Greetings, Area 12

This proverbial phrase, used to encourage optimism, is mostly attributed to Dale Carnegie who used it in his 1948 book How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. I would argue that COVID-19 has made this phrase more meaningful now than ever.

As with most of our usual life, our handbell ringing and community has been disrupted and we are all left with a bushel of lemons, trying to figure out what to do with them. We are seeing some reopening of life that has been closed off, with our churches likely resuming in limited fashion sooner rather than later, but still with so many unknowns. What do we do?

I think we need use this an opportunity to reimagine what we CAN do in terms of rehearsing, performing, and providing worship content and community. I assume many or most of us have used social media to stay in contact with our community, participating in virtual performances and events. But as we now start to venture out into the physical space, how do we adapt?

Can we find rehearsal space in which we can socially distance? Can our churches accommodate a 2- or 3-octave choir performing as usual or can we offer ensemble or solo work? If our vocal choirs cannot sing together for a time, can we incorporate more handbells into worship, making ringers out of our singers who still want the music worship experience? If the senior members of the church do not feel safe coming back in the short term, can our handbell groups go to their homes for a small ensemble outreach - turning "Christmas Caroling" into "Ministry Caroling"?

I say we need to think of our new lemonade recipes and turn these lemons into something wonderful.

From a 1940 poem in the Rotarian:

'Til next time,
Scott
chair.area12@handbellmusicians.org

Save the date!

We are going virtual!

Area 12 Virtual Conference, July 25, 2020

Your Area 12 Board invites you to participate in the first Area 12 Virtual Conference on July 25, 2020. We will be hosting online classes and chatting live with the experts to cover topics relevant to both ringers and directors.

This event is FREE and open to all, so please invite your friends! We will gratefully accept donations to cover the cost of our teachers and hosts. Check our Virtual Conference website for additional information and participant form.

If you are interested in teaching a class, please contact Kendra Symonds at chairelect.area12@handbellmusicians.org.

We look forward to seeing you online on July 25th!

Show your #Area12Pride by ordering a member polo shirt!

Polo shirts are Kelly Green in color, made from 60/40 cotton/poly pique. Logo is embroidered on the upper left chest. Available in women's and men's sizes XS to 6X.

Questions? Please email Karen Carlisle.

It's election year in Area 12!

We are now compiling a slate of candidates for the three elected offices on our Board of Directors: Secretary, Treasurer, and Chair-Elect.

Both the Secretary and Treasurer positions are two-year terms, with the ability (though not the obligation) to run again for a second term. Those positions may serve no more than two terms in a row (though they may run again at a later date). The Chair-Elect position is a total of six years: two as Chair-Elect, two as Chair, and two as Immediate Past Chair.

Our By-Laws require us to have two candidates for each elected office, so if you or someone you know is interested in joining the Area Board, please email Tessique Houston, our Immediate Past Chair, for more information.

Hello, Handbell friends!

We find ourselves in the middle of unprecedented times and as the Historian for Area 12 of the Handbell Musicians of America, I would like to take a moment to acknowledge it.

What we initially hoped would be just a few weeks of disruption has been extended. There's a great deal of uncertainty as to how long places will be closed, how can we continue to make music, and what will handbell music look like in the future. I certainly don't have any answers to these questions, but I have been grateful for the level of technology we have which allows us to continue to come together in new and creative ways.

Here are just a few of the things I have seen over the past few months:

• Individual Ringers recording multiple parts to share a full song
• Full choirs and other handbell members sending videos to be edited together for a full ensemble piece
• Videos of people playing handbell music on other instruments
• Zoom meetings and roundtables to discuss handbells or socialize
• Virtual classes and events
• Solo ringing, bell trees, the formation of small ensembles
• Discussions on social media on how to play with new social distancing requirements and keep everyone safe and healthy
• Publishers and composers making their music as accessible as possible so that handbell music can be enjoyed online
• And others I'm sure I've forgotten

At the end of the day, handbell musicians are a resilient and innovative group of people! If you are taking part in any of these activities, please continue to share them as they are being enjoyed by many people all over the world. If you want to take part in online handbell activities, please make sure to join us for the Area 12 Virtual Conference.

I hope you are all staying safe and healthy during this time. One of my favorite things about bells (that many people hear me say quite often) is that we can do anything with bells, and this historic time is certainly demonstrating that. I am so proud to be a part of this community and so excited to see all the ways that we are continuing to enjoy handbell music together, if at a distance. Lets keep being creative and coming together in this amazing art!

Beth Mays
historian.area12@handbellmusicians.org

Howdy!

As I announced in the May edition of The Twelfth Tone, Tintab held the Sierra Spring Ring - Digital Edition on Saturday, May 9. It went really well and was a lot of fun! Many people have been asking how they might hold a similar event in their own area.

