Bells in Her Music: An Interview with Composer Helen Ottaway
11/09/23 • 50 min
The debate around ringing and music is taken to an entirely new level in this fascinating conversation between show host Cathy Booth and composer Helen Ottaway.
Deeply inspired by the sound of bells, Helen’s passion for this shared soundscape has led from the creation of individual musical works to an entire bell-inspired festival! It’s amazing to hear what can happen when composers and ringers come together to exchange knowledge and enthusiasm across different art forms, contexts and places.
Be inspired, listen to the recordings and maybe even download the ringtone - but don’t get so carried away that you forget to turn your mobile off before that peal ...
Top Five Takeaways
- Why not get in touch with existing festivals to see if there’s a way your tower could get involved
- Given the heritage aspect of ringing, the National Lottery is a good source of funding for creative projects www.heritagefund.org.uk
- Check out the Ring Out Festival website for more inspiration https://www.rooklanearts.org.uk/ringout/
- Interested in finding out more about Helen’s work? Here are some good links to start with https://soundcloud.com/helen-ottaway/sets/ring-ring-bell-1 , https://helenottaway.bandcamp.com/album/ring-ring-bell , https://www.artmusic.org.uk/projects/ring-ring-bell/ and https://helenottaway.blog/
- If you’ve not already got a bell related ringtone, why not try one of these out https://www.zedge.net/find/ringtones/Artmusic or https://www.zedge.net/find/ringtones/Frome%20Carillon
Sponsor: This podcast is sponsored by the Association of Ringing Teachers (ART). To find out more about learning to ring, learning to teach or other resources to support your ringing go to bellringing.org
Podcast team :
Anne Tansley Thomas
Emily Roderick
John Gwynne
Emily Watts
Cathy Booth
Ringing by :
The Cambridge Youths (supplied by David Richards) and for later episodes, The Liliputters Guild (supplied by Simon Edwards).
For bellringing training and support for teachers and ringers see: bellringing.org
The debate around ringing and music is taken to an entirely new level in this fascinating conversation between show host Cathy Booth and composer Helen Ottaway.
Deeply inspired by the sound of bells, Helen’s passion for this shared soundscape has led from the creation of individual musical works to an entire bell-inspired festival! It’s amazing to hear what can happen when composers and ringers come together to exchange knowledge and enthusiasm across different art forms, contexts and places.
Be inspired, listen to the recordings and maybe even download the ringtone - but don’t get so carried away that you forget to turn your mobile off before that peal ...
Top Five Takeaways
- Why not get in touch with existing festivals to see if there’s a way your tower could get involved
- Given the heritage aspect of ringing, the National Lottery is a good source of funding for creative projects www.heritagefund.org.uk
- Check out the Ring Out Festival website for more inspiration https://www.rooklanearts.org.uk/ringout/
- Interested in finding out more about Helen’s work? Here are some good links to start with https://soundcloud.com/helen-ottaway/sets/ring-ring-bell-1 , https://helenottaway.bandcamp.com/album/ring-ring-bell , https://www.artmusic.org.uk/projects/ring-ring-bell/ and https://helenottaway.blog/
- If you’ve not already got a bell related ringtone, why not try one of these out https://www.zedge.net/find/ringtones/Artmusic or https://www.zedge.net/find/ringtones/Frome%20Carillon
Sponsor: This podcast is sponsored by the Association of Ringing Teachers (ART). To find out more about learning to ring, learning to teach or other resources to support your ringing go to bellringing.org
Podcast team :
Anne Tansley Thomas
Emily Roderick
John Gwynne
Emily Watts
Cathy Booth
Ringing by :
The Cambridge Youths (supplied by David Richards) and for later episodes, The Liliputters Guild (supplied by Simon Edwards).
For bellringing training and support for teachers and ringers see: bellringing.org
Previous Episode
How to lead: An interview with the inspiring Linda Garton
Show host Cathy Booth aims high this month in conversation with accomplished ringer and leading light Linda Garton.
Linda strongly believes that “success breeds success” and, as you’ll hear, this is amply illustrated in both her own ringing career and the winning bands that her leadership has inspired.
So muster your motivation, make a plan and put some of Linda’s practical ideas on training and development into action. You’ll then be set to celebrate all levels of ringing, from rounds right the way up to the Society of Royal Cumberland Youths* and beyond.
*Other ringing societies also available
Top 5 Takeaways
- Planning a striking competition? Open it up to all ringers, put on a picnic and make it a celebration!
- If some of your ringers need more time to master a skill, consider putting on some intensive all-day courses with small numbers
- Evolve your practices as your students progress
- Have a target – give your ringers something to aim for
- Does your tower have a set of handbells? Where’s the most unusual location they’ve been rung? Why not take them out for a day trip?
Sponsor: This podcast is sponsored by the Association of Ringing Teachers (ART). To find out more about learning to ring, learning to teach or other resources to support your ringing go to bellringing.org
Podcast team :
Anne Tansley Thomas
Emily Roderick
John Gwynne
Emily Watts
Cathy Booth
Ringing by :
The Cambridge Youths (supplied by David Richards) and for later episodes, The Liliputters Guild (supplied by Simon Edwards).
For bellringing training and support for teachers and ringers see: bellringing.org
Next Episode
The Joy of Bells: New Ringers Reflect on Their New Obsession
This episode sees host Cathy Booth catching up with three Ring for King recruits to find out what their first year of ringing has been like. And what a year it’s been!
Jessica, Lindsey and Andy have notched up an amazing collection of ‘firsts’ since starting their ringing adventure. First tower tour, first wedding ringing, first quarter peal and first striking competition have all been ticked off the list. Also worthy of note are their first ringing blisters!
Find out what they have found hard, what they have found easy and what’s helped. Turns out that ringing is not easy as it looks, but as they enthusiastically point out, if it is too easy, it’s not worth doing!
Top five takeaways
- If you’re a novice ringer, pop into the beginners bell handling practice - it will make you realise how much progress you have made!
- Looking for some reading material? Try out Steve Coleman’s books www.ringingbooks.co.uk
- If you fancy a challenge and love a list then give 50 ringing things a go https://smartringer.org/50things/
- Inspired to learn to ring? Find out more at https://bellringing.org/learn-to-ring/
- On holiday? Fancy a ring? Dive into Dove’s guide to check out a tower and find the tower captain’s contact details dove.cccbr.org.uk
Sponsor: This podcast is sponsored by the Association of Ringing Teachers (ART). To find out more about learning to ring, learning to teach or other resources to support your ringing go to bellringing.org
Podcast team :
Anne Tansley Thomas
Emily Roderick
John Gwynne
Emily Watts
Cathy Booth
Ringing by :
The Cambridge Youths (supplied by David Richards) and for later episodes, The Liliputters Guild (supplied by Simon Edwards).
For bellringing training and support for teachers and ringers see: bellringing.org
Fun with Bells - Bells in Her Music: An Interview with Composer Helen Ottaway
Transcript
Comparing composing music with composing bell ringing methods
[00:00:00] HELEN: How you compose a method, and it's very different from writing a piece of music, although it isn't in all respects, because I'm from the school of systems music and systems music does go through processes, so you might have an additive process. So the idea of going through all the possible permutations of a set of bells and changing in a systematic process is not a million
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