Books › A dictionary of musical terms, 1889 › scan 64
Scan 64
A dictionary of musical terms, 1889
92 lines. Read by computer on 12 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1and the whole mould is firmly imbedded in the earth, leaving only the holes at the top visible.
3
5The above diagram shows the position of mould ready for the metal. A is the core, B the cope, F the channel for the metal to run in, E the hole for the air and gases to escape during the casting, and the thick black line the section of the bell. When the metal is quite ready, the furnace-door is opened, and the molten mass rushes down a channel, previously prepared, into the moulds sunk in the pits, and excepting mishaps, from insecure "bedding," the splitting of the cope, or other accidents, the bell is cast, and, when cold, is dug from the pit, the clay mould destroyed, and the bell is ready for the next process, that of tuning. The tuning is effected by means of a lathe and some simple machinery. If the bell requires sharpening, the diameter is lessened in proportion to its substance, if it is too sharp, the sound-bow is thinned by the same means; but, as a rule, bells are now so accurately cast, that little if any tuning is necessary after the bell leaves the mould. It is stated in "Knight's Encyclopædia, 1854," that the German bell-founders made the various dimensions of the bell to bear certain ratios to each other. The thickest part where the hammer strikes is called the "Sound Bow." If this thickest be called one, then the diameter of the mouth equals 15, the diameter of the top or shoulder 7 1/2, the height equals 12, and the weight of the clapper 1/40 of the weight of the bell.
7Denison recommends that the sound bow of the three or four larger bells of a peal should be of the thickness of a thirteenth of the diameter, and that the smaller bells may gradually increase in thickness up to the twelfth in a peal of six, the eleventh in a peal of eight, and to the tenth in a peal of ten or twelve, greater thickness impeding the freedom of the sound.
9The bells of the Cathedral at Exeter, one of the largest peal of bells in England, the greater number of which were cast in 1676, have the following weights, diameters, and tones;—
11<table>
12 <tr>
13 <th>WEIGHT.</th>
14 <th>DIAMETER.</th>
15 <th>TONE.</th>
16 </tr>
17 <tr>
18 <td>Cwt. qr. lb.</td>
19 <td>Ft. in.</td>
20 <td></td>
21 </tr>
22 <tr>
23 <td>67 1 20</td>
24 <td>5 11 1/2</td>
25 <td>B flat.</td>
26 </tr>
27 <tr>
28 <td>46 3 14</td>
29 <td>5 4 1/2</td>
30 <td>C.</td>
31 </tr>
32 <tr>
33 <td>38 1 16</td>
34 <td>4 11</td>
35 <td>D.</td>
36 </tr>
37 <tr>
38 <td>30 1 12</td>
39 <td>4 7</td>
40 <td>E flat.</td>
41 </tr>
42 <tr>
43 <td>21 0 0</td>
44 <td>4 1</td>
45 <td>F.</td>
46 </tr>
47 <tr>
48 <td>15 0 0</td>
49 <td>3 10</td>
50 <td>G.</td>
51 </tr>
52 <tr>
53 <td>12 2 0</td>
54 <td>3 4 1/2</td>
55 <td>A.</td>
56 </tr>
57 <tr>
58 <td>10 1 2</td>
59 <td>3 1 1/2</td>
60 <td>B flat.</td>
61 </tr>
62 <tr>
63 <td>9 3 20</td>
64 <td>3 0</td>
65 <td>C.</td>
66 </tr>
67 <tr>
68 <td>8 3 20</td>
69 <td>2 9 1/2</td>
70 <td>D.</td>
71 </tr>
72</table>
74The relative diameters of a peal of eight tuneable bells should be according to the following proportion: 60, 53 1/2, 48, 45, 40, 36, 32, 30. The relative weights being generally in the proportion, 100, 70·23, 51·2, 42·2, 29·63, 21·6, 15·18, 12·5.
76Belly. The upper plate of the resonance-box. In instruments of the Violin and Guitar family the strings are stretched over the belly, and the bridge across which they pass is so placed as to set the belly, and by its means, the air contained in the resonance-box, into vibration. In instruments of the Pianoforte class, the belly is that thin plate of fir-wood which, placed behind the strings, acts as a sound-board. Instead of an upper plate of wood, the guitars of many of the less civilized nations have a stretched parchment. The belly thus formed answers all the purposes of resonance for which it is intended; the Kissar of Nubia, the Banjo of the American negroes, the Nanga or Negro Harp which shares the combined designs of a guitar and harp, may be quoted as examples.
78Bemes or Beemes. Saxon Trumpets or Bugles.
80"Of brass they broughten beemes and box,
81Of horn and bone, in which they blew and pouped,
82And therewithal they shriked and they houped;
83It seemed as that the heven shulde falle."
84Chaucer. "Nonne preestes tale." See also the "Romaunt of the Rose."
86Bémol (Fr.), Bemolle (It.) The note B♭.
87Ben (It.) Well. Ben marcato, well and clearly marked.
88Bene (It.) Well. Used as an expression of approval during a performance.
89Benedictus (Lat.) [Mass.]
90Bene placito (It.) At pleasure, ad libitum, e.g., "Bassani's Ballate corrente, Gighe, e Sarabande, a violino, e violone, overo spinetta, con il secondo violino à bene placito" (1684).
91B quadro (It.) The square B or 4, that is, B durum or natural, as opposed to the 7, soft B, B molle, or rounded b which, in its slightly altered outline, is now known as a flat. That the note B was the first note altered by an accidental, accounts for the fact
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.