Selecting a Sequence of Tones for a Set of Russian Bells
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In the final analysis, your main consideration is tonal quality and sequence. Each foundry casts bells in a certain key. You need to make sure that your bells harmonize.
For this reason, it's useful to determine from the outset the number of bells and sequence of tones you'd eventually like to have and to develop your set in an orderly fashion. Don't know anything about bells? That's ok! Just have your choir director look over your choice to make sure the sequence works musically. And of course, the professional zvonars at the foundries will advise you, as well.
You should have a bass, a few stentorian altos, and tintinnabula that chime like tinkling crystal. Small bells don't have rich overtones, so it's easier to select them to compose musical seconds, thirds, and fourths, depending on the sophistication of your bell ringer and the customs of your local area. Usually, all the little bells are played with one hand, impressing listeners with sophisticated rhythms and beats.
But your big bells— these you want to be rich, clear, and sonorous as possible, with long-sustaining hum tones, to create and surround the listeners with an entire cosmos of sound.
We can help you with your practical, acoustical, and musical questions, so that you will aquire a set of bells that makes marvelous, powerful music.