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The sound of the bell can be compared to the taste of wine. In the bell's strike note, you taste the wine's attack; the partial notes are the various flavors that an experienced taster can distinguish in the sip of wine; these must be brought into mutual harmony and evoke a pleasing and round sensor experience, because thinnest of taste or sound is to be avoided. Finally there is a decay which lasts a long time in good bells, like the aftertaste of delicios wine. Wine of superior quality becomes better with the years (...). A bell also sounds better as the years pass. Due to the many years of use, the bronze is brought into vibration milions of times, causing the atoms in the bell wall to travel microscopically small distances, resulting in the crystal structure of bronze becoming more balanced...
That's why we are the only bell foundry in the region which regularly check the sound quality of our bells and performs independent checks with the help of European campanologists. Our bells are musically certified and we ensure their perfect pitch..
We tune our bells using the standard A1 = 440 Hz or alternatively A1 = 435 Hz. We tune our bells focusing on all most important partials such as prime, tierce, quint, hum and nominal.
We have develooped an unique shape of our bell - a profile that is currently used in all bells manufactured in our foundry - Royal Bells profile. With the use of most advance computer software the newly developed profil together with the superior quality bronze deliveres true bell harmony and very long ressonance. This profile was used the first time during the realization for the Royal Cathedral on Wawel in Krakow.
Bell is first of all musical instrument and one of the most complicated instruments in the world. It belongs to the gropu of percussion instrument. When the bell is striked more than 50 partials are generated. Out of these 50 partials some become more important than others and determine the final quality of bell sound. There are top five partials which in campanology are analysed closest and have the hisgest impact of final pitch perception. One of the most important partial is nomial. This is the overtone with the highest frequency (from those 5 tones) but is very instense. It can be heard only for tens of second but it determines in most the strike note. It is important that the strike note is only formed in the listener's brain, and thus is a purely psychological phenomenon. In fact the strike note value on certificates is measured by the value of nominal moved by one octave. Prime (or fundamental tone) is determining the sound of the bell just after the nominal. As the bell is minor chord instrument prime together with tierce and quint must compose a minor chord. The last partial which is analysed closely and determine the bell's pitch is hum. This overtone can be heard longest and it determines the decay of bell. As per Simpson's theory it must be accurately moved by one octave from prime (it must be exactly one octave lower).
Bell's acoustic is very complicated matter. The art of creating well-tuned bells is the secret of every bell founder. Other than the pure shape of the bell factors which determine the quality of bell sound are:
1) • Material (bronze). Only appropiate proportions of pure copper and tin provide higest sound results
2) • Casting temperature. Only optimal temparature during the casting process can quarantee correct structure of bells.
3) • Bell's Artwork. Only delicate ornaments and bas-reliefs do not impact importantly the partials of bell sound.
The very process of producing a sound in a bell, including individual overtones (side tones), is extremely complicated. Please see the first one in Poland, a comprehensive article on the acoustics of the bell, the propagation of sound waves, vibrations, side tones and their influence on the sound quality of the bell..