BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Arthur M. Sackler Gallery -- Exhibit: Resound: Bells of Ancient China

DC -- Arthur M. Sackler Gallery -- Exhibit: Resound: Bells of Ancient China:

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Description of Pictures: Resound: Bells of Ancient China
October 14, 2017 – TBD
Musical innovations in the Bronze Age meld with today’s digital technology in this interactive exploration of ancient Chinese bells. Thousands of years ago, Chinese musicians worked with foundry technicians to cast matched sets of bronze bells of different sizes to produce a range of tones. They developed oval-shaped bells that, depending on where they were struck, produced two distinct pitches with an intentional interval between them. Resound investigates this advancement with displays of early instruments including a graduated set of matched bells discovered together in a Chinese tomb, videos of ancient bells being played, and chances for visitors to compose their own music on virtual bronze bells.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. RSOUND_171011_01.JPG: Resound: Ancient Bells of China October 14, 2017 to mid-2020 Bells were among the first metal objects created in China. Beginning over 3,500 years ago, small, primitive noisemakers grew into gongs and further evolved into sets of hand bells for playing melodies. Further, centuries of technological experimentation resulted in more sophisticated bells that produced two pitches when struck in different spots. Variations in size, shape, decoration, and sound also reveal regional differences across north and south China. By the late Bronze Age large sets of tuned bells were played in ensemble performances in both areas. Cast from bronze, these durable bells preserve valuable information about the character of early Chinese music. Today we can use technology to explore these ancient instruments and to explain their acoustical properties, but we know little about the sound of this early music. To bring the bells to life, we commissioned three composers to create soundscapes using the recorded tones of a 2,500-year-old bell set on display. Each of them also produced a video projection to interpret his composition with moving images that allow us to "see sound."
2. RSOUND_171011_07.JPG: Marquis Yi of Zeng A music lover to the very end, Marquis Yi of Zeng was buried with the musical instruments of his royal orchestra and with twenty-one women, possibly his court musicians, when he died around 433 BCE. The sixty-five bells being played in the video are full-size copies of those found in the tomb of this Chinese aristocrat. The bells were placed in the central chamber of Yi's tomb along with other instruments and bronze banqueting vessels. Apparently accumulated over time, the assemblage of different bell types covered five octaves and required several musicians to play. Many of the bells bear inscriptions that outline the three distinctive tuning standards of Zeng in southern China, its patron state of Chu, and the royal Zhou court in the north. During this part of the later Zhou dynasty (770–221 BCE), metallurgists and musicians collaborated to create individual bells capable of producing two pitches, usually separated by a musical third, depending on where the bell is struck.
3. RSOUND_171011_13.JPG: Symbols of Refinement Chinese regional courts competed with one another on the battlefield and on the music stage. Dozens of bronze swords could have been made with the metal used to cast this massive bell. Weighing 138 pounds (62 kilograms), it is the largest in a set of four bells made to hang together from a rack. Musicians used mallets to strike bells on the outside. Accuracy was essential because each bell produces two different notes depending on where it is struck. Four bells in this set could thus produce eight deep bass notes. Watch the video for a large bo bell (with a distinctive flat bottom) being played near the center of the set. Bell (bo) with birds and dragons; from a set of four Shanxi province, State of Jin, Houma foundry Eastern Zhou dynasty, late Spring and Autumn period, ca. 500–450 BCE
4. RSOUND_171011_19.JPG: Heads Up Weighing more than 200 pounds (90 kilograms), this is the heaviest bell here. Its hollow shaft anchored the bell with its mouth upward. This makes it easier to see the relationship between the abstract, swirling decoration and the earlier taotie masks and dragon designs. The rows of raised knobs that punctuate the decorative scheme became a characteristic feature of Chinese bells throughout the Bronze Age. They might be purely ornamental, or they may have served a now-forgotten acoustical purpose. Testing shows this bell is a single-note instrument, although additional pitches are audible as faint overtones. Hollow shaft bell (nao) with taotie masks and dragons Yangzi River valley, ca. 1200–1100 BCE
