For the Solar eclipse of 2023-04-20, I travelled to Australia and to Exmouth. On the way back we had a free day in Perth, which gave me the opportunity to visit the Swan Bell Tower and film the ANZAC Bell ringing.
The Swan bell tower consists of:
- a set of tubular bells;
- a coin-operated chime of 26 bells, where visitors can choose the tune to be played;
- the Mark Creasy Turret Clock, connected to 4 Westminster chime bells and 1 hour strike bell;
- a set of 18 bells for change ringing, the so-called Swan bells, of which 12 originate from Saint-Martin-in-the-Fields, London, UK;
- the Upton Grey Bell, from c1550, cracked on display, the oldest bell in Australia;
- the ANZAC Bell, the heaviest bell in Australia.
.....Veem, Canning Vale, WA, 2016
.....F# -- fa#2 -- fis0+07
.....6480 kg --- 221.0 cm as given on dove.cccbr.org.uk/tower/16028
The ANZAC Bell is the largest swinging bell in Australia and is a lasting memorial to Australian and New Zealand servicemen and women involved in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations around the world. It is rung every day at noon.
Frequency analysis of the ANZAC bell: beiaardgent.be/frequencies_per...
Frequency analysis of the Westminster chimes: beiaardgent.be/frequencies_per...
Bells are typically a bit lighter than my estimate of the weight. This may be due to the lack of a crown, a different than standard profile, or a different composition of the alloy.
The small Westminster bells have extremely heavy profiles. The analysis shows that the hums, primes, minor thirds and nominals have been tuned, but not the fifths.
The Westminster chime was filmed at 11 o'clock, while the sound was recorded at 2 o'clock. In the video we have combined these to a 12 o'clock chime, thereby compensating for the differences in tempi between both chimes. Note that in reality the ANZAC bell started ringing a little before 12 o'clock. The Westminster chimes can in fact be heard in the background when listening carefully.
Sources:
dove.cccbr.org.uk/tower/16028
www.thebelltower.com.au/
Many thanks to Michael Collinson for the guided tour to the tower, the change ringing, and the opportunity to film and record the sound of the ANZAC bell at the most optimal spots. Thanks to the person who took me to the Westminster chime at 2 o'clock for the sound recording. Thanks finally to Urania and Erwin Boffé in particular for organising the trip to Australia and foreseeing the free time in Perth to visit the tower.
25 май 2023
