A bell stone (also bellstone) is a rock that produces a bell-like sound when struck. A type of lithophone, bell stones are significant in ethnography and are typically identified through local written history and folklore in combination with physical archeological details such as cup-shaped depressions. [1]
Bell stones are present in the Andes, and feature in one local creation myth involving God and Supay. [2]
People in and around San Lucas Xolos in Tizayuca, Hidalgo, Mexico tell stories of "stones that sound like bells" which ring when struck with other stones. Some such stones exist at the site of the first Xolotl Chichimeca capital, located near the town. The stones are located in an outcropping of andesite at the top of the hill, which is represented in the Codex Xolotl. [3]
Rocks that ring when struck are mentioned in historical documents from Norway; about 10 have been identified. One such stone near Lom is mentioned in 18th-century documents as the most treasured item in the parish, and is still locally known as the "Bell Stone" or "Singing Stone".
An ironstone rock near the grave of Ntsikana in the Eastern Cape of South Africa is known as Intsimbi kaNtsikana, literally "Ntsikana's bell". Local legend states that Ntsikana struck the rock to produce bell tones at dawn and dusk every day between 1815 and his 1822 death, and that it produced the notes with which he composed his hymns. In the 1980s, the rock was found to be capable of producing three notes in the first inversion of a triad. [4]
Various phonolite stones were created by volcanic activity on Oahu. These stones are known in the Hawaiian language as pohaku kani or pohaku kikeke. [5]
The Wailua Bellstone, located near the Poliahu Heiau at the Wailua Complex of Heiaus and made of reddish basalt, produces a hollow bell-like sound when struck with a cobble. It was used to announce important events including the births of aliʻi and the approach of religious or royal processions. [6]
A hill known as the Klingelberg or "Ringing Hill" near Pottsgrove, Pennsylvania was reported in 1945 to be covered with rock fragments which produced bell-like tones when struck with another stone. The report compared them to "the bell stone mentioned by Linnaeus in the Westgothische Reise". [7]
A stone known as the Piedra de la Campana ("Bell Stone") in the Río Grande de Loíza near Gurabo, Puerto Rico stands on top of two other stones and is said to have been used as a bell by the indigenous people. [8]
Seams of diabase in southwestern Uruguay have produced some stones that vibrate with a bell-like tone when struck. Two large boulders of this material are located three meters apart in a forested area near the Arroyo de la Virgen; the smaller one produces two distinct tones separated by a minor third. Little is known about the possible use of the stones by the indigenous people of Uruguay. [9]
The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound.
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material. It is played using a keyboard, which is a row of keys that the performer presses down or strikes with the fingers and thumbs of both hands to cause the hammers to strike the strings. It was invented in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the year 1700.
A gong is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs are a flat, circular metal disc that is typically struck with a mallet. They can be small or large in size, and tuned or can require tuning.
Phonolite is an uncommon extrusive rock, of intermediate chemical composition between felsic and mafic, with texture ranging from aphanitic (fine-grained) to porphyritic. Phonolite is a variation of the igneous rock trachyte that contains nepheline or leucite rather than quartz. Its intrusive equivalent is nepheline syenite. Phonolite is typically fine grained and compact. The name phonolite comes from the Ancient Greek meaning "sounding stone" due to the metallic sound it produces if an unfractured plate is hit; hence, the English name clinkstone is given as a synonym.
An electric piano is a musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of a piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations which are converted into electrical signals by magnetic pickups, which are then connected to an instrument amplifier and loudspeaker to make a sound loud enough for the performer and audience to hear. Unlike a synthesizer, the electric piano is not an electronic instrument. Instead, it is an electro-mechanical instrument. Some early electric pianos used lengths of wire to produce the tone, like a traditional piano. Smaller electric pianos used short slivers of steel to produce the tone. The earliest electric pianos were invented in the late 1920s; the 1929 Neo-Bechstein electric grand piano was among the first. Probably the earliest stringless model was Lloyd Loar's Vivi-Tone Clavier. A few other noteworthy producers of electric pianos include Baldwin Piano and Organ Company and the Wurlitzer Company.
Wind chimes are a type of percussion instrument constructed from suspended tubes, rods, bells or other objects that are often made of metal or wood. The tubes or rods are suspended along with some type of weight or surface which the tubes or rods can strike when they or another wind-catching surface are blown by the natural movement of air outside. They are usually hung outside of a building or residence as a visual and aural garden ornament. Since the percussion instruments are struck according to the random effects of the wind blowing the chimes, wind chimes have been considered an example of chance-based music. The tubes or rods may sound either indistinct pitches, or fairly distinct pitches. Wind chimes that sound fairly distinct pitches can, through the chance movement of air, create simple songs or broken chords.
