:27I've got here, written out on a stave,
0:31:27 > 0:31:30the exact notes of the changes that will have been played
0:31:30 > 0:31:33in the first portion of the piece by towers.
0:31:33 > 0:31:34Do you see, like falling scales -
0:31:34 > 0:31:38# Ya dah, dee dah, dee dah, dee dah, dee-dah-dah bom. #
0:31:38 > 0:31:41That's going to be the essence of the harmony,
0:31:41 > 0:31:43so that the hand bells have a direct correlation
0:31:43 > 0:31:45to what the tower bells have been doing.
0:31:45 > 0:31:51Charles has managed to gather 30 hand bell players from across the Eastern Counties,
0:31:51 > 0:31:55and borrowed two five-octave sets of bells.
0:31:55 > 0:31:58I've got some sympathy with Rossini right now -
0:31:58 > 0:32:02Rossini, amazing Italian composer, very fast composer
0:32:02 > 0:32:04and he'd write operas in, in sort of record time,
0:32:04 > 0:32:07but he'd leave the overture till the end,
0:32:07 > 0:32:10because the overture is the first piece of music the audience hears.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13It introduces all the themes, all the main characters,
0:32:13 > 0:32:16so obviously it's the last thing the composer invariably writes.
0:32:16 > 0:32:21And Rossini would apparently leave the writing of the overture later and later -
0:32:21 > 0:32:24on some occasions, even to the very day of the first performance,
0:32:24 > 0:32:29and the theatre managers would be screaming, "When is Rossini going to write the overture?!"
0:32:29 > 0:32:34And apparently they would lock him in a room, they'd give him one plate of cold pasta
0:32:34 > 0:32:37and one glass of wine, and he wasn't allowed out until he'd finished.
0:32:40 > 0:32:45Although some hand bell players work from numbers, in the same way as tower bell-ringers,
0:32:45 > 0:32:49everyone here tonight can read conventional musical notation.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53The D on the quavers is the first...
0:32:53 > 0:32:56Most simply mark in their own parts.
0:32:58 > 0:33:00Right, ladies and gentlemen!
0:33:00 > 0:33:02First of all, it's fantastic to have you all here.
0:33:02 > 0:33:06Thank you so much for giving up part of your precious Saturday
0:33:06 > 0:33:09to come and involve yourselves in this kind of experiment -
0:33:09 > 0:33:13strange and hopefully wonderful musical experiment based around bells.
0:33:13 > 0:33:17Now, the tune that I want to use at the heart of this piece is Greensleeves.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20It contains that kind of essential English quality,
0:33:20 > 0:33:24what Shakespeare called the dying fall.
0:33:24 > 0:33:26In other words, it's essentially melancholic, as I suppose
0:33:26 > 0:33:29we all are essentially a little melancholic.
0:33:29 > 0:33:33You know - it does rain a lot in our country, and the thing about the dying fall...
0:33:33 > 0:33:38HE SINGS TUNE OF GREENSLEEVES # Dah dee, dah dah-dah-dah, dying fall
0:33:38 > 0:33:41# Dah dah dee, dah dah-dah-dah, dying fall. # Right? And that repeats.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44Brief burst of sunshine in the chorus -
0:33:44 > 0:33:50# DAH, DAH, dah-dah, dying fall, dah-dah-dee dah-dah-daaah... # Right?
0:33:50 > 0:33:55There we are, that's the English race personified in melody, as far
0:33:55 > 0:34:00as I'm concerned. So, er, let's have a little go and see how we get on.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03So nice and slow. One, two...
0:34:03 > 0:34:09THEY SLOWLY PLAY GREENSLEEVES One, two, three, one, two...
0:34:22 > 0:34:24One...
0:34:31 > 0:34:33One...
0:34:35 > 0:34:38One...
0:34:38 > 0:34:39OK, good. Good, good, good.
0:34:39 > 0:34:45Ladies and gentlemen, fantastic for a first effort. Fantastic.
0:34:45 > 0:34:48Now, ladies and gentlemen, look carefully at bar 66.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51Hands up here who's a tower bell-ringer... Two.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54Well, I'm very pleased to say to you that Queens
0:34:54 > 0:34:56has found its way into Greensleeves at exactly this point.