It all started when I asked Derek Nance, one of our tech gurus, "What would a virtual Sierra Spring Ring look like and could Tintab do it?" In true Derek fashion, he asked me a million clarifying questions and then came up with a plan. If you're thinking of doing a virtual event, here's some stuff to think about:

What is (are) your goal(s)?

For example, do you want to provide a service? Do you want to raise money? Do you want to educate? If you want to make beautiful music together, you'll probably have to wait until we can get together for a live event. However, engineers are working on creating less complicated, less expensive, more user-friendly software for those Brady Bunch-style performances that have been popping up. One goal almost all virtual events are trying to incorporate is building that sense of community during the event. Whatever your goals are, they will drive every decision you make, so you'll want to decide this first.

What are the pros and cons of doing a virtual event?

Pros

• Can reach a wider and larger audience
• No need to rent or find a large enough space. This could lower the costs to put on an event, thereby lowering the cost to attend the event
• Possibly more flexibility in the schedule
• Different camera angles can enhance learning
• If class videos are accessible afterward, then viewers can review material at their own speed and whenever they want

Cons

• Can't make music together
• No personal contact, which makes achieving the sense of community and relations more difficult
• Hard to do hands-on teaching
• Teaching is less personal and less tailored to a class's/individual's needs
• A lot of work, especially for the director and producer
• Not everyone is tech savvy, including the teachers and the viewers

What kind of format do you want to use?

One possibility would be a "broadcast", which is where you push out all the content, like TV. An example of this would be pre-recorded classes. The second possibility is a "meeting" format, like Zoom, where you see all the participants and can have some visual and aural/verbal interaction.

Pros of a broadcast format

• Easier for non-tech savvy viewers to attend
• Unlimited number of viewers
• If low or no cost is important, easier to accomplish
• More overall control of formatting, schedule, and content for the producer and director
• Teachers can re-record classes until they're happy with the video
• Students can't take the class off topic
• Behavioral norms are already in place - we already know how to watch TV

Cons of a broadcast format

• Participants and teachers have little or no interaction
• Teachers have a hard time teaching "to an empty room"
• Hard to have a sense of community

Pros of a meeting format

• More interaction between teacher and class
• Easier to have a sense of community

Cons of a meeting format

• Harder for less tech savvy attendees
• Need to get password/link to attendees (and then they have to be able to find them again!)
• Smaller number of overall participants and for each class
• Can incur costs depending on number of participants and length of event
• Need to establish behavioral norms for each class. Teachers can mute and unmute participants, but it's easy for the loudest and most talkative to take over
• Less control over content and time

Who are the key people who need to be involved and what are their roles?

• The technical director is your boss person and controls the pacing. They are very tech savvy and is the one who sits in the "control booth" the day of the event and tells everyone what to do and when. Everyone in front of the camera needs to trust them and do what they say, when they say it - kind of like your commanding officer or music director!
• The producer is the person in charge of gathering all the content and personnel. The producer usually has a committee to help them since it's hard for one person to do it all. Examples of things under the producer's purview are writing the script, deciding on which classes and who will teach them, coordinating "packages" like commercials and videos, deciding the sequence of the classes and packages, and the overall schedule. With meeting rooms (like Zoom), the producer needs to make sure every room has at least one moderator to help the teacher the day of the event and a tech savvy person available to help the teacher with getting their class ready for the event. It also helps to have at least one host for the entire event to keep things moving along. (One thing we forgot was to have a specific person moderate the chat room for each class.)

When most people think about doing a virtual event, they think about the tech side of things first. Derek strongly suggests not getting into the "tech weeds" first, but rather determine your goal first. From there, you can usually find the technology you need in order fulfill that goal. Derek did have us each check two things well ahead of time, though. One was the upload speed of our internet (usually we're more concerned about the download speed) and the other was to try and use a computer that was hard-wired (plugged directly into the router) rather than using wi-fi. Both things help keep the integrity of the signal so that there is less lag time and it will be less likely to freeze up.

Thank you, Derek, for making the Sierra Spring Ring - Digital Edition a reality!

Barbara Walsh
nv.area12@handbellmusicians.org

For information on Northern Nevada's concerts, events,
and other opportunities, click here.

Hi, Northern California!

Save the date:
October 10, 2020
Redding Handbell Festival
CrossPointe Community Church
Redding, CA

Massed Ringing director: Tessique Houston
Red Zone Bronze Choir director: Barb Walsh
Registration fee is $35.00 per ringer.
Classes and massed ringing. 

