Hand bells are among the oldest and most widely used musical instruments. A person uses a hand bell by holding it by the handle and rapidly moving it up and down. The clapper, or striking device, hits the bell’s wall as a result of the movement. The vibrations caused by the strike produce a ringing sound that can be tuned in some cases. English hand bells, Dutch hand bells, and chimes are the most common types.
Tuned hand bells are usually purchased in sets of a certain number of bells and are intended to be rung by a group. By tradition, each member of the group is in charge of one or two bells, though some smaller groups may require players to be in charge of more than two bells. The players listen to music that tells them when to play their tuned bell or bells. The effect is similar to a choir of bells singing in unison.
The most widely recognized type of bell is the English bell. They are most often made of brass and resemble a traditional school bell with a bell-shaped wall and a leather or wooden handle. They are chromatically tuned, which means that an octave set of bells contains one bell for each of the octave’s 13 possible notes.
Dutch hand bells are very similar to English hand bells in appearance, with the exception of the emphasized overtones. There is no such thing as a completely pure tone produced by a bell. A fundamental, or intended note, exists in every bell, as well as overtones, which are perceived as less important by the human ear. It’s similar to vision in that one eye may be weaker than the other, but the image seen by the person remains clear.
The secondary tone focus on the 12th above the note, a perfect 5th, is possible with English hand bells. The 10th, or minor 3rd, is the focus of Dutch bells. The same note played by the two types of bells has a slightly different tone quality as a result of this variation.
Traditional hand bells are more expensive, so chimes are a cheaper alternative. They’re frequently seen in schools and youth groups, where they’re used for group music lessons. Hand chimes have a mallet-shaped striker at the top and are long metal rectangles held on end. The striker rocks out and back to strike the metal and produce a tuned vibration when the player moves the hand chime forward and back.
A percussionist’s hands are usually full of other types of hand bells. Cowbells and sleigh bells are two types of hand bells commonly found in a drummer’s kit or in an orchestra’s percussion section. These bells are sometimes tuned to a specific pitch.