Method ringing (also known as scientific ringing) is a form of change ringing (the practice of ringing a series of mathematical permutations on tuned bells, rather than a melody). In method ringing, the ringers are guided from permutation to permutation by following a specific algorithm, called a method. Where the treble bell follows exactly the same pattern as the other bells it is called a principle. The underlying mathematical basis is intimately linked to group theory.
The practice originated in England and remains most popular there today; in addition to bells in church towers, it is also often performed on handbells.
Read more about Method Ringing: Introduction, Method Names
Famous quotes containing the words method and/or ringing:
“There is no method but to be very intelligent.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“When we reached the lake, about half past eight in the evening, it was still steadily raining, and harder than before; and, in that fresh, cool atmosphere, the hylodes were peeping and the toads ringing about the lake universally, as in the spring with us. It was as if the season had revolved backward two or three months, or I had arrived at the abode of perpetual spring.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)