Our great clinicians Ben Brown, Keith Mockford, Julie Hunziker, Mary Balkow, Elizabeth Eggleston, Barb Walsh, and Tessique Houston will present the following classes: Score Preparation (learn to mark your music properly BEFORE that first play through of the song), 4 in Hand, Understanding Copyright, Ringing101 (discover the sounds bells can make beside ringing), Bell Tree Forest (What's better than one bell tree? A forest of bell trees!), Breaking the Rules (thinking outside the box), Revving Up For The Red Zone (take that giant step and learn how to prepare for a bronze choir), and Ensemble Ringing (ringing with 6 or fewer ringers).

Registration forms are available here.

This event is endorsed by Handbell Musicians of America.

Sandi Walker-Tansley
norcal.area12@handbellmusicians.org

For information on Northern California's concerts, events,
and other opportunities, click here.

Greetings, CenCal!

Here's an idea for curing bell withdrawal: form a quartet and start ringing again! It only takes four people; no director, no tables, and it's easy to ring separated from each other. You can ring from individual music stands, forming a semi-circle. 

4- or 5-in-hand quartet ringing is my passion more than solo ringing, and that's saying a lot! It's a class I plan to teach at National Seminar, so if you register, you'll be able to attend the class, whether in person or virtually. I have a great hand-out I can offer to anyone who asks. It offers hints not just on how to form a quartet, but how to ring Bb4-C7 instead of the heavier G4-G6. Really, this is the perfect time to become a quartet!

This is also the perfect time, while your bells are slumbering in the closet, to get them refurbished.

Hang in there, get creative, stay positive, stay safe.

With a joyful ring,
Christine D. Anderson
cencal.area12@handbellmusicians.org

For information on Central California's concerts, events,
and other opportunities, click here.

Happy Summer, LA Metro,

As things here in Orange County are opening up, I know that LA County is still under more stringent guidance. I hope and pray that we all soon can be in our new normal and back to ringing. I know some other folks have written about what that new normal may look like to help ensure that safety and well-being of our ringers and congregations/audiences so I thought I might give you some different ways to look at what may be the new normal.

Wearing Masks

• During performances, it doesn't matter whether you have a smile or not. (Remember though you can smile with your eyes!)
• During performances, if you are one of those folks that tend to move your mouth to the beat of the music, the audience won't be able to tell.
• During rehearsals, ringers will have to count for themselves, as it will be way too hard for the directors to count through their mask and we want to minimize the aerosols that come out of our mouths, anyway.

Gloves

• Those who wish for the "Old Days" of wearing gloves may be rejoicing if their group chooses to wear gloves to prevent cross-contamination. (I am not advocating this one way or the other.)

Six Feet in Between People

• Those folks that have their bells "stolen" by Bell Hogs rejoice - they won't be able to reach!
• Directors rejoice - the low murmur of chit chat when you are trying to talk should be less with people six feet apart.
• On the other hand, directors may not be able to talk loud enough when people six feet apart try to "chit chat" during rehearsals.

Sharing of Music

• Those ringers that hate the concept of sharing books rejoice - you most likely will have your own book.
• Since you won't be sharing music, guess what, you have to do ALL the page turns.

Changing Parts

• Those of you that were dragged kicking and screaming into giving up your beloved E6/F6 part for some songs may get to return to your comfort zone and not have to move.
• Those of you that hate the B6/C7 part, but will endure it to give your brain a rest, may be stuck with it for multiple songs.

All fun aside, since our vocal choir kindred may be sidelined for months, there are a couple of opportunities for bells:

• Perhaps bells in church services will become more of a staple and be able to play pieces as anthems, instead of being relegated to background music during the offertory or communion.
• This also could serve as an opportunity to get the vocal choir members involved with the bell choir. (Vocal choir directors may find that vocalists that joined the bell choir come back to vocal choir better musicians.)

Anyway, I hope everyone is staying safe. If you need anything or want to bounce ideas around feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,
Sharon Guilliams
lametro.area12@handbellmusicians.org

For information on LA Metro's concerts, events,
and other opportunities, click here.

Hey, Bay Area!

In the recent weeks as the state begins to reopen, I've been thinking ahead to Fall and what that might look like for the handbell choirs I direct. A big portion of that is what music are we going to play? I've been going through tons of "socially distanced" music options for my groups. If you need any help selecting music for 3-octaves or less while maintaining social distance, let me know. I'd be happy to share some suggestions. We'll be ringing again soon!

Your Regional Coordinator,
Marquise Usher
bayarea.area12@handbellmusicians.org

For information on San Francisco Bay Area's concerts,
events, and other opportunities, click here.

Aloha!

