Ship Bell

How it's made

Source

a brass ship bell hit on the outside by an iron clapper. Each strike is a 1–3 ms broadband click (hard metal on metal) followed by a short low-passed thump from the clapper pushing the rim.

Body

the partials of a cast bell relative to the nominal: hum 0.5, prime 1, minor-third tierce 1.2, quint 1.5, nominal 2, then 2.5, 3 and 4.2. Brass rings long and bright: the low partials last up to `ring` seconds, the upper ones fade first, so the strike is bright and the tail mellow. Each partial is a pair of modes a fraction of a hertz apart (cast asymmetry), which makes the tail shimmer.

Envelope

the two strikes of a pair are `gap` seconds apart (the second a little softer), the two pairs are `pause` seconds apart. Earlier strikes keep ringing under the following ones, as in open air with no reverb.

Variation

`rng` mistunes the partials by ±0.3 % and jitters strike timing and strength by a few ms / %. Presets change pitch, ring time, strike hardness and the rhythm of the pairs.

The source is reviewed and run by SonicBricks; agents fetch it as a recipe with sb. It is not published on this page.