Those are bells?

At Harmony Hall (again, a fabulous venue), we gave masterclasses to three handbell ensembles local to the Fukui area. What fun! They brought a piece of music and three of us (me, Jim, and... who?) worked with them. Other Sonosians helped out with suggestions and feedback. My group was ringing an arrangement of "Sakura," which was awfully convenient for me, since we happen to play a fabulous arrangement of that by the late, great Katsumi Kodama. Working with them was really fun! However...



As we walked into the room, almost all of us did a double take and thought to ourselves "What the heck are those?"



These bells are not English handbells - they don't have a restraining spring, nor do the clappers only move in one plane. The clapper head a just a plastic sphere mounted on a simple, tubular spring attached to the center of the lightweight, metal casting. The castings are tuned, but the tonal quality is more of a "thud" than a pure bell tone. In fact, the fundamental is quite weak and has no sustain whatsoever, meaning that stacks of chords have little effect.



The pictures here are taken from the group Cheryl worked with. My group had a slightly different brand or style of bell, with the pitch indicated on a little badge that was attached to the side of the handle, and the casting lacquered (painted?) in silver, not gold. Still, I have a feeling the effect was similar.



Since normal, "rung" notes were pretty puny, most of the sound was generated by shaking. Given their construction, these bells are awfully easy to shake. That's their main redeeming quality (well, and, I'm guessing, their price!).

My group, however, was lovely to work with. Very attentive, quick to pick up my musical nuance, and eager to learn. In fact, this might be a capsule summary for most of the Japanese people that I've met over here. I wasn't really looking forward to the masterclass, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm so glad Jim asked!

Just to let you know, these are called "Music Bells" in Japanese. Michele says you can purchase them from Lark in the Morning, a well-known music store with a big Internet presence.

Your intrepid reporter, signing off,

---Jason