Dec 12

Deal with the Christmas Rush

It’s getting into the middle of December, and that means the Christmas Rush (whatever that happens to mean to you) is in full surge. For most of us musicians, it probably means surviving the last couple of rehearsals and performances.

But… sometimes that very, very late request comes in. Maybe someone’s had their musicians cancel due to illness or an emergency – and you’ve been asked to fill the void. The problem is that you have only six… or four… or just two handbell players. Oh, and you need music, too.

We’ve heard from several friends who have found themselves in this situation, and have been pleased to be able to provide a solution via our music for eight, twelve, or even sixteen bells. If you search around YouTube, there seem to be a few more videos of our friends playing our music, so you can get a look at how well they did!

In case you haven’t ordered from us before, it’s easy. Everything is done online, so under normal conditions you’ll have your music almost immediately:

  • Put the music you’d like to purchase into your online cart.
  • Use the checkout interface to submit payment through PayPal. You’ll need to provide your email address (and some other contact information) when you do this.
  • Check your inbox for an email with download links – if you don’t see one, you might want to check your spam folder just in case.
  • Click on each download link to receive a PDF copy of the music you’ve bought.
  • Take your music, and have fun playing it!

We also have some FAQs and buying guides that you can peruse.

If you have any difficulties getting music, please let us know. Occasionally the Internet does something odd. We’re happy to work with you to ensure that you can get to playing as quickly as possible!

We wish you a great holiday season, and hope that 2016 will be filled with hopes and dreams that are fulfilled in glorious and wonderful ways!

Dec 05

Advent’s in Full Swing!

This coming Sunday will be “Advent 2” (imaginative, yes? 😀 ). It’s the second of the four Sundays before Christmas. It’s a season of preparation for the coming of the Christ Child, and many churches put a lot of effort into making it something to remember.

If you participate in the music ministry at your church, you know what I mean. Choirs are learning loads of music, and in many places even the children are rehearsing a drama presentation to thrill their parents (as well as the rest of the congregation). I remember, fondly, many years of learning and directing Christmas cantatas at churches I’ve attended.

For those of us who are handbell musicians, the holiday season can be even more active. That’s because there are opportunities to play in many other places – seniors’ communities, Christmas parties, and even family gatherings – that are added to our normal church commitments. If you’re in a community handbell choir, you almost certainly are putting on a series of concerts as well.

Now and then we’ve heard from friends, though, that they have only a handful of handbell ringers available for their Christmas Eve services. And they’ve also told us that our music for eight bells (and twelve-bells, and sixteen bells) has made it possible for them to keep the music going right up to Christmas morning (well, technically, midnight at the end of Christmas Eve when that Very Special Service ends in candlelit, thoughtful darkness). If you’re need some music to play with smaller numbers, we invite you to take a look!

No matter what, though, we wish you a wonderful Advent and Christmas, and hope the Savior who came to give life to this world will bring bright and hopeful light to your heart.

Nov 26

We Gather Together

It’s Thanksgiving Day, possibly one of the highest-caloric-content dates on the American calendar. There’ll be turkey, potatoes/rice, candied yams, stuffing, cranberry sauce, ham, mulled cider, and pies, pies, and pies for many of us today (perhaps to carbo-fat-protein-load for Black Friday?).

Anyway, we’ve just added our eight-bell arrangement of We Gather Together (hymn tune KREMSER) to our catalog, and hope that you’ll take a look at it. Perhaps you can buy a copy and take it to the feast tonight! 🙂


Nov 25

We Three Kings

We had such a huge response to our freebie offer last week that we’ve decided to offer one more free download this season. It’s our recently-revised “standard” eight-bell arrangement of We Three Kings. If you already have it (and get the new version, of course), you’ll notice that the changes are all in the first verse. This means you won’t have to do too much work to learn the new version! This offer is good until Friday evening, so come get it quickly!

We hope you have a great Christmas season!

Nov 17

Yay! Free Music!

We made an update to our “standard” eight-bell arrangement of ‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime recently. Because only the first page was changed, we’ve decided to offer it as a free download until Sunday, November 22nd. Come and get your free copy – you’ll love playing it!

Nov 11

Veteran’s Day

(Larry writing…)

It’s incredible to think about the sacrifices “The Greatest Generation” made on our behalf. In the desperate times of World War II, they saw the need and committed themselves to solving the problems created by the Axis powers. It was no different twenty-five years before, when a different – but still huge – conflict enveloped so much of the world.

There were many other conflicts before that, and there have been many since. Yet, somehow, our world hasn’t disintegrated – God has watched over us, and sent heroes and heroines to stand in the breach created by our frailties.

That’s why we celebrate Veteran’s Day in the USA, and why in the UK it also is a time to remember the sacrifice of those who gave their lives for us.

We remember.

Oct 23

Christmas (Rehearsal) is on the Horizon!

If you’re a musician, practice for anything starts weeks ahead. If it’s a big presentation like a church Christmas concert, then my experience has been that those rehearsals start about three months in advance. After all, we want to put our best foot forward on the evening when we have one of the largest congregations of the year!

We’ve been posting lots of music that you can play for Christmas (and the rest of the year as well!):

  • Eight-bell music has been our biggest category of pieces. It’s particularly exciting to us that we now have enough Christmas pieces of this type to fill an entire two-hour shift at the Salvation Army kettle without having to repeat anything.
  • Twelve-bell pieces – for four-in-hand trio, two-in-hand sextet, or anything between, build upon the existing body of twelve-bell music. Did you notice that Georges Bizet’s Farandole fits quite nicely into a dozen diatonic notes?
  • Sixteen-bell music is a great idea for those times you have enough intrepid four-in-hand ringers who want to play some challenging music. By the way, we’re looking for videos since the two of us haven’t yet mastered Danny Lyons’ famous eight-in-hand technique!
  • There also are other pieces for “regular” handbell choirs. They range from two to seven octaves, so there’ll be something for your group (even though those pieces may not specifically be for Christmas – no matter, it means you’ll have more time to practice before spring!

Do look around. We hope you’ll find lots of music to play, and that you’ll have a wonderful holiday season.

Sep 23

O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go

Now and then we’ll be in church, and ask ourselves, “Would the song we just sang work with just eight bells?” Then we check the hymnal, count the number of melody notes, and start wondering… until we get home and try writing an arrangement.

That’s what happened with O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go a few Sundays ago. We hope you’ll like it!

Sep 17

New Eight-Bell Music!

We have one more eight-handbell hymn arrangement to share before we start bringing our new Christmas selections out!

Sep 10

Go Tell It on the Mountain

Bass handbell ensemble music hasn’t been doing a lot of growth since Low Ding Zone decided to head off into the sunset. Come to think of it, LDZ might have been the only source of music of that sort for most of its existence.

Anyway, one piece that LDZ might have played, but certainly never managed to record, is Go Tell It on the Mountain. Fortunately, the Seattle Bass Handbell Ensemble made a great video of it on 2009!