Bell foundry – first trial of the bell

Sound emitted by the bell during the first trial. The recording was realized in Felczyńscy Bell Foundry in Taciszów (Poland).

The first bell's trial takes place before a bell's heart is mounted inside, which is why the bell founder hits it with a wooden peg.
A bell is a percussion instrument, and the source of sound is posed by vibrations of the whole instrument, stimulated by the heart hitting its walls. The bell's heart is prepared from soft, forged steel, and mounted in such a manner so it strikes the broadest part of the bell, a so called crown. Weight of the heart usually poses 4% of the bell's weight.

Bells in the Felczyńscy Bell Foundry are produced with foundry methods, practiced from Renaissance. Any modernizations are connected with application of electric tools that stir the clay and polish the bells. The first Bell Foundry in the Felczyńscy family was established in 1808. Since then, the intergenerational transfer of craftsman traditions has taken place.

Sound recordist: Monika Widzicka
Photographer: Piotr Leszczyński