Next Area 12 Board Meeting (virtual):
Special | January 15, 2022 ••• Saturday 12:30 - 5:30 pm
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In the last week of December, my son Oscar crawled for the first time, pulled up to stand (with help) and ate mashed carrots and potatoes with his own hands! The food achievement ended with most of it on his clothes and in his chair, but some of it had to end up in his mouth, right? Some achievements are messier in the making than others, and with the pandemic continuing to evolve, our ringing continues to look different than ever before. What we may have defined as a poor concert turnout in the past, we now count as a win with the addition of livestreaming.
Maybe you found new ringers in unexpected places, and reached a different or wider audience. My ensemble tried a workshop series instead of a traditional rehearsal schedule, and was able to reconnect with our local handbell community in some really lovely ways.
May the new year bring us all new opportunities and some unexpected joys too!
Kendra
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The board is getting ready for our winter board meeting January 15, and all members of HMA Area are welcome to attend (it’s virtual!). In our previous meeting this fall, we completed our budget for the 2021-2022 fiscal year. Covid allowing, we are planning to attend at least one music based conference (CASMEC – California All State Music Education Conference) in February, and are looking for other music based conferences to promote our instrument in learning environments.
In collaboration with the national board, we are seeing a focus to reach out to youth and supporting smaller ensembles - areas where historically we have not had a lot of available resources. The board has several action items to look into ways to support these specific types of organizations.
Much of our work in the last several months is planning for the Red, White and Blue conference in July, and looking forward to the 2024 conference. Preliminary work to determine a location is already getting started.
We look forward to our newest Regional Coordinators joining our January meeting. Welcome to Kenneth Mackie in his new position as Cen-Cal RC.
Carol Pickford
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Martalina here – I hope that everyone’s holiday season was grand and nurtured your soul. Alas COVID is still with us, but my heart and mind were filled with joy to see in person and online all of the beautiful offerings of handbell musicians far and wide. Bronzer and I had a quiet Christmas, but we are looking forward to a busy 2022. Our biggest adventure will be attending the Area 12 Red, White & Bells Conference in Vegas over the July 4thweekend. There truly is something for everybody and…there’s VEGAS!!!!
Registration opens January 15 and there will be a special Twelfth Tone with lots of the details.
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Just a couple of things to keep in mind:
- Individual ringers are very much welcome to attend. We will either find a place for you to complete a choir that is attending without all their members and/or we will make a choir of individual ringers. Once you register, we will make sure to take care of you and guarantee you won’t be left out of the fun.
- Choirs are encouraged to attend as a group. Bronzer and I have had so much fun on group road trips. The memories are very precious. We won’t talk about the time Bronzer almost got left because he was spending too much time in the loo.
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At the Area 12 Conference there are opportunities for groups/small ensembles or individuals to share the music they have been working on with fellow handbell musicians. There’s still some room available, so if you’re interested in sharing in this way, please contact Marquise Usher at bayarea.area12@handbellmusicians.org to find out more. The website talks about sending a recording and application. I promise, even if it sounds scary, it is not. Marquise is a big teddy bear and will help you through the process. Plus, you are guaranteed to have at least two fans rooting for you, Bronzer and me!
One last thing – BELL TABLE TALKS are resuming. This month’s emphasis is Conference Choir and our scholarship opportunities, but I bet you that if you have any general questions, our Vegas committee would be happy to see you and to answer your questions. The dates are:
- Tuesday, January 18 – 7:00 pm and
- Sunday, January 23 – 3:00 pm
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Have a wonderful new year and I hope to see you in-person in Vegas.
P.S. I have conquered Soliloquy for Bells by Karen Buckwalter, but Bronzer is being lazy and has much work to do on his bass part. It is a very pretty piece and will sound beautiful under Barb Walsh’s conducting.
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Red, White & Bells is sponsored by Handbell Musicians of America, dedicated to uniting people through the musical art of handbell and handchime ringing.
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to submit your event
for listing! (and get a social media push!)
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The National Guild has changed the way they do renewals, so be sure to check out all the membership options and benefits HERE.
Current Area 12
Member Count:
238
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Happy New Year LA Metro
I hope the holiday season put a bit of spark in your heart. Whether it was virtual or in-person service/performances the bells were ringing. For me inspiration came in new unique ways. If you have any questions, please contact me.
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- I did not get to ring in a church service last Christmas Eve, so our neighborhood created our own in my driveway. I did a couple things on bell tree and the kids of the neighborhood did the ring and sing thing. The kids also read the Christmas story according to Linus. It also included ringing and singing Silent Night with candles. This year about a week before Christmas, my husband was getting questions from the kids, “Are we going to ring this year?” It warmed my heart. I did not think they would care or remember. So, with a couple days’ notice we did Cake, Caroling and Hot Chocolate. It was raining, but we had 8 kids and we ran to a couple of houses ringing and singing Christmas carols before we returned to eat delicious bundt cakes and drink hot chocolate. The really cool thing was that after things settled down, there were three kids that went back to the chimes to ring some more. So, there is hope for me to resurrect the Heavy Metal Youth!!! I had almost given up on the chance of having kids for my spring concert.
- I follow several of the handbell related Facebook pages and one day a vocal director shared her youth choir singing I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day with a bell part she wrote herself. I have always wanted to play this song, but the arrangements I have found have not touched my heart. This version touched my heart and sparked my soul. So, I have bought the vocal part and have 8 months to write a bell part. (Understand I am an engineer, not a music major, so this is a bit daunting for me. But I have some good friends that have offered to help.) And I think this song will be our opening piece for next year’s Christmas concert.
