I love a brass band anyway, but how is the the Sally Army manage a timbre all of their own? Or is it just the association with charity in my mind.
If by "timbre" you mean the Bavarian oompa quality of some Sally Army outfits, then get yourself down to the Oracle Shopping Centre (or is it now Center?) in Reading where there is a good Sally Army band. I turned out all my spare change for them at Friday lunchtime. Real people, real music, real charity; keep music live and all that. Much better than the Lions or Rotarians with their Santa floats and overly loud music, pointing buckets in your face (sorry I seem to have strayed into rant/bah humbug terry-torry.
No, I don't think it's that. It's a depth of sound that gets to my very soul. In the same way that a nice tenor church bell does.
I've always wondered. Why is it that British bells, (and British brass bands), have such an utterly different sound quality to European ones? I don't mean the whole changeringing/carrillion difference, I mean the actual quality of the sound. There's no way you'd confuse a single tolling British bell, for one tolling in Italy, or France.
As far as bells go, it is probably because we have excellent bell makers, such as the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, which has been making bells for 500 years.
Slightly belated response...
Partly what Clandy said, but there are traditions in methods of tuning bells which are peculiarly English, in both the shape of the bell itself and also any post casting tuning. Also the fact that its pretty well only us Brits who do full circle ringing, with the bell describing a full circle, rather than just waving about a bit like the continentals do. The interaction of bell and clapper during the full circle is a rather complex issue. Videoing bells in action is a rather dangerous activity but I have done it in the process of analysing a problem with a particular bell. You need bloody good ear defenders if you don't want permanent hearing loss within a minute or so!
William, now retired from the Winchester and Portsmouth diocesan guild belfry stewardship committee.