5. RSOUND_171011_21.JPG: Sound: Music or Noise? Sound is caused by vibrations that spread in waves. With these ancient metal objects, vibrations begin by shaking a rattle or striking a bell with a clapper or mallet. Labeling different sounds as "music" or "noise" is a personal or cultural matter. Military music, for example, was intended to motivate troops and alarm the enemy. The clang of a bell worn by a farm animal might be a pleasant or unwelcome reminder of rural life. Amid shouts to "turn down that noise," generations of parents and teenagers have disagreed on what constitutes music, from Elvis Presley and the Beatles to heavy metal, rap, techno, and beyond. It has been said, music consists of melody, harmony, rhythm, and a thousand associations of the heart. Whether viewed as producing music or noise, jingles, rattles, and hand bells were found together in the richly furnished tomb of Lady Hao, who died around 1200 BCE. When it was discovered in 1976, her burial contained eighteen small hanging bells with internal clappers, six chariot rein guides with rattles, and a set of five hand bells without clappers. All of these types are shown in this gallery. No large bells, however, were buried with Lady Hao, presumably because they were unknown or not valued in the north.
6. RSOUND_171011_33.JPG: Mix and Match Marquis Yi of Zeng amassed an impressive collection of sixty-four bells before he died around 433 BCE. One final bell was added as a memorial gift from King Hui of Chu after Yi's death. Three types of bells -- niu, yong, and bo -- form this amazing set, by far the largest in the world. Niu Bells Nineteen small bells are arranged in three groups at the top of the stand. They produce the highestnotes. Each hangs from a niu, or loop. Archaeologists have found sets of six to ten niu bells buried together, suggesting the size of sets varied. Yong Bells Most of Marquis Yi's bells are of the yong type. Each one of the forty-five bells is suspended from a ring attached to the side of its vertical shaft (yong). Look at the matched set of six yong bells to your left to see how the rings are secured. Bo Bells The third type is the large memorial bell given by King Hui of Chu. A bo bell has a flat bottom and hangs by a loop. Produced in different sizes, bo bells are frequently quite large to generate deep bass notes
7. RSOUND_171011_42.JPG: Crouching Tigers, Coiled Dragons These growling tigers were purportedly unearthed in 1923 at Baoji in the capital district of the Western Zhou dynasty (circa 1050–770 BCE), which ruled northern China. No similar pieces have been found since then. The specific function of these creatures is a mystery. Each solid-cast tiger weighs about 50 pounds (23 kilograms), suggesting they may have been made to carry a heavy structure on their backs. Common animals in south China, tigers were viewed as exotic beasts in the north. This may have made them an attractive subject for the base of a rack of bells, possibly imported or inspired by southern models.
8. RSOUND_171011_47.JPG: For the Living and the Dead The four large bo bells behind you belong to three different sets that apparently included four members each. The largest bell (bottom left) is covered with crisp designs of interlaced dragons and birds created with pattern blocks. This repeated decoration is easiest to see on the bell's flat top, where motifs are abruptly cut off at the outer edge. Pattern blocks were first used at the Houma foundry in the northern State of Jin, where this bell must have been cast. Its superb quality indicates the bell was made for performance. This might not be true with the other three bo. Look for two identical bells that slightly differ in size (top row). Together since antiquity, they come from the same set. Surprisingly, they are still partially filled with the clay core material that was used to cast them around 500 BCE. Their thin walls and the dulling sound effect of the clay indicate these instruments probably were never played but instead served as extravagant burial objects. The fourth bell (bottom right) was reportedly found at Jincun, the burial ground of the last kings of the Zhou dynasty. Its decoration is both simpler and less refined than the others. Notice how the horizontal patterns between the raised knobs do not neatly fit their frames. This bell might also have been made solely for burial.
