What is "change ringing"

Change \Change\, n. [F. change, fr. changer. See Change. v. t.]

1. Any variation or alteration; a passing from one state or form to another; as, a change of countenance; a change of habits or principles.

   Apprehensions of a change of dynasty.
   --Hallam.

   All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.
   --Job xiv. 14.

2. A succesion or substitution of one thing in the place of another; a difference; novelty; variety; as, a change of seasons.

   Our fathers did for change to France repair.
   --Dryden.

   The ringing grooves of change.
   --Tennyson.

3. A passing from one phase to another; as, a change of the moon.

4. Alteration in the order of a series; permutation.

5. That which makes a variety, or may be substituted for another.

   Thirty change (R.V. changes) of garments.
   --Judg. xiv. 12.

6. Small money; the money by means of which the larger coins and bank bills are made available in small dealings; hence, the balance returned when payment is tendered by a coin or note exceeding the sum due.

7. [See Exchange.] A place where merchants and others meet to transact business; a building appropriated for mercantile transactions. [Colloq. for Exchange.]

8. A public house; an alehouse. [Scot.]

   They call an alehouse a change.
   --Burt.

9. (Mus.) Any order in which a number of bells are struck, other than that of the diatonic scale.

   Four bells admit twenty-four changes in ringing.
   --Holder.

   Change of life, the period in the life of a woman when menstruation and the capacity for conception cease, usually occurring between forty-five and fifty years of age.

   Change ringing, the continual production, without repetition, of changes on bells, See def. 9. above.

   Change wheel (Mech.), one of a set of wheels of different sizes and number of teeth, that may be changed or substituted one for another in machinery, to produce a different but definite rate of angular velocity in an axis, as in cutting screws, gear, etc.

   To ring the changes on, to present the same facts or arguments in variety of ways.

   Syn: Variety; variation; alteration; mutation; transition; vicissitude; innovation; novelty; transmutation; revolution; reverse.

n. ringing tuned bells in a fixed order that is continually changing

Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a controlled manner to produce variations in their sounding order.

Change ringing originated following the invention of English full-circle tower bell ringing in the early 17th century, when it was found that ringing a bell through a large arc of swing gave more control over the time between successive strikes of the clapper. This culminated in ringing bells through a full circle which allowed ringers to easily produce different striking sequences; either called out by one of the ringers, known as "Call changes", or continuously changing sequences following mathematical rules, known as "Method ringing".

The considerable weights of bells employed in full-circle ringing means that they cannot be easily halted, and the change of speed between successive strikes is limited. Therefore in change ringing each bell strikes once in each sequence, and only moves one place in the striking order of successive sequences. These constraints give change ringing its basic rules for generating sequences, which are known as "changes". Control is exerted by the ringer when each bell is mouth upwards and moving slowly near the balance point, and the rope management involved means that each bell nearly always requires its own ringer. The weight of a tower bell means it can only strike once about every two seconds—the time for a full rotation in one direction.

Although change ringing is practised worldwide, it is by far the most prevalent on church bells in English churches, where it was first developed. Such a church's ring of bells requires each bell to swing freely for slightly more than one revolution in alternate directions. Change ringing is also performed on handbells, and on carillons (where the bells are fixed and struck with hammers) though both of these instruments are more commonly used to play conventional melodies and employ harmonies.