Handbells’ Middle Child: Battery Bells
Saturday, January 29, 2022 • 6:15 PM EST
Instructor: Barb Walsh
What?! Are there handbells that actually use batteries? No, the person who started calling the C4-B5 bells “the battery” was a baseball fan, referring to the battery, the pitcher, and the catcher on a baseball team as central to the action of a game and team. And just like a middle child, the battery bells are the mediators between the low bass and high treble bell sections by being the most empathetic, willing to compromise, and terrific team members. As the backbone of the ensemble, we’ll look at bell specific techniques and musicianship skills needed to become a successful battery ringer.
00:10:58 Brenda Mears: working fine
00:11:06 Ruth Marquette: Works great
00:11:11 Kathy: good
00:11:13 Oma: Works for me
00:11:19 dp: dp has it set up
00:11:27 Susan Butler: Got it
00:11:36 Oma: yup
00:11:36 Sara Sowa: got it.
00:20:28 Eileen Raycroft: I have a hard time getting my adults to MARK their music
00:20:45 Eileen Raycroft: Like they will remember . . . not.
00:20:50 Jean Coniber: Is the circle to show what bell to pick up?
00:21:26 Carol Stratemeyer: I mark that situation with an arrow down below the note.
00:22:00 Eileen Raycroft: Thank you!
00:23:18 dp: I had a director that would use a red “X” to indicate a bell change that needed to happen. Usually to put it down and pick up a new, then when to put that down. I happen to like that.
00:24:49 Denise Baustian: I played high treble 4-in-hand and I was willing to mark my own music IN PENCIL. I would always put my initials on the front of the music so that the next time we played that music, I would grab the one I had already marked.
00:27:10 dp: what about passing a bell between the hands
00:27:11 Richard Dinwiddie: Would there be a strike on the Eb on beat three of measure 3, to indicate table-damping it?
00:31:39 Richard Dinwiddie: Do your ringers share a music binder at the bell table? If so, how do they know to which ringer the mark applies?
00:34:19 Kathy: so you have to identify which bell is the dominant bell in order to pick up the accidentals?
00:34:37 Christy Glynn: So how low down in the battery bells can the 4-n-hand be used? If a ringer has small hands, do you change ringers’ position for pieces that require this technique to accommodate for that dilemma?
00:38:03 dp: proper technique can be used if the ringer has been shown how to in the first place. Some directors may not be fully informed as to ringing techniques. Sadly.
00:40:03 Denise Baustian: Schulmerich are more square with rounded edges.
00:41:44 Kim Vitray: So does the chime stay in secondary position for the next part of the piece?
00:41:59 Kathy: that’s so helpful for this position
00:49:37 dp: so basically the difference is when you use your fingers/thumb
00:50:38 Gillian Erlenborn: The fingers/thumb are used to quickly damp the bell so that it doesn’t continue ringing through the G’s note
00:54:17 Marla Moore: I like to use the colored tape to note the melody so I know when to emphasize my bells or hold back.
00:54:42 dp: wish that I could get our director to highlight this more within our choir. Will try to mention the colored tape.
00:55:20 Sharon Dinwiddie: Recently discovered see-through Post-It Notes — can mark on them but then remove it if the mark should not be permanent.
01:03:27 Kathy: score study will be so important and helping your ringers with this will be important
01:03:33 Christy Glynn: I am a piano player first. It helps me to physically play pieces on a keyboard to hear and mark moving lines and melody. Does anyone else do thus?
01:03:37 Eileen Raycroft: It’s all very clear.
01:03:48 Gillian Erlenborn: I do, Christy!
01:13:06 Marcia Payne Wooten: Love the energy!
01:13:16 Ruth Marquette: Fun!
01:13:18 Tracey Krimbill: Jean… This one!
01:13:41 Janis Jang: One of my favorites of your group!
01:13:42 Jean Coniber: Ok Tracey!
01:13:55 Kim Vitray: Love the dude jumping up and down
01:14:06 Leah Wilson: Love the drummer! And the class. Thank you!
01:14:14 Susan Butler: Thank you, very helpful class
01:14:18 Laura Blauch: Woo HOO!!! Ring it!!!
01:14:19 Ruth Marquette: Thank you!
