Cambridge Surprise Maximus on the bells of the Cathedral Church of St Michael, Coventry

[@poly_hexamethyl]

Nice video! Wow, they sure managed to cram a lot of bells into the available space. What amazes me is how they are able to control the bells so accurately from down below. From this amazing view, you can see how some bells are balanced at the top of their swing so as to prolong the delay until the next strike, and others are being pulled into a shorter arc to quicken the next blow. What's really incredible is that they are able to do this without being able to see the bells, just by listening and looking at the other ringers. And then there's the delay from when they pull to when the bells strike. And on top of all that, they also have to remember where they are in the sequence, since presumably they're doing this all from memory, without looking at any "music". Truly they must have amazing skill to do this.

[@Steven_Rowe]

It is the very fact that the bells swing through 360 degrees that allows them to swap positions, as you can either delay pulling the rope or pull it earlier to swap positions. Change r8nging means that in every sequence each and every bells sounds once and the amount of possible sequences is dependant on the number of bells. As an example with two bells then only 2 positions are possible,with 3 it it's 6 it is the factorial of the number. With 8 bells it is 40320, and with 12 it is a stageer8ng 479001600. There are some very basic rules and the li it's are set by the fact that bells are big and take time to swing. A bell can either stay in it's same position in the sequence, and a bell can only move up or down the sequence by one position at a time. Change ringing is about making sure that no sequence is repeated. A peal is a term given to a certain of changes which is slightly over 5000 changes, commonly around 5040 and can take anywhere between 2 has 40 minutes to well over 4hrs 30s depending on the number of bells and the size. With an 8 bell peal of bells it is often the case that bells 1 to 7 change places but bell 8. Known as the tenor always stays in the last position. It just happens to be that 7 factorial is 5040 changes so it is possible to ring 5040 unique changes. Change ringing isn't done from memory but it is not really donr from music. We use methods that look like a graph which shows the position of each bell . The ringer needs to remember the graph, in this case it is a method called Cambridge Maximus, maximus means all 12bells change. If you ring 5040 changes of Cambridge, the graph isn't 5040 changes long if tou simply ring the method as written after around 10 minutes or so you will start repeating the changes. How they get more combinations is my a conductor who makes calls, they are called bobs and singles, when the conductor does this certain when bells are I. Certain positions it instructs the ringer to swap over his bell with another. In Cambridge any bell that is either in 2nd position, third position or 4 th position when the conductor makes a call changes to another position. So 2 will now be 3, 3 becomes 4 and 4 becomes 2, they then continue inthe new position in the graph. This is what happens if the conductor tor calls out Bob. If the conductor calls single the 2 does change, it remains unaffected. But bells in position 3 and 4 swap over. It sounds complex but it's easy to do. There is no way any ringer could remember what bells he has to follow, he simply knows the positioning the graph.

[@happywanderer34]

These are the most beautiful ring of twelve that I have ever had the pleasure of ringing on in the early 90's I used to ring here quite regularly, no other twelve bells comes close to them

[@Organgrinder1010]

Thank you for the extensive history of the bells, and of your ringing. They make such a glorious sound!

[@clochebell]

A really wonderful tribute to the great change ringing traditions of the British Isles ... absolutely fantastic !!

[@deeremeyer1753]

It sure is amazing how the bells can be ringing in sequence in the soundtrack and yet at least half of them are "up" at any one time.

[@irkibby]

@topshed34a The first G+J bell I ever come across was the tenor at St Mary' Barton upon Humber... it makes an utterly SUPERB sound, from that I knew that G+J were capable of seriously good things.

[@teslasparksloughborough9963]

I helped raise money for these bells to be rehung back in 1987. It great they still sound good. And lots of people are enjoying them..

[@imtheman9303]

Tesla Sparks Loughborou

[@crewmantle]

This video is the most superb accounting of the Cambridge Surprise Maximus found anywhere on the net across the globe. The ringing is without rival, and the bells themselves of the highest caliber. Utterly sensational. This is how it is done.

[@markpatterson9585]

beauty,and indescribable,holy,pure,and reaches our inner soul,preparing us to the godly realms which await us,OUR REAL LIFE TO BEGIN when we shed this earthly world

[@imtheman9303]

crewmantle and

[@davidhenry3202]

Completely agree.

[@Orgelix]

Wonderful! Love it!

[@rodbicke]

Well done, if only there were more similar quality recordings

[@vasilis1380]

Fantastic..

[@irkibby]

@2000VR There certainly is, in the opposite corner.

[@irkibby]

@robertgift I'd have liked a longer piece of ringing though this striking is of a higher quality than if i'd have videoed from the beginning of the ringing. And yes, I had some ear defenders on... they have been a very wise aquisition!

[@poly_hexamethyl]

Funny, when the bells are up and you can see the white area where the clapper hits and has damaged the inside of the bell, the damaged area seems to extend quite a bit wider than the size of the clapper. Does it mean that, at one time, the clappers weren't mounted very rigidly and swung all over the place, hitting the bell in different places?

[@ariefnugroho2145]

YIKES THE BELLS IS SO MANY!

[@Steven_Rowe]

A nice video and well struck. Fillets made fine bells. Sydney town hall clock bells are gillets. How good would the old Bow peal have sounded before WW2

[@irkibby]

@bellboy222 My current camera does not capture the fullness of sound that I would like, everything comes out a bit tinny. But a big advantage is that it does capture belfry volume extremely well with no crackle. I do not have much experience of these well known glorious Gillett rings so can't really say, but from my own limited experience they do sound G+Jlike.

[@giovannimatheus974]

irkibby ïig

[@campanophile67]

Wonderful!

[@justpuca9378]

Poor bell In the bottom left corner 1:00

[@RingerThomas]

Ah. That’s just the flat sixth to make a light eight when they need it.

[@AbdulShakoor-br1jo]

Quite satisfying if you ask me.

[@steelswarfs]

Very complex!

[@robertgift]

Wonderful! Thank you forecording this and posting it. Would like all 10 minutes which KZbin allows. (Hope you were wearing hearing protection.)

[@irkibby]

@dwigley1977 And scored into the white paint there are indeed arrow marks. It's just amusing that they are this utterly fantastic bells and somebody just sloshed white paint on them

[@irkibby]

@clochebell Many thanks, here at Coventry we have an unusual good view of the bells, with enough light

[@jordantrivett3587]

Can you make more videos of this Cathedral with The bells

[@irkibby]

@323mooman Catch the attention of the ringers through the glass screen.

[@chesteranderson8437]

The bells are scary. Just to know a pile of bells coming at you.

[@irkibby]

@glocke4 No they have not. I do not know why the white paint is on the bells!

[@bellboy222]

A good clear recording of a quality twelve, well done! Is it only me that thinks that these dont have the typical, instantly recognizable Gillet+Johnston sound about them? Like Halifax and the Croydon twelves do? These sound more like a Taylor ring to me, although I know full well they're Gillets!

[@RingerThomas]

Because they’re not tuned to the Major 3rd Hum thing. Gilletts were only tuning Major 3rd bells in the 1910’s to 20’s but from then it was stopped. Rochester Are a good example of it.

[@bellboy222]

@@RingerThomas Tell me something I don't already know!

[@RingerThomas]

@@bellboy222 Hmm. That the headstocks aren’t gilletts. And they were hung by Taylor’s after the old ring was broken due to the cathedral being bombed.

[@bellboy222]

@@RingerThomas What, and you think I didn't already know the history of Coventry Cathedral's bells? The old ring was not broken due to the bombing in WW2. In fact, the bells had been recast in 1927, using the metal from the previous ten bells, which had been unringable for a long time previously, due to tower structure issues. They survived the bombing intact. After a long study on the tower structure, it was concluded that the tower could hold the bells safely if hung for ringing lower down the tower. An appeal was launched, and Taylors refitted the bells and hung them for ringing in 1987. It was one of the most interesting projects to have happened in my lifetime

[@RingerThomas]

@@bellboy222 Nice one. You didn’t tell me that you knew. That’s what I thought you didn’t know.

[@irkibby]

@2000VR Also the flat sixth is not being rung

[@moncky2000]

Are these on plain bearings or roller bearings?

[@irkibby]

Neither, modern ball bearings, as installed as part of the hanging of them for change ringing in 1987

[@moncky2000]

Ah ok. I was just wondering why they are slow at turning

[@chadblackwell5861]

moncky2000 because they're big bells! The trebles are slow turning because the trebles of of a 12 need to be slower so they are more compatible with the swing speeds of the larger bells.

[@SamRudolph-e5v]

It’s crazy that Gillett and Johnson casted Coventry cathedral bells.

[@nyarome8436]

It looks like you could fall in there. Scary thought.

[@joeritchie7286]

Nyaromel Its best that anybody dosnt look down for too long. You might get vertigo

[@TheMickhowes]

what was the 13th bell used for

[@irkibby]

the bell not in use in the corner is the flat 6th bell, it is used instead of the actual sixth bell sometimes so that a true octave can be rung, which are bells 2 to 9 of the 12

[@TheMickhowes]

irkibby thanks for that, great sounding ring.

[@jordantrivett3587]

It's like a Liverpool Cathedral the sharp second bill is only used on some occasions

[@thaonguyennguyen6567]

yes

[@bellboy222]

@irkibby , have a listen to one of the vids of Wimborne Minster, they're what I would call "typical" Gillets, and compare that to this recording. It is not your camera, there is a big difference. My ear is not as perfect/ well trained as some, but if someone had played me this while I was blindfolded, then I would have said "Taylors"!

[@omriboehm7180]

🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗😯😯😯😯😯😯🥴🥴🥴🥴🥴 wow!

[@irkibby]

@exposed97 How so?

[@oss06]

Great !

[@__Rher_]

what camera did you use to film this?

[@thaonguyennguyen6567]

what 15 bells

[@jordantrivett3587]

Very pretty bells

[@theboywhodroveaway7954]

Yes indeed!!! :)

[@jordantrivett3587]

why in the video do the bells have a greenish color?

[@theboywhodroveaway7954]

+Jordan Trivett I don't no

[@johnmulvey7890]

Because they are made from a copper alloyed with tin. Copper always colours green after being exposed to the atmosphere for a while.

[@theboywhodroveaway7954]

Thank you very much.

[@MsPepper1969]

Tonen?

[@mariaharris9314]

Hi my name is Michael

[@JointedStudios]

Why is there 2 cards on each side of each bell?

[@irkibby]

It's paint! When they were hung in 1987 these bells had never been rung with swinging clappers, so there were no clapper indentations to figure out how large to make the clappers. Someone decided to daub paint where they thought the clappers would be and scratched markings, to get correct measurements. It looks odd.

[@JointedStudios]

@@irkibby Interesting. I have no idea why I called them "cards" haha.

[@endangfatmawati2336]

Bells ada😊😊😊😊❤

[@moncky2000]

I can see the #9th bell at the top left of the video which is hung dead

[@irkibby]

Yep! Look closely and you can see the dark metal structure which holds the electromagnetic hammer at the side of the bell, which strikes it for services

[@moncky2000]

So the dark zig zag frame is just for a hammer?

[@moncky2000]

Also I'm ringing at a place called Bengeo that has 8 bells with small wheels on the 2 trebles. Why would you have small wheels?

[@irkibby]

moncky2000 So they're relative to the speed of the bells, and the dynamics of the ring as a whole

[@theboywhodroveaway7954]

+irkibby Beutiful bells!!!

[@juanzingarello4005]

Why did I think they would have automated this by now?

[@irenec4876]

Cause you have utterly no idea about what ringing is. It is not just about bells ringing for church services baceuse if it was they wouldn’t be rung anymore by hand. It is about the heritage of ringing and the history. It is about tradition of ringing changes on bells. It is also a very social activity. If you want to see automated bells look at bells in germany or italy.

[@ferdinandbiaddang3864]

18:34

[@champagnesylvie-lavieenfra1378]

🚨 🚒Hello there 🚎🚎🚦 Greetings from *FRANCE*🐥🐦🦈Madame Sylvie is in visit on this channel🐬🐋 Be bless everybody 💒

[@alethetravel5633]

R I P EARPHONE

[@nikospodas6201]

that bell next to the 5th is it a extra bell?

[@theadrien1937]

no, it rings for services with a electromagnet hammer

[@timmeh1507]

SPANKING!!!

[@Taco636]

Sounds like Grantham

[@irkibby]

@Arlberg09 Fantastisch

[@ZagyPenpendeSarapen]

....

[@ceruz2000]

0:00❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@garson9937]

nice, but i think one bell sounds better

[@nikospodas6201]

13 BELLS

[@irkibby]

ACTUALLY 14

[@fredmills368]

Nope 15

[@rosetaxdcanadasfernandez6046]

@@fredmills368 nope 14

[@irkibby]

@TheCorny54 33-3-6

[@giorgiaberengo911]

The

[@aidenrosten9853]

hi

[@caohung5053]

1

[@TanNguyen-mw3yc]

?

[@hegeytterdal8417]

Gummibear

[@imtheman9303]

P

[@fernandaguedes2716]

Is birifol

[@Mp-sj1pm]

Sorry but Ugly sound