Within the structural area you are currently working in (i.e. the part of the church grounds currently being used), mentally subdivide the area into roughly 6 equal areas (see Spatial Layer - structural).
In change-ringing, a method is a type of composition where each bell is rung once in each row, and where each row is different. In some methods (a “full peal”), every possible permutation of the number of bells is rung, while others use a portion of the permutations - but the important thing is that there is no repetition of rows within a method. In more general musical terms, this is analogous to arranging the same notes in each bar but always in a different order, until the end of the tune. After a method is complete, change ringers normally return to playing in rounds (which is the distinctive sound of each bell played in order from highest to lowest).
In the standard notation, a row represents a unit of time in which each bell is rung once in consecutive order (from left to right on the grid). As bells can’t move, the bell-ringers tend to continue to ring the same bell, and the resulting melody is changed by altering the position of each player in the row. So, here is a snippet (from the start of Plain Bob Doubles, a famous method for five bells):
1 2 3 4 5
2 1 4 3 5
2 4 1 5 3
4 2 5 1 3
4 5 2 3 1
5 4 3 2 1
5 3 4 1 2
3 5 1 4 2
3 1 5 2 4
1 3 2 5 4
etc.
In the snippet to the left, each number represents 1 bell: e.g. the bell which is highest in pitch is numbered 1. The music could also be laid out purely in linear time like this:
1 2 3 4 5 2 1 4 3 5 2 4 1 5 3 4 2 5 1 3
etc.
So the notation used seems to arise from the need for a clear way to divide the music into time units where each bell-ringer plays once, and giving them a clear way to track who they play after: bear in mind that different bells speak at different (sometimes very slow) speeds, so the issue of timing is a much more taxing musical, logistical and physical task than most musicians are used to.
Bell-ringers are constrained by being unable to move physically, and unable to play multiple notes. As performers of small, portable instruments are constrained in neither of these ways, reflecting this change notation by getting each player to focus on one note didn’t seem that interesting. Because of that, I decided to treat these rows spatially.
The church grounds have been divided into multiple areas (depicted in the Spatial Layer - structural tab of this score). Each area is sub-divided into six sectors.
The piece will be conducted by the composer, who will call changes via walkie talkie. This will save you memorising the different methods we will play. (see bottom of page for TL;DR)
In our notation, we use the same grids as used in change-ringing methods, but we use a completely different translation in order to convert the notation from one which depicts bells over time into one which depicts the location of musicians over space and time.
It works like this:
So, for example:
1 2 3 4 5
2 1 4 3 5
2 4 1 5 3
4 2 5 1 3
4 5 2 3 1
5 4 3 2 1
5 3 4 1 2
3 5 1 4 2
3 1 5 2 4
1 3 2 5 4
etc.
J
o
a N
n i R J
n c o i
a k b n
1 2 3 4 5 ← 1st position
2 1 4 3 5 ← 2nd position
2 4 1 5 3
4 2 5 1 3
4 5 2 3 1
5 4 3 2 1
5 3 4 1 2
3 5 1 4 2
3 1 5 2 4
1 3 2 5 4
etc.
In this example:
As well as making a translation between change-ringing methods and the musicians/the grounds of the church, this also offers a way of ensuring that the musicians are constantly changing position while never repeating the same combination of placements of musician.
In practice, musicians will only need to memorise their position in the call list, and will actually never need to see the bell notation. So basically, all you need to know is: