(church bells)
- [Ben] It's a soundheard for miles in D.C.
But it begins with a pull of a rope.
- A lot of people seemto believe that the bells
are run through mechanicalmeans with a machine.
(church bells)
- [Ben] Instead bells are rung by hand
in a series of short touchescalled change ringing.
This style dates back tothe early 17th century
where in England it was usedto call people to worship.
- Every village church has it in England.
Right, if you see a British movie
and there's the wedding,
you hear those bellsringing in the background.
- [Ben] This soundtraveled across the ocean
to the states where the practice continues
in places like the WashingtonNational Cathedral.
- He's pulling two strokes.
The one when the bell goes this way
and the one when the bell goes this way.
- When you pull down, youdon't wanna pull the rope
you want to pull the sally.
- To start, yes.
You always start by pulling the sally.
The bell goes around in a 360 degree turn.
- [Ben] The bell swings in a full circle
which allows the speed ofthe bell to be changed.
The larger the arc, theslower the rate of striking.
- We ring, not tunes,
we ring mathematical permutations.
And that's what we're learning.
They're called methods.
- So this is the method thatwe would ring on five bells.
This is the method we'd ring on six bells.
This is the simplest method that we ring.
- The challenge then is tobe able to time your bell
so it's in the right place.
If I'm number three like Rob is right now,
he has time it so twobells are in front of him
and three are behind him
until the method,
now the method has been called.
Rob is now ringing in,now he's in third place.
Now he's still in third place.
Now he's in secondplace, now he's leading.
- To put things into perspective
the sheer size of these bells,
I'm six feet tall and this bell
is about the same size as me.
This is the tenor bell.
It is the heaviest changering bell here in the U.S.
Weighing in at 3,588 pounds.
The Washington RingingSociety is behind the music.
It's run entirely by volunteersages 15 to 80 years old
from all backgrounds.
Teachers, computer programmers,doctors, and musicians.
They travel up an elevator
to one of the highest points in D.C.
to perform and practice weekly.
- It's a team sport in a way
because each person isringing his or her own bell.
But you have to ring itwith the other people.
It's like dancing, you really have to be
moving in rhythm with your body.
- A computer just spitting out a perfect
bum, bum, bum, bum, bum,bum, bum, bum, bum, like that
and we put I suppose you'dsay some heart into it
because of our imperfections.
- [Ben] This type of ringing is only done
in a few places across the U.S.
The music can be heard inD.C. after Sunday service
at the National Cathedraland on federal holidays
and civic occasions.
The group recently rang a quarter peal
following the service of formerPresident George H.W. Bush.
Ben Kennedy, CBN News, Washington.
(church bells)