During these past months of isolation and social distancing, ringers have found new outlets to continue to ring with the help of technology. Many are playing entire pieces of music themselves, playing every part in the bell choir and syncing it all together on the computer. Other ringers are learning to solo ring and play bell trees. All of these efforts have been recorded and put into streaming services all over the Internet, helping to keep our art vibrant. There has been some amazing stuff produced.

With Hawaii on the forefront of the nation's reopening post-COVID, I look forward to having my groups open, too. But not too soon. And, working for the Methodist Church, I don't see my churches opening up any time soon. This is such an uncertain time for churches and musicians, but regardless of when your state and your church re-open for in-person services, streaming handbell performances can be a part of it. Something we all need to remember as we move forward is that a church is not a building, it is the people.

The question of what to plan when the time comes to get our groups back up and going is near the top of many directors' lists, along with how we keep ourselves and others safe. Questions have come up and ideas have been thrown around in all the handbell forums. How do we restart programs in the new situation we are all in? How do we keep to social distancing guidelines? Gloves or no gloves? Some suggest ditching the gloves in favor of hand washing and disinfectant wipes for the handles of the handbells. Some want to keep the gloves and suggest washing them after every use. Keeping ringers six feet apart can be a challenge on smaller tables or in a small sanctuary, but, depending on your sanctuary, it may be possible. There have been some who have placed a ringer at each end of the table while wearing masks. Another option could be ringing without tables and using music stands instead. There are so many possibilities out there and no one solution will fit all situations.

Other options include playing 2-3 octave music instead of 3-5 octave music with the same number of people. There's such a variety of 2-3 octave music to choose from that there's surely something to fit most any need. For smaller or partial groups, 8- or 12-bell music can be a challenging alternative - and beautiful. In a small sanctuary, a smaller group may be your best option. If you want - or need - to play music with no bell changes, John Behnke made some suggestions in a Facebook discussion group:

• Peal Con Brio, Karen Thompson, 2-3 oct (AG23042) or 4-6 oct (AG46029), Level 2
• Acclamation in G, Karen Thompson, 2-3 oct (AG23046) or 4-6 oct (AG46030), Level 2+
• Festive Peal, Karen Thompson, 3-5 oct (AG35303), Level 2+
• The Star-Spangled Banner, John Behnke, 3-5 oct (AG36050), Level 2
• Good King Wenceslas, John Behnke, 3-5 oct (AG35329), Level 3
• Joy to the World, John Behnke, 3-5 oct (AG35304), Level 2+
• O Come, All Ye Faithful, John Behnke, 3-5 oct (AG35342), Level 3
• He Is Born!, John Behnke, 3-5 oct (AG35351), Level 3
• I Saw Three Ships, John Behnke, 3-5 oct (AG35374), Level 3
• Away in a Manger, John Behnke, 2-5 oct (AG25006), Level 1
• What Child Is This?, John Behnke, 3-6 oct (AG36066), Level 2

Another option is music for twelve bells, which can be rung with three to six ringers, is generally level 2, and can be rung without tables. Bill Ingram shared that the 12 Bells in F series consists of 11 to 12 collections, arranged by Bill Ingram, Jason Krug, and Linda Lamb. (Note: be sure to search for both "12 bells in F" and "Twelve bells in F" to make sure you find them all!) Of course, there are also several C5-G6 twelve bell collections from Patricia Cota.

Stay safe, wear your masks, and ring healthy!

Mahalo,
Karen Carlisle
hi.area12@handbellmusicians.org

For information on Hawaii's concerts, events,
and other opportunities, click here.

Hi there, SoCal!

I hope you are all doing well and staying safe, healthy, and sane during this challenging time.

As our Counties and State begin to lift some restrictions, we are faced with many challenges. There are many suggestions in this newsletter for music and procedures to help us comply with guidelines while still making beautiful and meaningful music, so I hope you will take a moment to look at those suggestions and see if they might work for your situation.

My own church has decided to keep doing only live streaming worship (as well as meetings and even fellowship) through the end of June. As part of the music staff, I have been contributing to worship both from church and from home, which has been challenging, but also fulfilling. I've also used this time to catalog and organize all the bell music and equipment, which was sorely needed.

Coming up this summer, I am excited to be teaching virtually at both the Area 12 Virtual Conference and National Seminar. I've taught online before, and as Barb Walsh's (Northern Nevada) article above says, it's quite different from teaching in person, though I find it just as rewarding.

If there's anything you need this summer, please don't hesitate to contact me. I will do my best to help you!

My Best,
Michèle Sharik
socal.area12@handbellmusicians.org

For information on Southern California's concerts, events,
and other opportunities, click here.

Stay safe, Southern Nevada!

Alison Pruett
vegas.area12@handbellmusicians.org

For information on Southern Nevada's concerts, events,
and other opportunities, click here.