9. RSOUND_171011_53.JPG: A Golden Age for Music Advances in acoustics and metal casting led to a greater standardization of the types, proportions, and pitches of bronze bells. The second half of the Zhou dynasty, which includes the Spring and Autumn (770–456 BCE) and Warring States (456–256 BCE) periods, emerged as the most important era of bell production in Chinese history. Indeed, casting a perfectly tuned set of bells was thought to have political implications signaling good government and a proper relationship with heaven. Depictions of court performances show musicians in long robes striking suspended bells and stone chimes (qing). Other musicians play mouth organs (sheng), pan pipes, and drums. Since pitches of bronze bells were difficult to adjust once cast, other instruments might have been tuned to harmonize with them. The standard Zhou scale was pentatonic, comprised of the five major-scale pitches do, re, mi, sol, and la. (The conventional Western scale uses seven tones: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, and ti.) This court tradition of bell sets was gradually overcome by popular music that did not utilize bells. Chinese political philosophers contributed to this change in taste with their complaints about overly elaborate banquets and conventional bell music. In the end, the significance of this classical tradition lived on only symbolically, evinced by miniature effigies made solely for burial in tombs.
10. RSOUND_171011_67.JPG: Soundscapes To bring China's ancient bell culture into the twenty-first century, we commissioned three composers to create illustrated soundscapes. These evocative contemporary compositions using our six-bell set substitute for now-lost ancient melodies. Hugh Livingston, a cellist and composer living in Oakland, California, put the voiceless bells back into conversation. Alternating piano gestures and bell tones create a sense of opposition, disconnect, and anticipation. Drone tones derived from the decaying bell tones sustain the bridge across time. The visual component of the composition spins threads of color which modulate with the richness of the overtones, gently blowing in a breeze as the bells' subtlety is given a graphic presence. Norman Lowrey, Professor Emeritus of Music at Drew University in New Jersey, is an unabashed animist. His soundscape evokes a powerful connection between the bells and nature. After initially thinking that serious enhancement of the tone samples was necessary, I've decided to apply very little, coming to appreciate the gritty and even earthy sound that was either the result of the bells themselves or the recording quality, or both. The sound of the bells provides an excellent resource for helping to reveal the sacred essence in the mundane Northern New Jersey landscape in which I reside. Doug Von Nort, an artist, researcher, composer, and improviser, is Canada Research Chair at York University in Toronto. In this piece, all sounds are purely derived from the bell set. I chose to focus on extending harmonic layers drawn from the bells, with rhythms that arise both from looping the bells as well as extending the inner textural quality of the bell sound itself. The visuals by my collaborator, Elysha Poirier, augment this approach by focusing on an impressionistic styling that is both driven by the sound and hints at the physical properties of the bells.
11. RSOUND_171011_75.JPG: Musical Properties Although the bells in this ancient set of six seem solid, their corroded metal is fragile, and they are rarely struck. In 1991, however, a team of specialists safely investigated the physical and acoustical properties of these bells. Their findings contributed to a revised international understanding of ancient Chinese bells. Recordings made in 1991 of the twelve tones produced by our set have been digitally remastered and analyzed. Acousticians now believe the corrosion has not significantly affected the bells' tuning. What you hear is very close to the way the bells sounded 2,500 years ago.
12. RSOUND_171011_77.JPG: Seeing Sound: Spectrum Reports The two tones of each bell can be represented in spectrum reports that show what your ears are hearing. The greatest peak in each report indicates the most audible tone, which is accompanied by a complex overlay of additional frequencies. A frontal strike on the largest bell yields a fundamental of 356 Hz and comes close to the F above middle C (labeled F4). The graph shows other subtle audible tones, including F5 (an octave above F4) and C6 (a fifth above that). Spectrum report of the sound produced by a central (low-tone) strike on the largest bell of the Sackler set A piano keyboard helps orient us to the tones of the ancient bell set despite different tuning standards. Use the touch screen behind you to explore these sounds and their combinations. The white and black keys represent approximations of the tones played by the bells.
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