BELLFOUNDRY — A Peal in Twelve

A bell is not one note. It is five partials — hum, prime, tierce, quint, nominal — that must sit in exact ratios, and a founder tunes a casting by shaving metal from the inside wall on a lathe. Cut the lip and the nominal drops hard while the hum barely moves; cut the crown and the reverse happens. Twelve commissions, from a bright treble to a bourdon with a unit and a half of spare wall, and metal only ever comes off: shave too deep and the casting cracks. Tuned by ear under one hanging lamp.