0:34:56 > 0:35:01DECREASING IN PITCH # Dah dah, dee dah, dee dum Bee dah, dee dah, dee dum... #
0:35:01 > 0:35:05Right? Hurrah! The tower bell comes to the hand bell.
0:35:05 > 0:35:09So, let's try from 66 and see how we get on.
0:35:09 > 0:35:12THEY PLAY THE PASSAGE
0:35:24 > 0:35:27UNEXPECTED CHORD Mmm, a sudden and very spicy harmonic shift there.
0:35:27 > 0:35:33Suddenly an F-sharp major 7! Which should shock the hell out of the audience.
0:35:33 > 0:35:35LAUGHTER
0:35:35 > 0:35:38Let's have a long pause on that magnificent chord.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41THEY PLAY THE SAME PASSAGE
0:35:42 > 0:35:44Now...
0:35:45 > 0:35:47THEY ARRIVE AT THE CHORD
0:35:51 > 0:35:54Bravo, ladies and gentlemen. A very good evening's work.
0:35:54 > 0:35:56Thank you very much.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01Charles is keen to find every means possible
0:36:01 > 0:36:05to draw his church bells and his hand bells together.
0:36:05 > 0:36:10In his arrangement of Greensleeves, the hand bells imitate the church bells -
0:36:10 > 0:36:14and now, flying in the face of everything he's learnt,
0:36:14 > 0:36:18he's going to try to get church bells to imitate the hand bells.
0:36:20 > 0:36:24For this experiment, Charles has chosen St Edwards.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27- Ali, how's it going? Nice to see you.- And you.
0:36:27 > 0:36:32And Ali has brought along steeple-keeper and engineer Tom Ridgeman for help.
0:36:32 > 0:36:34Tom's the steeple-keeper here.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38So you, you get the essence of what it is I'd like to achieve?
0:36:38 > 0:36:40You want chiming, you want music
0:36:40 > 0:36:44- rather than just our plain old bell-ringing routine?- Yeah.
0:36:44 > 0:36:46At the heart we've got Greensleeves,
0:36:46 > 0:36:49and it would be amazing to think these six bells could play their part
0:36:49 > 0:36:51in actually sounding out elements of that melody
0:36:51 > 0:36:54and I'm very aware that with the method of change-ringing,
0:36:54 > 0:36:56- that's not going to be possible. - Yeah, that's right.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00BUT there's a system that they use in churches called Ellacombe chimes,
0:37:00 > 0:37:03where they put hammers on the bells and they use strings and pulleys
0:37:03 > 0:37:05and stuff and they can play them a bit like pianos
0:37:05 > 0:37:08that you can just play notes on.
0:37:08 > 0:37:10- So, you're controlling the clapper hitting the bell.- Yeah.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14They normally have special hammers attached to the bells -
0:37:14 > 0:37:15we don't have that,
0:37:15 > 0:37:19- but we can rig something up that sort of vaguely simulates that. - Fantastic!
0:37:21 > 0:37:24That's kind of reasonably rigid.
0:37:24 > 0:37:27Tie round the clapper, between the ball and the fly.
0:37:27 > 0:37:30Tom's plan is to use string and a pulley
0:37:30 > 0:37:33to attach the clapper directly to the bell rope.
0:37:33 > 0:37:35Right, there we go.
0:37:41 > 0:37:43Extraordinary! HE LAUGHS
0:37:43 > 0:37:47I mean, it's like Heath Robinson comes to the bell tower, really, isn't it?
0:37:47 > 0:37:49MUTED CHIMING
0:37:56 > 0:37:58I think we're onto something, aren't we?
0:37:58 > 0:38:01It's so exciting that they're blazing a new trail.
0:38:01 > 0:38:03They haven't tried this before...
0:38:03 > 0:38:06but it does mean that we can play something of a Greensleeves...
0:38:06 > 0:38:10well, a fragment of the Greensleeves melody on these bells.
0:38:10 > 0:38:12I'm really thrilled.