The LA Metro Spring, Freedom to Ring is only 3 months away, so please sign up. It will be so great to see everyone and work under the baton of Erik Der and Matthew Compton.
Take Care and Happy Ringing.
Sharon
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Spring Ring and Ring, Read, and Rejoice are sponsored by Handbell Musicians of America, dedicated to uniting people through the musical art of handbell and handchime ringing. www.handbellmusicians.org
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For information on LA Metro's concerts, events,
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For information on Northern Nevada concerts, events, and other opportunities, click here.
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Howdy and Happy New Year! |
Tempo changes are scary for conductors. You never know if your ringers will be reading ahead far enough to see it in time and then you worry if they’ll look up to get the information they need from you. This sounds like a sight-reading scenario, but it still happens even when you’ve practiced a piece.
You might think that the perfect solution is to rehearse the tempo change a lot and do it the same way every time so that your ringers will automatically do it. This does help, and will often work for one piece, but it’s not fool-proof. For one thing, each person will probably remember it a little differently based on their natural tendency to be on the front or backside of the beat. It’s also amazing how much flies out of our heads when we’re playing in front of an audience! Ultimately, we’d like our ringers to become better musicians and be able to look up and get the tempo from the conductor.
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Just telling your ringers to look up probably isn’t enough. Here are some things you can do:
- Show your ringers what you’re going to do without them playing or looking at the music. They’ll be able to focus on you and more able to ask clarifying questions.
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As the conductor, make sure you’re looking at them!
- Know your music score well. Be able to hear it in your head (audiate). Know which bells (and thereby which ringers) are responsible for the tempo change. Tell the whole group which bells are responsible for a successful tempo change and to make sure that they are looking up at the conductor before, during and after the tempo change. Have everyone draw a “watch box” around the entire measure or measures.
- Use your non-dominant hand to call attention to the change coming. (Because you want to be able to use this hand for this plus cueing, showing dynamics, style, etc. that means minimizing “mirror” conducting with both hands.)
- “The prep (beat)” comes just before the tempo change. It’s usually the upbeat just before the new tempo. Actually inhale a breath in that new tempo as you give the upbeat. Have your ringers join you with that inhalation.
- Think ahead and prepare.
- Practice doing your tempo changes in front of a mirror or try doing a video recording of yourself conducting without music. When you play it back, can you audiate what you’re seeing?
Let’s use some of these suggestions in an example. Pretend you have a suddenly slower tempo in measure 9. You already have in your head what you want the new tempo to sound like. On beat 1 of measure 9, you have a bass chord and on beat 2 is C6. It’s the C6 that will actually establish the new tempo. At the beginning of measure 8 you’ll raise your left hand (signaling an upcoming change) and look meaningfully at the whole group, then look over at the C6 ringer and lock eyes. After giving the downbeat of measure 9, you’ll inhale and raise both hands (the upbeat prep) in your new tempo. On beat 2 you’ll point at (cue) the C6 ringer with your left hand and also continue conducting with your right hand, but in the new tempo.
I hope that makes sense and that you find some of these suggestions helpful!
Barb
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For information on Northern California concerts, events, and other opportunities, click here.
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Ding Dong Merrily Along
The Carillons Handbell Choir of Redding loaded up their bells and headed to The Vistas Assisted Living Facility
to perform Christmas songs for 54 residents. The facility was allowing instrumental groups to come so what a blessing
it was for those residents and us since last Christmas no groups were allowed to come because of COVID restrictions.
No singing was allowed but we definitely heard some humming! We would like to share some pictures of our holiday
outing spreading Christmas cheer. We wish everyone a Happy New Year of ringing bells
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Happy New Year, SoCal!
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmastime and New Year and have been staying safe in all these storms we've been having. But despite the inclement weather, I do have to say that the snow-covered mountains are quite lovely this time of year. It almost makes me wish I knew how to ski.
As we head into 2022, do take a look at the Area 12 calendar. We are continuing to host the virtual "Bell Table Talks" with interviews and information about Area 12's upcoming "Red, White, and Bells" conference this July in Las Vegas. There are also regional events planned, including Spring Rings in April (LA Metro in Claremont) and May (SoCal in Oceanside).
2022 SoCal Spring Ring
May 14, 2022
St. Thomas More Catholic Church
Oceanside, CA 92056
Details and registration are available here.
Best wishes for the new year!
-Michèle
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For information on Southern California concerts, events, and other opportunities, click here.
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SoCal Spring Ring is sponsored by Handbell Musicians of America, dedicated to uniting people through the musical art of handbell and handchime ringing. www.handbellmusicians.org
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A full-service handbell store
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Richfield, MN 55423
ADVERTISEMENT 6/22
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Our National Organization (click logos to get more info!) |
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The Twelfth Tone is published on or around the first of each month, except July, by Area 12 of the Handbell Musicians of America (The Guild). The Guild is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the musical art of handbell/handchime ringing through education, community, and communication. The editor of this publication reserves the right to reject or modify copy.
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Teachers: Would you like the use of a three octave set of handbells or handchimes to add interest and a new dimension to your music class?
Area 12 encourages schools and other educational institutions, both public and private, to develop educational programs using handbells and handchimes.
To support the development of such programs, Area 12 has six 3-octave sets of handbells and three 3-octave sets of handchimes for loan.
To learn more about the responsibilities and procedures for participating in this program, click here.
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We have an open position for
Area 12 Historian. Love scrapbooking? Taking pictures? Learning from and sharing information with other ringers? This might just be the job for you! Contact Kendra if you want to know more about this position.
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