01:14:27 Brenda Mears: thank you
01:14:32 Laura Blauch: Thank you!
01:14:32 Eileen Raycroft: Wonderful performance! I’ll check it out offline!
01:14:37 Marla Moore: Loved that! Thank youBarbara
01:14:41 Marcia Payne Wooten: Thank you!
01:14:43 Oma: Thank you
01:14:44 Kathy: thank you
01:14:46 Denise Baustian: Thank you–that was fantastic!
01:14:47 Eileen Raycroft: So helpful! Thank you!
01:14:47 Tracey Krimbill: Thanks!
01:14:52 Tracey Krimbill: Great class
Jason Krug – Jason W. Krug is a native of Indianapolis, IN. He holds a degree in music from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Jason is a full-time freelance composer, arranger, clinician, and teacher. Since his first publication in 2006, he’s had over 400 compositions and arrangements accepted for handbells, piano, strings, organ, and choir. His works have been featured at numerous festivals and workshops in the United States and beyond. In his spare time, Jason enjoys writing. He has spent several years working on a young adult fantasy series, The Sadonian Chronicles, and recently released his first non-fiction book, The General Theory of Creativity. He frequently participates in the National Novel Writing Month event in November. Jason continues to live in Indianapolis with his wife, Ellen, and his sons, Daniel and Malcolm. You can find him on the web at jasonwkrug.com. 
Leslie Lewis – Leslie Lewis has been ringing handbells since 1979 when she was introduced to them at the Montreat Worship and Music Conference. Leslie has been ringing in the bass section for Distinctly Bronze East since the event began in 1999 and added Distinctly Bronze West in 2019; she also participated in the Distinctly Bronze European Tour in 2007. She has rung low bass in many area and national All Star Choirs, and at Virtuoso 2017 and 2019, sharing the stage with the Raleigh Ringers for the final concert. Leslie rings with Queen City Ringers based in Charlotte, NC, where she also serves as treasurer, and is treasurer for Area 3 of the Handbell Musicians of America. She enjoys substituting for choirs in the Gastonia and Charlotte areas and dabbles in solo ringing. Having added the lower 6th and 7th octave chimes to her growing set of handbell “toys” she hopes to offer her services to add the lower chimes for groups that don’t have them available once ringing returns to “normal” in the area. After graduating from North Carolina State University with a degree in computer science, Leslie worked for IBM and First Union National Bank for a combined 15 years before turning a part-time role preparing income taxes into a career. Leslie is president of Unified Income Taxes and Accounting, Inc., in Gastonia, NC, where she prepares all types of tax returns and, as an enrolled agent, represents clients during IRS tax audits and appeals. Leslie served as director of commission accounting for a Charlotte-based brokerage firm with branches in seventeen states from 2009 to 2015, when she left to pursue the role of chief accounting officer for a commercial aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul station located in Medley, FL. Other than bells, Leslie enjoys playing golf and walking on the beach as a precursor to life after retirement.
Bruna Marinho – Bruna Marinho is an energetic handbell ringer, pianist, and music teacher based in SãoPaulo, Brazil. She is the founder of Handbells Brasil, an organization that promotes the art of handbells in Brazil through performance and education. Bruna graduated in 2014 with a degree in music education from Catholic University of Santos. Bruna first encountered handbells in 2016 as a part of a music exchange led by Dr. Moorman-Stahlman from Lebanon Valley College in Annville, PA. Inspired by this experience, she organized a free handbell workshop in Brazil that was attended by about 40 students. Since 2017, Handbells Brasil has played in community venues and churches and has developed music education programs in elementary schools. In 2018, Handbells Brasil received a donation of three octaves of Whitechapel handbells from a church in Pennsylvania and the organization has purchased two octaves of Malmark handchimes. Bruna is the Malmark representative for Brazil. To promote the art of handbells in Brazil, Bruna spent about six months as a music ministry intern at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, in Iowa City, IA, and attended the HMA National Seminar in Grand Rapids, MI. She recently created a series of comedy handbell videos on YouTube as a way to engage people and spread the joy of handbells. 