0:38:12 > 0:38:14I wonder if they'll be loud enough,
0:38:14 > 0:38:16but you know, we'll only know by trying.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18MUTED CHIMING
0:38:19 > 0:38:21That works!
0:38:21 > 0:38:25When Tom and Ali have rigged all six bells,
0:38:25 > 0:38:29they gather the ringing team to see if they can make musical history.
0:38:29 > 0:38:32So, if we were to do the first phrase,
0:38:32 > 0:38:37we'd be going, erm... # Five, three, two, one. #
0:38:39 > 0:38:41- Shall we just try that? - Yeah, so you're first.
0:38:41 > 0:38:44I'm five, you're three, two, one, right? So...
0:38:47 > 0:38:50Hear that? Yay!
0:38:50 > 0:38:53The first four notes of Greensleeves. Amazing!
0:38:53 > 0:38:57- Surely the first time ever in this amazing old tower.- Absolutely!
0:38:57 > 0:38:58So we now extend it.
0:38:58 > 0:39:01Obviously, we're missing a note because, strictly speaking, we go
0:39:01 > 0:39:08# Five, three, two, one da, one, two, four, six. #
0:39:08 > 0:39:10OK, so just see how far we get there.
0:39:10 > 0:39:13- Yeah, but you will need to conduct. - All right... Here we go then, so...
0:39:20 > 0:39:22SHE PLAYS WRONG NOTE
0:39:22 > 0:39:23- Oh!- Oh!
0:39:29 > 0:39:31# Bah. # THEY CHUCKLE
0:39:42 > 0:39:44# Bab bah-bah. #
0:39:47 > 0:39:48Ah! How nice.
0:39:48 > 0:39:50I'm just delighted with that!
0:39:50 > 0:39:53- Do you think Henry VIII would be thrilled?- Yes.
0:39:53 > 0:39:55I think he'd be thrilled, wouldn't he?
0:39:55 > 0:39:57The other historic thing about what we're doing,
0:39:57 > 0:40:00it seems to me, is that we are ringing dotted rhythms.
0:40:00 > 0:40:04# Dum-dah pah-bee pah-pah bee. #
0:40:04 > 0:40:07Now, you never get dotted rhythms in change-ringing, or obvious reasons,
0:40:07 > 0:40:09you just get... Right?
0:40:09 > 0:40:13These bells must be thinking, "What on earth is going on to us!"
0:40:13 > 0:40:14THEY LAUGH
0:40:14 > 0:40:16PEALING BELLS
0:40:16 > 0:40:18Things are starting to come together.
0:40:18 > 0:40:22The only thing Charles is missing is a rousing finale,
0:40:22 > 0:40:25something he hopes the ringers of Great St Mary's
0:40:25 > 0:40:27can help him deliver.
0:40:28 > 0:40:30So what I'm really excited to hear
0:40:30 > 0:40:32is what would happen if you had a chord.
0:40:32 > 0:40:34For instance, just two bells, then three bells,
0:40:34 > 0:40:37then four bells, then five. Is that really hard to do?
0:40:37 > 0:40:39- That would be pretty hard... - Would it?
0:40:39 > 0:40:42But we're going to do this. OK, we'll do this. So...
0:40:42 > 0:40:45Phil's going to start...
0:40:45 > 0:40:48and we'll say two whole pulls... and then two whole pulls,
0:40:48 > 0:40:53two whole pulls and everyone joins in two whole pulls later.
0:40:53 > 0:40:55So everyone's going... She's gone.
0:41:03 > 0:41:07OTHER BELLS JOIN IN, SLIGHTLY OUTOFTIME
0:41:07 > 0:41:10Playing chords on church bells is rare.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13BELLS FALL INTO TIME
0:41:13 > 0:41:18Sometimes on special occasions or at the end of a wedding ceremony,
0:41:18 > 0:41:21all the bells of the church will ring in unison.
0:41:21 > 0:41:23This is called firing...
0:41:24 > 0:41:28..but it's never done quite like this.
0:41:28 > 0:41:30Stand.
0:41:35 > 0:41:36Yes!
