Out of tune?

[Paul Kinney]

I’m conducting a piece I wrote with the bell choir at my sister’s church. There’s a lot in those few words I’ll save for another day.

 

The bells are Schulmerich. The 3rd octave was purchased about 1972. The upper 4th & 5th octave were purchased about 2008, more than 30 years later. The group performs in a U, with a short battery and long sections for both bass and treble. That puts the thimbles close to me. As we worked on the piece it sounded like the top octave was out of tune. At one time I asked the ringers to play A6 and A7 together and I heard they were not in tune. At times I heard the top octave bells alone and they sounded off, not producing a clear tone.

 

I had wondered if the 30 year age difference, though more in the sense that Schulmerich couldn’t match the pitch of something they had done 30 years before. I thought that because many years ago heard a new Schulmerich C3 that made a dreadful noise rather than a beautiful sound.

 

After rehearsal I asked the usual director (playing bass) if he had ever noticed the top octave being out of tune. He hadn’t. So I demonstrated – and I couldn’t find anything out of tune when I played in octaves.

 

Someone else pointed to the big ceiling fan doing its thing directly over where the director stands. Since rehearsal was over and the vocal choir was about to start I didn’t try turning it off.

 

Has anyone noticed a ceiling fan affecting the perceived pitch of an A7 differently than an A6?

 

Paul Kinney

Redford Aldersgate UMC, Redford, Michigan

[Phyllis Tincher]

I have a ceiling fan in the room where I practice with bells up to G7. There is a definite change in pitch when the fan is on! I first wondered what was wrong with the bells until I realized the connection with the fan. Now I just ignore it - I'd rather be cooler with the fan in the summer and ignore the out of tune sound.
Phyllis Tincher
Nampa, ID

Sent from my iPhone

[JHol...@aol.com]

It may not be the bells but the movement of the sound waves when the air from the fan collides with them.  Distorts the sound that you hear.  For example, the way a kid's voice sounds when they speak directly into a fan.  Just a thought . . .

 

Jeannine

Colorado Springs

 

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[TimR]

Absolutely a fan will do it.

It's Doppler, and I would suspect would affect frequencies differently. 

Fans drive piano tuners nuts. 

That being said, I have some Schulmerich's that are out of tune with themselves, meaning they produce beats when rung, almost like vibrato, and there are a couple of chord combinations that can be jarring. 

Try this experiment:  tower swings with different pitch bells.  That's the fan in reverse - the bell moving instead of the fan blade - but a similar principle I would think. 

[Linda Krantz]

I have always wondered why my higher bells sounded so weird when I practiced at home (directly underneath a fan!) and never anywhere else.  Thank you for solving this mystery!!!

Linda Krantz
After silence, that which comes closest to expressing the inexpressible is music.