Equipment

Table covers – making your own – buying supplies

See the other articles in this series, especially Table covers – choices, which discusses the most common fabrics used. Also search online for articles and videos about working with your chosen fabric, as well as any sewing techniques you want to brush up on.

Making your own table covers isn’t as difficult as making a wedding dress or a tailored suit. However, you must feel confident making things without patterns. If you hesitate to improvise, mock up the covers in muslin first. Test your ideas and make all your mistakes on muslin, which is cheap. Then buy the expensive fabric and use the muslin version as a model. If you baste the Velcro in place with large stitches, you can remove it to use on the real covers. Continue reading Table covers – making your own – buying supplies →

Equipment

Table covers – choices

Almost the first thing the audience sees at your concert is your table dressing. Make it convey the image you want to project. As a beginning soloist, you’ll probably use table covers provided by whatever organization lends you bells. If not, you can buy a length of heavy black cotton corduroy, cut to the length of your table plus 1 yard. Hem the cut ends, and lay it over the foam. Once you’ve settled on your table configuration (including height), it’s time to start thinking about performance table covers. If you decide to make your own covers, you can incorporate your piece of black corduroy as the table top, or continue to use it as a practice cover. Continue reading Table covers – choices →

Equipment

Foam pads

Foam pads on handbell tables keep bells from rolling and protect them during techniques like martellato, where the bell is “hammered” on the table. As with tables, choices you make about foam can affect the fit of your table covers, so it’s best to pin down the details before having covers made. Handbell choirs usually use foam sized to fit the table width, then cut into manageable lengths. A typical foam pad is 3’ or 4’ long by 30” wide. Preferred thickness is usually 3 or 4 inches. Most soloists use the same thickness, both because they often use equipment belonging to their church bell choirs, and because, without adjustable tables, they need foam to raise the ringing height. Continue reading Foam pads →

Bell trees, Practice tips

Bell trees: tips and tricks

As I continue researching articles on equipment, I’d like to share various tips I’ve learned in recent months of working with bell trees. I’m preparing for a group concert at a museum to celebrate the opening of a Russian art exhibit. Due to space constraints and the need to play a non-seasonal work by a Russian composer (Nutcracker would be frowned on in February), I decided to adapt Nancy Hascall’s arrangement of Orientale for bell trees. Continue reading Bell trees: tips and tricks →

Equipment

Buying bells: new vs. used (for sellers, too)

Though I’m not a professional appraiser or broker, I’ve been contacted for advice by many people interested in buying or selling bells. Here’s some information you may find helpful, whether as a buyer or a seller. In all cases, I’m talking about handbells commonly played as a musical instrument, not rare or antique bells you may collect for other reasons. Continue reading Buying bells: new vs. used (for sellers, too) →

Equipment

Buying bells: whether to buy, which range to buy, bell cases

I’ve been contacted by several people in recent weeks for advice about buying or selling bells. Though I’m not a professional appraiser or broker, I have some information to share that you may find helpful, whether as a buyer or a seller. I’ll address the needs of soloists first, and the needs of groups (like a church) in a later post. In a future post, I’ll also talk about selling secondhand bells. Continue reading Buying bells: whether to buy, which range to buy, bell cases →

Performance, Working with others

Accompanists: other instruments

Most solo handbell music uses piano accompaniment. Using other instruments can add variety to a program, but there are disadvantages as well. When buying or arranging music, check whether the other instrument is optional or an integral part of the piece. The more instrumentalists required to perform a piece, the more difficult it will be to schedule not only performances, but rehearsals. Moreover, some venues (like retirement homes) limit the honorarium they’ll pay for a performance to two musicians. So unless you’re going to play the entire program with, say, an organist or harpist, or your accompanist can play multiple instruments at different points in the program, you’ll have limited opportunities to perform pieces requiring other instruments. Continue reading Accompanists: other instruments →

Rehearsal, Working with others

Accompanists: rehearsal

If you work with an accompanist only occasionally, you don’t need advice about how to conduct your rehearsal: you scheduled the appointment for a reason, so there you are. But if you’re considering a set schedule, like a weekly or biweekly rehearsal, you may wonder how best to use the time. Though this depends on your own priorities, here’s some insight into my experience. When performing regularly with the same accompanist, there’s always something to work on. Pieces are in various stages of development: selection, learning, interpreting, polishing, rehearsing for performance, and reviewing after performance for needed improvement. Like any interesting “job,” no two days are exactly the same, but I’ll recap this week’s rehearsal to give you an idea of how my accompanist and I work together. Continue reading Accompanists: rehearsal →

A goldmine for ringers