0:41:39 > 0:41:42You've made an old man very happy, that's incredible!
0:41:42 > 0:41:45Absolutely incredible. You were grinning from ear to ear.
0:41:45 > 0:41:47Well, yes, well, we don't do that every day.
0:41:47 > 0:41:49Or every year, really.
0:41:49 > 0:41:51You were all in such great control of your bells.
0:41:51 > 0:41:55- Presumably you could get periodically slower, you could do a rallentando.- Could do, yeah.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58Yeah, and how would that work? Would someone be calling?
0:41:58 > 0:42:01Would you call an up-beat or...
0:42:01 > 0:42:05These things have never been done, Charles...
0:42:05 > 0:42:08- you're pushing back the barriers. - I'm pushing back... OK.
0:42:08 > 0:42:10So, the only other thing I'd like to do is a more tuneful firing.
0:42:10 > 0:42:12I'd just love to hear what would happen
0:42:12 > 0:42:13- if you had a three-note chord.- Yeah.
0:42:13 > 0:42:17I can guarantee this is the first time this has EVER been done.
0:42:25 > 0:42:27Rallentando!
0:42:39 > 0:42:40Stand.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47See, that was difficult.
0:42:47 > 0:42:49Yeah! That was amazing.
0:42:49 > 0:42:51- Really amazing! - We need to practise that!
0:42:51 > 0:42:53Of course, but the principle is a good one,
0:42:53 > 0:42:56- and those two chords are so beautiful.- Yeah.
0:42:59 > 0:43:03Charles now has all the elements for his final performance,
0:43:03 > 0:43:06and the groups are busy rehearsing their parts.
0:43:11 > 0:43:13But with everything going full-steam ahead,
0:43:13 > 0:43:16Charles is taking a day out of his hectic schedule.
0:43:16 > 0:43:20- Hello.- Are you Trevor?- I'm Trevor. Hello, Charles, good to meet you.
0:43:20 > 0:43:22- Thank you for having me here. - Welcome to Bourneville.
0:43:22 > 0:43:25Charles has come to Bourneville,
0:43:25 > 0:43:30the model village created by the chocolate manufacturer George Cadbury in the 1890s,
0:43:30 > 0:43:33and he's here to see an extraordinary instrument -
0:43:33 > 0:43:39a cross between a church tower and an organ, called a carillon.
0:43:39 > 0:43:42So now we have the, er, carillon right in front of us, here.
0:43:42 > 0:43:44- There are 48 bells...- 48 bells?!
0:43:44 > 0:43:4648 bells.
0:43:46 > 0:43:49The largest bell, which is the one right at the top there,
0:43:49 > 0:43:51is three and a quarter tonnes in weight
0:43:51 > 0:43:56and the smallest one is 12 pounds in weight
0:43:56 > 0:43:59and it's chromatic four octaves, but with the lower C sharp missing.
0:43:59 > 0:44:02BELLS PEAL AN INTRICATE TUNE
0:44:05 > 0:44:09The first carillon was built in Belgium 500 years ago.
0:44:12 > 0:44:15Despite widespread use throughout the low countries,
0:44:15 > 0:44:17carillons didn't make it over to England
0:44:17 > 0:44:20until George Cadbury had this one built in 1906.
0:44:33 > 0:44:37Trevor has been playing here every week since 1965.
0:44:37 > 0:44:43FURIOUS AND INTRICATE MELODY OF BELS OF MANY PITCHES
0:45:20 > 0:45:24Blimey! What do I owe you for that, then? That was extraordinary!
0:45:24 > 0:45:26Whatever you think it's worth.
0:45:26 > 0:45:30You started off with quite a lick with your quavers, then I saw the semiquavers go.
0:45:30 > 0:45:34- I thought, "How on earth is that going to be possible?!"- Yeah.
0:45:34 > 0:45:38One thing that you are absolutely able to get with this instrument
0:45:38 > 0:45:41is light and shade. One of the things about tower bells
0:45:41 > 0:45:43is that there is really only one dynamic level.
0:45:43 > 0:45:46You can't affect how hard or otherwise the clapper hits the bell.
