Sitting to ring

[Alison O'Connell]

I have a ringer who uses a wheelchair. She is able to stand for very short amounts of time whilst holding most of her weight on something sturdy, which allows her to transfer to a stool, where she sits to ring. We push a bass bell box in front of her stool to give her a good footrest. I totally agree with those that say that she is less able to ring with good technique because of the sitting position. I've tried ringing sitting down to get a feel for what she is dealing with and it's hard work. You lose a lot of the ability to shift your weight and use the body to ring. Rapid bell changes are extremely difficult as she can't shift from side to side. Also, to be tall enough to ring at the table, the stool is then too tall for her knees to fit underneath, so she has to sit lower. She's an excellent musician and I know it must frustrate her. Let's not start talking about concert venues without wheelchair access... she puts up with a lot. :S I'd love to find her a better solution.

We also have another stool, which is used for pregnant people. With many of our members being female and aged between 25 and 35, it seems to happen very often. In fact, we joke that if you sit on that stool, you can catch "pregnant"! :D Generally, our pregnant members always stand to ring, even when heavily pregnant, although the table is that little bit further away. They just sit for a rest in between pieces.

As a related aside, I am part of the management team of a world-class string quartet. We had a change in personnel this year, so we have a new 1st violinist and violist. In the early days of rehearsal together, they decided that they would stand to play rather than the traditional sitting position. Our 2nd violinst, who has done both in recent times, is amazed at the difference in not only the improved comfort whilst playing, but also that she feels that it's much easier to express herself musically using her whole body. She looks really comfortable and her posture is amazing. It also looks a lot more dynamic. Food for thought for musicians of all types...

Ali O'Connell
Adelaide, Australia

[Merry Lloyd]

Just wondering....would a lower table for a seated ringer give more latitude in ringing??   We too had a seated ringer in a community team  some years back and it was not the best situation. But she was a wonderful woman and loved to ring.

merry

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Merry Lloyd
Columbia River Handbells
We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust our sails.

http://merry.97048.info

[Nancy Kirkner]

I concur with what others have written about auditioned vs. church
bell groups, and the need to move to express the music. A couple of
new (and perhaps only marginally related) thoughts, FWIW:

I saw a YouTube video once of an excellent 4 in hand quartet ringing
while seated on stools. That allowed ringers to damp not only on
their shoulders, but on their lap, like table damping. I thought it
was a great idea, especially for the bass ringer.

My percussion teacher recommended I play a certain bell tree piece
while seated. That piece required reaching only strands of bells
right in front of me, not all the way around the back as some pieces
require. She pointed out (someone here made the same point) that most
instrumentalists play while seated, and sitting added stability for
this particular piece. I took her advice, and it worked well in that
situation. (I normally set the bell tree arms much lower than many
soloists, again on my teacher's advice. She pointed out she likes to
see what she's hitting. Seems obvious in retrospect!)

Now getting completely off topic (and placed here because I'm tagging
onto her thread): Ali, your lighting advice for my solo appearance
Saturday night at the Wenatchee Performing Arts Center was incredibly
helpful. The gobo on The Swan was especially effective. Thank you so
much! I hope to post video of one or two of the pieces I played. (I
forgot to warn my husband that he needed to start the new camcorder
before the lights went out before the first piece I played, and
apparently it was REALLY dark where he was....)

Nancy Kirkner
www.solobells.com

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