The Bells, the bells...

[Michael Peters <100041.247@CompuServe.COM>]

David,
 
> in terms of early-day loopers, have you considered the case of (church)
> bell ringing?
 
No, not yet, but an interesting observation. <g>
 
> was struck by the possible synergy of bell ringing/looping
 
You might be interested to know that one of the less known Minimalists,
Charlemagne Palestine, has started out as a pianist as well as a carillon
player. Here's a passage from the liner notes to his (very minimalist, but
beautiful) CD "Four Manifestations on Six Elements":
 
"At 16 Palestine was playing the carillon of the Episcopal Church next the
the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. The carillon is a physically challenging
instrument involving church bells being played by hitting the keys with the
fists. At first he played the carillon compositions of people like Cage and
Messiaen. Later he began to compose and invent a music that was based on 
the
physical sound qualities of bells."
 
Starting out from this, Palestine developed a piano playing technique which
he called 'strumming'. If you're interested in just intonation, 'pure'
sounds, and powerful, yet very minimal music, get his CD.
 
-Michael