0:45:46 > 0:45:48Here, you've got a lot of control.
0:45:48 > 0:45:50Total control, yes.
0:45:50 > 0:45:53This mechanism here will either shorten or lengthen
0:45:53 > 0:45:56the linkage between the clapper and the key,
0:45:56 > 0:45:59so you've got that potential for pianissimo or...
0:46:01 > 0:46:02Fortissimo, yeah.
0:46:02 > 0:46:04And the other thing that makes this different
0:46:04 > 0:46:06from a standard keyboard instrument
0:46:06 > 0:46:08is that you can't play static chords.
0:46:08 > 0:46:13What you can do is arpeggiate. That means you're very busy filling in the harmony all the time.
0:46:13 > 0:46:18Although you're playing music written for the piano or some other instrument,
0:46:18 > 0:46:20you've got to try and produce the sound
0:46:20 > 0:46:24that was intended by the composer for the original instrument.
0:46:24 > 0:46:27And that involves doing a lot to convert it into music
0:46:27 > 0:46:30and to make it passionate, if that's the word.
0:46:30 > 0:46:34It does require effort. You need to exploit the full range of dynamics
0:46:34 > 0:46:36that the instrument's capable of giving,
0:46:36 > 0:46:40from the very loud, and obviously, it can be very loud,
0:46:40 > 0:46:42or very quiet as well.
0:46:42 > 0:46:45- Right, can I have a go? - Certainly you can, yes.
0:46:50 > 0:46:52You mentioned this evening hymn...
0:46:52 > 0:46:55PLODDING MELODY
0:47:04 > 0:47:08- All right so far?- That's a very familiar tune in Bournville!
0:47:09 > 0:47:13Charles is an organ scholar who has performed in public countless times.
0:47:13 > 0:47:18I've slightly gone over, haven't I? Cor blimey, it's very, very weird!
0:47:18 > 0:47:20But the technique used to play a carillon
0:47:20 > 0:47:22is like no other instrument.
0:47:22 > 0:47:24CHARLES HUMS ALONG
0:47:24 > 0:47:29JUMBLE OF TOLLING BELLS
0:47:29 > 0:47:32Something like that. And then how does one employ the left hand?
0:47:32 > 0:47:33My goodness me!
0:47:39 > 0:47:41I really can only do right hand...
0:47:41 > 0:47:43- We could do a duet, you know.- Yeah.
0:47:43 > 0:47:45MANY BELLS RING AT ONCE
0:48:04 > 0:48:06Hey-hey!
0:48:06 > 0:48:11Charles has now experienced the full range of music bells have to offer.
0:48:13 > 0:48:15With nothing left to learn,
0:48:15 > 0:48:19it's time to unveil his unique bell extravaganza.
0:48:30 > 0:48:35Charles is going to be conducting the three church towers using a video link.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38This is a system common in operas
0:48:38 > 0:48:41where the conductor needs to signal to an off-stage chorus,
0:48:41 > 0:48:45but it's never before been used to conduct bell towers.
0:48:45 > 0:48:52For the purposes of our piece today, GSM is one, OK.
0:48:52 > 0:48:53STAG's is two.
0:48:55 > 0:48:58St Edward's will be three. What could possibly go wrong(?)
0:48:59 > 0:49:02We could forget!
0:49:02 > 0:49:04With the help of Max and Katrina,
0:49:04 > 0:49:09Charles fits the bells of St Andrew the Great with half muffles -
0:49:09 > 0:49:11leather pads designed to dampen the sound.
0:49:11 > 0:49:14I just think it's going to sound stunning.
0:49:14 > 0:49:17I've never actually ever heard a half-muffled ring before.
0:49:20 > 0:49:23Yeah, the moment of truth is fast approaching.
0:49:23 > 0:49:27I mean, we've had rehearsal time, but it's been in isolated chunks.
0:49:27 > 0:49:29They're all separate building blocks
0:49:29 > 0:49:33and it's only in the performance that we see if they fit together.
0:49:34 > 0:49:36So that is the most nerve-wracking thing about it.