In western music, a China cymbal is a distinct type of crash cymbal designed to produce a bright, crisp, and explosive tone that has brought it the nickname trash cymbal. The name "China cymbal" comes from its shape, which is similar to that of the Chinese Bo. Such cymbals are most frequently mounted upside down on cymbal stands, allowing for them to be more easily struck and for a better sound.
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an internal "clapper" or "uvula", an external hammer, or—in small bells—by a small loose sphere enclosed within the body of the bell.
Punaluʻu Beach is a beach between Pāhala and Nāʻālehu on the Big Island of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The beach has black sand made of basalt and created by lava flowing into the ocean which explodes as it reaches the ocean and cools. This volcanic activity is in the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Punaluʻu is frequented by endangered hawksbill and green turtles, which can often be seen basking on the black sand.
A standing bell or resting bell is an inverted bell, supported from below with the rim uppermost. Such bells are normally bowl-shaped, and exist in a wide range of sizes, from a few centimetres to a metre in diameter. They are often played by striking, but some—known as singing bowls—may also be played by rotating a mallet around the outside rim to produce a sustained musical note.
A rattle is a type of percussion instrument which produces a sound when shaken. Rattles are described in the Hornbostel–Sachs system as Shaken Idiophones or Rattles (112.1).
Ringing rocks, also known as sonorous rocks or lithophonic rocks, are rocks that resonate like a bell when struck. Examples include the Musical Stones of Skiddaw in the English Lake District; the stones in Ringing Rocks Park, in Upper Black Eddy, Bucks County, Pennsylvania; the Ringing Rocks of Kiandra, New South Wales; and the Bell Rock Range of Western Australia. Ringing rocks are used in idiophonic musical instruments called lithophones.
A lithophone is a musical instrument consisting of a rock or pieces of rock which are struck to produce musical notes. Notes may be sounded in combination or in succession (melody). It is an idiophone comparable to instruments such as the glockenspiel, vibraphone, xylophone and marimba.
Bianzhong is an ancient Chinese musical instrument consisting of a set of bronze bells, played melodically. China is the earliest country to manufacture and use musical chimes. They are also called Chime Bells. These sets of chime bells were used as polyphonic musical instruments and some of these bells have been dated at between 2,000 to 3,600 years old. They were hung in a wooden frame and struck with a mallet. Using a wooden hammer and a rod to beat the bronze bell can make different pitch. Along with the stone chimes called bianqing, they were an important instrument in China's ritual and court music going back to ancient times.
Bellfounding is the casting and tuning of large bronze bells in a foundry for use such as in churches, clock towers and public buildings, either to signify the time or an event, or as a musical carillon or chime. Large bells are made by casting bell metal in moulds designed for their intended musical pitches. Further fine tuning is then performed using a lathe to shave metal from the bell to produce a distinctive bell tone by sounding the correct musical harmonics.
The Roland JD-800 is a digital synthesizer that was manufactured between 1991 and 1996. It features many knobs and sliders for patch editing and performance control — features that some manufacturers, including Roland, had been omitting in the name of streamlining since the inception of the Yamaha DX7. The JD-800 thus became very popular with musicians who wished to take a hands-on approach to patch programming. The introduction in the manual states that Roland's intention with the JD-800 was to "return to the roots of synthesis".
Hand percussion is a percussion instrument that is held in the hand. They can be made from wood, metal or plastic, bottles stops and are usually shaken, scraped, or tapped with fingers or a stick. It includes all instruments that are not drums or pitched percussion instruments such as the marimba or the xylophone.
ʻŌpaekaʻa Falls is a waterfall located on the ʻŌpaekaʻa Stream in Wailua River State Park on the eastern side of the Hawaiian island of Kauai. It is a 151-foot (46 m) waterfall that flows over basalt from volcanic eruptions millions of years ago. Below the ridge down into the ravine through which the water falls can be seen the vertical dikes of basalt that cut through the horizontal Koloa lava flows. The name "ʻŌpaekaʻa" means rolling shrimp, "ʻopae" being Hawaiian for "shrimp," and "kaʻa" for "rolling". The name dates back to days when the native freshwater shrimp Atyoida bisulcata were plentiful in the stream and were seen rolling and tumbling down the falls and into the churning waters at the fall's base.
Bonshō, also known as tsurigane or ōgane are large bells found in Buddhist temples throughout Japan, used to summon the monks to prayer and to demarcate periods of time. Rather than containing a clapper, bonshō are struck from the outside, using either a handheld mallet or a beam suspended on ropes.
The Royal Coconut Coast is the designation given to Kauai’s east side, defined as the area between the Wailua Golf Course, heading north along the coast to Kealia Beach, and extending inland toward the center of the island, to Mount Waialeale. The Royal Coconut Coast includes the sacred Wailua River area and the large towns of Wailua and Kapaa. The area derives its name from the acres of coconut trees along the coast and highway. It also has many places of historical and cultural significance. Some of the land is held as sacred and was once reserved for the royalty of Hawaii.
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