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Thomas A. Alspaugh

Calling Down

Under construction.

Call Changes are a way to ring different rows on the fly. The conductor calls out each change (thus the name Call Changes) at a handstroke, and the band rearranges themselves for the next handstroke.

Each down-call is of the form A to B or A to lead, where A and B are bells. A to B means that starting with the next handstroke, A will follow B. A to lead means that starting with the next handstroke, A will lead.

• If you are A, you will move in one place.
• If you are B, you will stay in the same place.
• If you were following B, you will move out one place even though you weren't named in the call.
• For A to lead, if you were leading, you will move out one place.

Calling down

The cases in calling down

This section outlines the cases you have to deal with when ringing call changes that are called down. There are nine:

• Cases 0, 0a, 1, 1a: Your bell is mentioned in the call (another bell called to you, you are called to another bell, you are called to lead). For Case 0 (another bell called to you) you don't have to do anything, except recognize that you don't have to do anything.
• Cases 2, 2a: A bell is called to the bell you are following, or (if you are leading) a bell is called to lead, and you start following a different bell.
• Cases 3, 4: The first five cases are essential, but these are just helpful: The bell you are following or leading off, or the bell it is following or leading off, is called away. You stay in the same place, but the list of bells you need to keep in mind in order to be ready for Cases 2 and 2a changes.
• Case 5: The cleanup case: all the other calls, for which you don't have to do anything and you don't have anything urgent to figure out.

In the descriptions of the cases, you are ringing bell B. The other bells around you are C, D, etc. … represents 0 or more unaffected bells. Bells named in the call are in bold.

	Case
	0	0a	1	1a	2	2a	3	4	5
Before:									All others
After:
Your place:	No change		-1		+1			No change
You follow:			Was -2		First in call		Was -2
Two ahead:		Was -3			Was -1		First in call	Was -3

☞ A summary page of the eight cases

Your bell is named in the call

Case 0: A bell is called to you (five or more bells) (you are unaffected)

The bell two places behind will change places with the bell following you. You will continue in the same place, following or leading off the same bell, and it is following or leading off the same bell. You were named in the call but you don't have to do anything and the two bells in front of you stay the same. This case only occurs for five or more bells, when you are at least two places down from the back.

Before the call:
The call: D to B

In response to the call:

1. You stay in the same place!
2. You are still following or leading off the same bell.
3. It is still following or leading off the same bell.

Case 0a: A bell is called to you (four bells only)

The bell two places behind will change places with the bell following you. You will continue in the same place, following or leading off the same bell, but it will be following or leading off another bell (the one that had been following you). You were named in the call but you don't have to do anything except figure out which bell will be two places ahead. This case only occurs for four bells, when you are in leads or 2nds.

You are in 2nds
Before the call:
The call: D to B

You are in leads
Before the call:
The call: D to B

In response to the call:

1. You stay in the same place!
2. You are still following or leading off the same bell.
3. You will need to figure out which bell is two places ahead.

Case 1: You are called to a bell

You will change places with the bell you have been following, moving in/down one place. This call can only be made when you are in 3rds or later; the bell you are called to can only be the bell two places ahead of you.

Before the call:
The call: B to C

In response to the call:

1. At the next backstroke, pull with a little less oomph so you can cut the next handstroke to move in/down one place.
2. Cut the next handstroke to move in/down one place, following the bell you were called to (C).
3. Now you are one place further to the front than you were, following the bell you were called to. The bell you had been following (D) is now following you. The bell it had been following was the one you were called to (C).

   You will want to figure out which bell it is following or leading off (= which bell is now two places before you) so you will be ready in case the bell you are following is called away.

Case 1a: You are called to lead

You will change places with the bell in leads, moving in/down to leads yourself. This can only occur when you are in 2nds.

Before the call:
The call: B to lead

In response to the call:

1. At the next backstroke, pull with a little less oomph so you can cut the next handstroke to move in/down to leads.
2. Cut the next handstroke to move in/down to leads. To time your stroke, listen to the sequence of bells and/or watch the bell ringing at the back.
3. Now you are in leads.

   If you did not already, you will probably want to figure out which bell is at the back so you can watch its rope as you time your stroke.

   If you did not already, you will probably want to figure out which bell it is following, to be prepared in case the bell you are leading off is called away.

A bell is called to ring in front of you

Case 2: A bell is called to the bell you are following

You will change places with the bell called to the bell you are following. That bell is currently following you (otherwise it couldn't be called to the bell you are following). You will move out/up one place. This call can only occur if you are in 2nds place or later, but not at the back..

Before the call:
The call: D to C

In response to the call:

1. At the next backstroke, pull with a little more oomph so you can hold up the next handstroke to move out/up to 3rds place.
2. Hold up the next handstroke to move out/up one place following the D.
3. Now you are following the D, and the D is following the C, the bell you had been following.

   You don't have to figure anything out, as both bells were named in the call.

Case 2a: You are in leads, and a bell is called to lead

Only one call can change your place when you when you are in leads: another bell is called to lead. The only bell that can be called to lead is the bell in 2nds place (all the others are too far away).

You will change places with the bell called to lead, moving one place out.

Before the call:
The call: D to lead

In response to the call:

1. At the next backstroke, pull with a little more oomph so you can hold up the handstroke to move out/up to 2nds place.
2. Hold up the next handstroke to move out/up to 2nds place after the D.
3. Now you follow the D, in 2nds place.

   You don't have to figure anything out. The bell you now follow was named in the call, and the bell the D is leading off is the bell you had been leading off.

Bells one or two in front of you are called away

Case 3: The bell you are following or leading off is called away

The bell you are following or leading off will change places with the bell it is following. You will continue in the same place, but will be following or leading off a different bell. This case cannot occur if you are in 2nds place.

If you are in 3rds
Before the call:
The call: E to lead

If you are in 4ths or later
Before the call:
The call: E to C

If you are in leads
Before the call:
The call: E to C

In response to the call:

1. You stay in the same place!
2. At the next handstroke, be prepared to follow or lead off the D instead of the E.

   If you had not already figured out which bell is two places ahead of you, you need to do so now (or hold your place steadily and pay attention after the call takes effect), as D was not named in the call.

   After the call, the D should be looking at the E, the bell you had been following, and if you can identify bells by pitch you can hear which bell is ringing in front of you.

3. Now you are following the the D, and the D is following the E, the bell you had been following.

Case 4: The bell two places ahead is called away to some other bell

The bell two places ahead will change places with the bell it is following. You will continue in the same place, following or leading off the same bell, but will be two places back from a different bell. This case cannot occur if you are in 3rds.

This case only occurs with five or more bells. In the case of four bells, for the bell two places ahead to be called away, it has to be called to you; that is Case 0a.

If you are in 5ths or later
Before the call:
The call: E to C

If you are in 4ths
Before the call:
The call: E to lead

If you are in 2nds
Before the call:
The call: E to C

If you are in leads
Before the call:
The call: E to C

In response to the call:

1. You stay in the same place!
2. You are still following or leading off the same bell.
3. The bell two places ahead is now the D. The D was not named in the call so you will have to figure out which bell is two ahead of you.

What's left?

Case 5: All other calls (you are unaffected)

You are unaffected, and the two bells in front of you are also unaffected. Relax and keep ringing.

If you are in 6ths or later
Before the call:	…EFG…CDB…
The call: G to E	…EGF…CDB…

If you are in 5ths or later
Before the call:	EF…CDB…
The call: F to lead	FE…CDB…

If you are in nths (2nds or later), out of at least n+6 bells
Before the call:	…AB…DEFGH…
The call: F to D	…AB…DFEGH…

If you are in leads, out of at least six bells
Before the call:	B…DEFGH…
The call: F to D	B…DFEGH…

None of these are possible if you are ringing on four or fewer bells (why not?) in which case you have to think and/or move at every call; and only one of them is possible (which one?) if you are ringing on five bells.

In response to the call:

1. You stay in the same place!
2. You are still following or leading off the same bell.
3. It is still following or leading off the same bell.

• Summary page for the nine cases

• thomas · alspaugh @ acm · org
• 
• 2019May11Sa10:37
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