Show university BELLS REQUIRE ODD TESTS special trial towers ars are constructed ann arbor final testing ot of the 53 bells cost cast at the historic bell foundry of john taylor co at loughborough for the university of michigan carillon required the building of a temporary test tower duplicating the positions in which the bells will be hung in ann arbor when this was compi completed eted expert played and skilled tuners listened in every time tile the foundry completes a set of bells loughborough is licater to a concert tile the ann akbor carillon will be the third largest in the world the 53 bells together with their framework and equipment will weigh approximately pounds the weight of tile the largest bell is slightly slig lilly over pounds ancient art is an art with centuries of traditions behind it and it is an art moreover toward tile the attainment of which there is no short cut that is why there are so few notable bell foundries in tile the world modern industrial revolution has not passed this art by nor has it overlooked it it has aided it but it has failed to absorb it that is because mechanical genius is not the primary consideration involved in the case of all large ana heavy bells such as for instance a nu number riber of those in the ann arbor carillon they are cast in moulds fixed in the sandpits sand pits where they afterwards remain buried for weeks before any attempt is made to uncover them this is because their cooling must be very gradual and steady any attempt to hasten the cooling would wreck weeks of labor and cause endless financial loss tuning the bells one of the most interesting processes in bell making is the tuning of the bells the heavier the bell the deeper and more resonant is its note and when it is remembered that every bell lias has five separate and distinct notes it will realized what a delicate operation this is the five notes are the hum note an octave below the strike note the nominal note an octave above the tierce the third note the quint which is the fifth note and finally the strike note these must all symphonize it is the practice or perhaps the art to produce all bells so that the original cast gives off a note rather sharper than intended finally they are then tuned by flattening them this is how it is done A bell is stood bowl downwards on a table then it is marked off in five sections by drawing lines round it each section between the lines gives off a different note it may happen that three of the sections ring true and that two are out of harmony the second and fourth for instance to get these two sections into tune metal has to be cut away from the interior of the bell but take away too much and the bell is ruined it takes very little indeed to overdo it A giant bell the pound bell for ann arbor is more than six feet in diameter with sufficient room inside it for or quite a number of men to stand upright the bell is held in an enormous grip while the metal is reamed out the vibrations of the lower rim nm of the bell are always the greater graduating downwards the nearer you approach the top in the process of accurate tuning a simple tuning fork plays a vital part but the tuner also has delicate test instruments to aid him in his work when the bell is declared perfect by the tuner it is passed on to the sandblaster who garbed in a sheet metal suit applies sand under terrific air pressure until the bell is burnished and stands forth a thing of beauty fifteen minutes is as long as the sandblaster can work at a stretch |