UK Registered Charity Number: 1154107

Conservation by Re-use

Helping churches acquire surplus and/or redundant bells to be hung for

English-style full-circle bell-ringing.

Sound of Bells – Decay & Timbre

A musical instrument is usually classified as either Wind, String or Percussion. The figure shows the first six harmonics of a vibrating string. The relative amplitudes of the harmonics will depend on how the string is set into vibration (plucking, bowing or striking) the position and strength of the applied force.

The table shows part of the harmonic series for several different wind and string instruments. An open-ended organ pipe (flue pipe) generates the full harmonic series (frequency ratios 1 : 2 : 3 : 4 etc.). An organ pipe closed at one end will only generate odd harmonics (frequency ratios 1 : 3 : 5 : 7 etc.).

The second column of the table shows that harmonics of Wind and String instruments have a simple mathematical relationship to the lowest pitch  or 1st  harmonic.

The First Six Harmonics of a Vibrating String

Harmonic Series of Different Instruments