YouTube Links to Clips of Various Italian Styles of Bell Ringing
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"Continental" Style
First of all, the more common "random" style of ringing,
as also practiced all over Europe, but in Italy as well. The first three examples are all in France.
The bells are more or less in diatonic tuning, and are hung with big headstocks to balance them to some extent.
They are then swung freely and with no particular regard to timing.
The rope is attached to a lever on the headstock:
The church of St-Pierre de Fontans in Lozère, France
In some cases, the bells are almost perfectly balanced with very big headstocks,
and are swung in a full circle fashion, turning over the top and ringing randomly. Dreadful clatter...
The church of St Remi de Lagarde-Lauragais, France
…but can have a solemn grandeur on bigger bells:
Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris. All ten bells ringing at once.
These are Italian bells that appear to be intended to be rung full circle electrically.
It seems that this installation has seen better days and the video records an attempt to get the bells working again.
Three of the bells have electric motors to swing them, and additional external electrically-driven hammers.
The treble bell, ancient and rather battered, can only be swung by hand using a lever.
Notice that only the tenor bell can be rung up to the balance and held there electrically. Two of the others can be swung
electrically (after refitting the chains and motors), but it appears that the motor fittings
prevent them going to the balance:
San Bartolomeo Apostolo, Piana. The smallest bell was cast in 1603, the others in 1883.
Bologna Style
In Bologna and neighbouring cities, bells are hung so they can swing freely in a full circle,
but without too much counterweighting on the headstock, which means that they swing fairly quickly.
Bells are either swung, or rung full circle to the balance point, from where the timing can be precisely controlled.
Bells can be rung from below using a single rope attached to a lever on the headstock, or from above by pushing on
the headstock with the feet until the bell is upright. When using a rope, on one stroke the lever is pulled
directly, and on the other stroke the rope goes over the mouth of the bell and so somewhat more rope is required.
Sometimes when rung from above, a bells's clapper is manipulated directly to create special rhythmical effects.
Bologna Cathedral. These are much bigger bells than is usual with the Bolognese style.
The bells are thus being rung using ropes as well as being pushed and pulled from above.
The biggest bell takes several people to ring it, four at the top
and maybe six more on the ropes below. It weighs 3.3 tonnes, or nearly 65 hundredweight.
Bolgna Cathedral of St Peter
These bells are being very expertly rung solely by use of the rope.
Notice how, when the bells are ringing full circle, each ringer puts his left
shoulder under a diagonal wooden strut. This is a safety measure in case a bell goes over the balance point.
Sharp eyed viewers might spot that the clappers go up "right" in this style of ringing.
Merlano, near Bologna, Italy.
Bolognese style out of doors on a portable belfry on the back of a lorry. Notice the continued presence of the strut for the
left shoulder even when it does not form a structural part of the frame. Multi-clappering is very evident in this clip.
27 September 2009 - at the Potato Festival - Tolè (Bologna).
Barga
In Barga, they seem to favour three bells tuned to a ditaonic minor third.
The bells are swung with a single rope, from below only. You can clearly see the handstroke/backstroke
effect caused by the rope going over the mouth of the bell at one stroke.
Notice another ringer taking over control of the bell in mid swing.
Another, rather awful-sounding, Barga-style diatonic minor three bells, with a single ringer on each bell.
They start by clappering the bells, but continue using ropes in the usual Barga fashion.
San Rocca near Barga in Lucca province.
Ferrara
In Ferrara they seem to have a preference for ringing their bells from above, and in sets of four.
Notice that there no ropes attached in this case. Bells are rung full circle and are controlled from above
by ringers pushing and pulling on the wooden structures (called "goats" for some reason).
When the bells are in the upright position, the clappers may be manipulated to give
extra rhythmic effects.
Cento, near Ferra. Unusual addition of an augmented 4th. Bells cast in 17th and 18th centuries.
Mascarino, near Ferrara. Bells cast by Clemente Brighenti in 1873
Ferrara Cathedral. Classic Ferrara style, using a combination of ropes and
pushing from above. Notice also how the biggest bell is left
in the "up" position by bracing the "goat" with wooden props.
Cathedral of San Giorgio, Ferrara, Sunday 8 October 2012
Verona Cathedral Church of Our Lady of the Assumption. Bells are hung so as to ring full circle on huge wheels and very big headstocks.
There is a distinct "handstroke" and "backstroke", even though there are no sallies.
The big wheels mean that there is an enormous amount of rope that piles up on the
floor of the ringing chamber, and several ringers may be assigned to each rope.
Simple slow tunes or chords may be rung, as well as very slow Rounds.
The conductor calls out the number of each bell to be rung. In the belfry view,
notice that the clappers strike the bell "wrong" on the opposite side
of the bell from what would be expected by English ringers.
The ringing room.
The belfry.
Verona style out of doors, on a mini-ring.
This mobile belfry must be on a tour, it is nowhere near Verona!
Ambrosian System (Bergamo)
The so-called Ambrosian system employed in the Bergamo area is superficially similar to
the Verona style. The differences are that Ambrosian bells are much more heavily counterweighted, and
swing very slowly through only 270 degrees or so. They cannot quite be raised to the balance point, and so have to be held in
place by a ringer or ringers holding the rope. They are rung by simply letting go of the rope, the bell will turn 270 degrees,
sounding once, and will then turn back about 180 degrees, sounding again, from where it may be hauled up
manually almost to the balance point again. The aim seems to be to time the two blows of each bell with the other bells'
first blows to sound together in pleasing thirds.
Ambrosian style bells in Albino-Bergamo, Italy
Ambrosian ringing from inside the ringing room.
English ringers trying the Ambrosian system.
Miscellaneous Other Italian Styles
"Coppia" style ("Couples"). The bells swing freely and can turn full circle. The clappers have very long flights. The tenor is swung electrically
(the man isn't swinging the bell, he is preventing it from sounding until they are ready),
patterns are then generated by pulling the clappers against the non-swinging bells.
Reggio Style. The large tenor is rung rung full circle, by four ringers using ropes and two more at the top.
The other bells are clappered rapidly. Remarkable sound:
