-------- Blog of Bells ------
Wednesday night again already? Where did the week go? Or is this just deja-vu? The first thing the Trebles were doing was arguing over table space (seems to a regular event - you could even call it tradition!). Well - it wasn't really arguing. The Top Trebles were muttering (Dastardly and Muttley style) that they had bells on top of each other, whilst the Bottom Trebles were oblivious to the chunterings. Eventually, when it became clear that the subtle verbal approach was not working, physical action was taken, and bells were systematically moved down the table, until realisation dawned that discontent was in the air. But twas then all sorted amicably, and the business of ringing could begin in earnest.
So onto the next Treble problem. 7 bars into the first piece and confusion reigned. How do you get 97 notes into one bar? Particularly when not all the notes all the same length? 15 minutes of "One and ah, Two and ah, Three and ah" and variations thereof, and they've finally cracked it. The rest of the team just wanted to know which particularly "one" count they came back in on.
The big question of the night was "To pause or not to pause". 5 copies of same piece of music (in theory), all with pauses in different places - or with non-existent pauses! No wonder we couldn't keep together. But finally we were all singing from the same hymn sheet (or should be ringing from the same music sheet?).
For a team that's supposed to be in harmony, there was some discord tonight. Now it was the turn of the Bass. Having finally got into the piece and begun making progress, the Bass commented that there was too much running up and down the table - in addition to having to ring bells! (OK - so they were two ringers short, and had a last minute stand-in - but that's no excuse!) And don't why they got upset when someone said they looked like Space Invaders moving across the screen?
Onto a more familiar (and theoretically well-practised) tune. So why is it 10 bars in, a Treble screams "I need a bass G", and starts running round the table to find said bell. Everyone else stops - someone finds the much-needed bell - and we start a new game of "pass the bell the wrong way". Bell ends up in correct position on the table, but now the ringer is out of position! Whoever said you needed co-ordination for ringing bells was right - but they probably didn't mean co-ordination BEFORE you actual ring.
The end of the evening draws near, and all are approaching their physical and mentally capacity. 30+ years of ringing and counting and we still can't decide if that odd bell should be rung on "One and ah" or is it "One and ah a ah"? Enough for this week - time to head home and back to something approaching normality.
------- End of Episode 1 ----------