Bell by Bell is a free annual Winter Solstice event presented by Make Music New York where participants ring color-coded bells at coordinated cues. The concept originated fifteen years ago when Tom Peyton proposed it to Aaron Friedman. Participants grab color-coded bells while volunteer conductors use colored flags to cue bell ringing through time cues rather than traditional scores. Newcomers typically need a short adjustment period, but within a half-hour jam session groups begin making music together and the compositions increase in complexity. Conducting requires practice because cues are time-based, and the public receives synchronized start and cue signals.
"Basically, anyone who wants to participate grabs a color-coded bell, and the conductors raise their colored flags when it's time for those bells to be rung. At first, it takes everyone a little bit of time to get accustomed to it, says James Burke, the executive director of MMNY. But, you know, by the end of a half-hour music jam session, the first-timers are really genuinely making music together, and the compositions get kind of more complex as the program proceeds."
"Being a conductor takes some practice, though, as they're not working from a typical score. It's kind of interesting, says Burke. They're written in a very simple way; we're not looking at charts. We're just looking at time cues. So, the flag-wavers know exactly when to raise their flags based on those cues. We synchronize when the song starts and give those cues to the public."
Read at www.amny.com
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