0:49:36 > 0:49:39But, you know, I'm a chancer.
0:49:39 > 0:49:42I'm one of life's chancers, and that's why I like performing.
0:49:42 > 0:49:46Because when you get out there, the only way is forwards.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54Ladies and gentlemen, a very good afternoon to you all.
0:49:54 > 0:49:59We are here today to celebrate something very, very special
0:49:59 > 0:50:02and deeply ancient within our culture,
0:50:02 > 0:50:05and that is the music of bells.
0:50:05 > 0:50:08And we are going to attempt something for you now
0:50:08 > 0:50:10which has never, ever been attempted before.
0:50:10 > 0:50:16We're going to attempt to make a special piece of music,
0:50:16 > 0:50:20which combines three sets of tower bells and about 30 hand bells.
0:50:20 > 0:50:24Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Bells of Cambridge. The Sound Of Bells!
0:50:30 > 0:50:34BELLS PEAL REPEATEDLY DOWN A SCALE
0:50:55 > 0:50:58SECOND TOWER JOINS IN PEALING DOWN A DIFFERENT SCALE
0:51:04 > 0:51:09CHANGE-RINGING BEGINS
0:51:21 > 0:51:24CACOPHONY OF BELLS, SOME MUFFLED, SOME CLEAR
0:52:12 > 0:52:14BELLS STOP
0:52:19 > 0:52:22ETHEREAL RINGING AND SCRAPING
0:52:35 > 0:52:40ONE SET OF BELLS BEGINS FALTERINGLY TO PLAY "Greensleeves"
0:52:51 > 0:52:54THE MELODY CONTINUES, THEN FALTERS AGAIN
0:52:57 > 0:52:59THE MELODY CONTINUES
0:53:08 > 0:53:10PAUSE
0:53:11 > 0:53:15THE "DYING FALL" REPEATS
0:53:17 > 0:53:21AGAIN THE "DYING FALL", THEN TOWER BELLS CEASE
0:53:25 > 0:53:28HAND BELLS PICK UP MELODY
0:53:43 > 0:53:46BELLS BEGIN TO HARMONISE THE MELODY
0:54:30 > 0:54:35MELODY CEASES AND HAND BELLS BEGIN CHANGERINGING PEAL
0:54:45 > 0:54:47THEY STOP
0:54:50 > 0:54:53HAND BELLS RESUME MELODY WITH FALLING CHANGERINGING
0:56:14 > 0:56:19HAND BELLS AND CHURCH BELLS CHIME ALTERNATELY
0:56:30 > 0:56:35BELLS CHIME ALL AT ONCE
0:56:58 > 0:57:01APPLAUSE
0:57:14 > 0:57:17Everyone, take a bow!
0:57:17 > 0:57:18- Phew!- Well done, you!
0:57:20 > 0:57:23I started this experiment thinking,
0:57:23 > 0:57:27"Wouldn't it be amazing if this very particular kind of music
0:57:27 > 0:57:31"that the church bells make... could it be expanded upon?"
0:57:31 > 0:57:35"Could it extent beyond its slightly narrow parameters?"
0:57:35 > 0:57:39What I suppose I've learnt as a result of doing this project
0:57:39 > 0:57:43is that, no, it can't, in one respect.
0:57:43 > 0:57:46Bells are hung and work a certain way,
0:57:46 > 0:57:50so change-ringing has a very good reason for existing as it does.
0:57:50 > 0:57:56But it's answered to be a whole bunch of questions about what you might combine that music with.
0:57:56 > 0:57:59Not only the hand bells and their lustrous harmonies,
0:57:59 > 0:58:04but also the idea of bringing another tower and then another tower to bear on it.
0:58:04 > 0:58:07The very fact of change-ringing occurring as it has always occurred
0:58:07 > 0:58:11in combination with another tower also change-ringing, but offset,
0:58:11 > 0:58:13you create a very special kind of music.
0:58:13 > 0:58:18It's one of the most delightful outdoor musical experiments
0:58:18 > 0:58:19I've ever been involved in.
0:58:40 > 0:58:43Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:43 > 0:58:46E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk