Now, as to published music. I/we (my ringers) were innovative in numerous ways for creating different musical effects upon handbells. The kinds of things we did simply COULD NOT be notated into a format such as "3-5" octaves. The creative transcriber will approach a 3-octave version quite differently from the approach to a 5-octave version! (Also the 4-octave
version!)

Several years ago AGEHR went in a quite different direction from the path I followed. Simply put: My goal was to raise the handbell concert to the respected level of a symphony (substitute what you will: choir, organ, piano, band) concert. God knows, in 1952 (when I got into handbells) we had a long way to go. Many of my church musician collegues were reluctant to get into handbells at the time; upon asking one friend, the reply was, "I don't know; I heard a bell choir once." Think about that one.

It is hard to understand that in those early days true virtuoso ringing of symphonic overtutes, etc. was already long since being done in England; over here, we simply did not know that handbells could be played in such a grand manner. However, through experimenting endlessly, some of us slowly began to achieve those kinds of results!

I am not interested in "choreographing" my presentation (such as the exaggerated arm movements of the Japanese); nor will I permit my ringers to perform a MARTELLO. We will simply play as musically as we can—always concentrating upon the end result: THE MUSICAL SOUND.

In my opinion, AGEHR has chosen to preserve some of the CIRCUS aspects of our humble beginnings. AGEHR has made its choice; I have made mine.

Now, back to the matter of published music. It is obvious that publishers must invest less in creating a catalog (and inventory) of music where ONE PUBLISHED VERSION might serve the needs of people with 3 octaves, also 4 octaves, also 5 octaves. Too bad that artistry must suffer as a result.

Some overall observations:

1 - NEVER use 3 notes in a chord texture if 2 will suffice; NEVER use 4 notes in a chord texture if 3 will suffice; etc.

2 - NEVER use close intervals in the bass (nothing narrower than a 5th); there is no real bass in handbells (remember the octave transportation?); treat the bass bells with the same harmonic respect you would the bass of other instruments.

3 - NEVER use close intervals in the high treble range; the ear begins to hear more "clang" than specific chordal notes; intervals of 5th, 6th, and 8th are easier to hear.

4 - The whole L.V. concept (taken from Dale Wood's "harpist" thinking) is a mistake. It is similar to the selective damping availble to the pianist (all-or-nothing = sustain pedal) or the individual control of finger legato (as far as it can be applied). There is not much to be said for the sostenuto pedal since, as  result of my informal survey, practically no pianist uses it (though I do)!

Handbells are a percussive instrument of precise musical pitches. If you compare our playing of them (bell choirs as opposed to "solo" ringers) with all other percussive musical instruments with precise musical pitches, a bell choir has more TOTAL control over the damping of INDIVIDUAL notes than is true for any other instrumentalist!

Careful attention to the precise damping of each individual bell—and the sound effects produced can impart a "textural" coloring to everything you play.

5 - The producing of (what I call) SYNTHETIC TONES has, so far as I know, not been explored by anyone other than me and the Martin Ringers. (Rhythmic "punctuation" upon a cluster of high-pitched bells.) But they are effective! More so than using conventional percussion instruments: triangle, etc. with handbells.

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