Back in September of last year, I started making videos of the Bells of Leicestershire. I had heard of other Guilds and Associations putting recordings of the bells in their area on their websites, and thought it would be a good idea to do the same, something which will be a lot easier now that I have taken over the role of webmaster!
My initial videos were just an audio recording of the bells, paired with a still image of the church. I was cautious about how much support I would get from the ringers, and felt that many would be at least comfortable with an audio recording. Since then, having made a video showcasing bellringing in Leicestershire for the website, I am now comfortable asking the ringers if they are happy to appear in video. I take it very seriously when anyone says no, and make sure only people who have agreed appear online, but the majority of ringers are quite happy to appear.
I do try to include the best bit of ringing for the video, but these recordings are taken from inside the ringing room, so the viewer gets to experience the bellringers’ experience. This does sometimes include method mistakes, and people being put right. We also get to hear the relative volume of the bells, any rope noise, turret clocks whirring as they try to chime the hours, and occasionally people talking in the background.
My earliest recordings were taken just using an audio recording app on my tablet, though I have now upgraded my recording kit, which conveniently fits in a small bag – all the more easy for getting into those more hard to access towers! I use a dedicated sound recorder, chosen for its ability to record loud music; a small video camera, like a GoPro, which gives me the ability to do wide-angled shots (with a telescopic pole for overhead shots); and for a still picture of the outside of the church I find my phone takes very good pictures, especially if I’m in a hurry off to the next church.
As I have been working my way through the recordings I already have, I have been adapting, and hopefully improving the end result. I am keen to include views of the ringing room, and the access too – and this will eventually be information included on the individual towers pages on the website.
There are currently 16 videos in the playlist, with the one with the most views being that of Loughborough at over 2,700 views – not surprising as people are likely to pair the search terms of bellringing and Loughborough due to the foundry. Most of the videos have between 200 and 300 views each.
For anyone interested in how I put the videos together, I use various bits of free software.
I use Audacity for editing the audio. I often set the recorder going for the whole session of ringing, so have to choose which touch I want to include, and snip out just that segment.
For the video I currently use Openshot video editing software. This comes with its own titles templates, but recently I have discovered how to use Inkscape image editing software which means I can make my own templates for the titles. I used to use Gimp to make titles, and I still use this software if I need to edit still images.
At the time of writing I have enough raw material to make eight more videos, and with the opportunities I have in the new year to ring at some new towers, I will hopefully keep up with my self-imposed aim to release one video each week.
It is still going to take me some time to get all the towers in Leicestershire recorded! So I am always happy for people to record the ringing at their own tower and send it to me along with a still photo, and I can produce a video. Most smart phones are capable of recording good enough quality sound, though I have found the positioning of the phone to be vital – try to avoid putting it on a soft surface, such as a padded or carpeted seat. A phone placed on a table in the centre of the circle, recording a video of the ceiling, is most commonly the best option. Don’t hesitate to contact me for advice in how to record, or how to send any recordings to me: LeicesterGuildNews@gmail.com
Rebecca Banner
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