Stevie Berryman – Stevie Berryman is astonishingly good at the game Boggle. She can fold a fitted sheet so it looks like it came right out of the package. Likewise, her skills as music director and teacher have also been acquired through long hours of arduous and dedicated practice. For much of her career Stevie has directed seven or more ensembles each week, meaning she has 98 years of experience (in dog years). Her effusive energy and wild creativity found a perfect setting in 2013 when she became the Artistic Director of the Houston Chamber Ringers, which has let her smash together her love for music, laughter, and tacos in a truly remarkable way. She has a particular passion for teaching children how to ring, and her innovative methods have made her a sought-after educator at area and national handbell festivals. Stevie loves helping other choirs as a private clinician, or planning epic concerts for them as a creative consultant. Her next step in global domination is to take over the card game world with the company she owns and founded with her husband, Paul, Truly Horrible Things. In real life she is the handbell director at First Congregational Church in Houston, TX.
Lisa Arnold – Lisa Arnold started ringing in 1976 with the Wesley Bell Ringers of Salt Lake City, UT, and toured for four summers, performing in 49 states and nine Canadian provinces. The first community handbell ensemble Lisa rang with was Bay Bells in San Jose, CA, and has been a member of the Merrimack Valley Ringers since 2010 when she moved back to New England. Lisa has regularly taught workshops at Area 1 Spring Rings and festivals in topics such as exercises for ringers, bass bell technique, weaving, solo ringing, and handbell notation. Lisa and her husband, Chuck, use handbells as an excuse to travel and ring all over the world. She spends her free time learning Italian and riding bicycles. Lisa serves as Past-Chair of Area 1 of Handbell Musicians of America.
Mark Arnold – Mark Arnold has been an active church musician for most of his life, currently serving as Director of Handbell Ministries at the First Baptist Church of Keller, TX. He is a graduate of the University of Kansas, with bachelor’s degrees in music education and music theory and advanced study in computer science. Mark’s professional experience includes many years of directing handbells, teaching school orchestras, leading adult and children’s choirs, playing horn in community ensembles, and an occasional gig playing bass in jazz or rock groups. In addition to leading workshops and clinics, he has published arrangements for both brass and handbell ensembles. In his “spare” time, he manages software development projects for a major North American transportation provider. Mark and his wife, Robin, have three grown children and reside in Fort Worth, TX.
Ed Rollins – Ed Rollins is the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Columbia Handbell Ensemble, a position he has held since 2006. The ensemble has performed on four occasions for HMA national events and numerous regional and area events. For the last 20 months, Ed served as Interim Executive Director of HMA. He has been active in this organization for many years, serving as Missouri State treasurer, Missouri State chair, Area 8 chair on two occasions, area representative to the national board, and President of the board of directors. For 31 years, Ed was associate pastor for music and administration at First Baptist Church of Columbia. During his tenure at the church, he promoted many ecumenical concerts (including the 9/11 Memorial Concert and the 10th Anniversary Memorial Concert), created an extensive program of liturgical art, and co-founded the highly successful Odyssey Chamber Music Series. Ed is married to Jess Wolfe, a teacher with Columbia Public Schools. He has four terrific step-kids, and in March he and Jess welcomed Iris Mae Wolfe Rollins into the family.
Karen Van Wert – With an insatiable thirst for knowledge and a passion to share what she has learned, Karen Van Wert is at home in a classroom or at the podium. She will tell you, “There is nothing more rewarding than witnessing a ringer grasping a concept and executing it in their music. Building skills and instilling confidence in a ringer is the goal of every rehearsal, for then we can make music.” Karen and her bellboy, James, make their home in Savage, MN.
Linda Krantz – Linda Krantz is an accomplished and widely recognized solo handbell artist, has an active performing career, and regularly teaches at the local, regional, and national level. Linda’s greatest love is to perform solo concerts, where she most enjoys playing classical music. She has performed as far away as Paris, and most recently with David Lockington, cellist and maestro of the Pasadena Symphony. Linda was a student of Nancy Hascall, learning all she could about traveling four-in-hand (4iH) and the nuances of artistic solo ringing. Linda is a founding member and president of L.A. Bronze, a past president and current advisory board member of the Pasadena Symphony, and a founding artist and past board member of Timbré. She has served as secretary of the Area 12 board of Handbell Musicians of America, and currently serves on the National Development Committee for Handbell Musicians of America.