bell

Musical instrument, made in many sizes, comprising a suspended resonating vessel swung by a handle or from a pivoted frame to make contact with a beater which hangs inside the bell. Church bells are among the most massive structures to be cast in bronze in one piece; from high up in a steeple they can be heard for many miles. Their shape, a flared bowl with a thickened rim, is engineered to produce a clangorous mixture of tones. Miniature handbells are tuned to resonate harmoniously. Orchestral tubular bells, of brass or steel, are tuned to a chromatic scale of pitches and are played by striking with a wooden mallet. A set of steeple bells played from a keyboard is called a carillon.

The world's largest bell is the ‘Tsar Kolokol’ or ‘King of Bells’, cast in 1734; it weighs 220 tonnes, and stands on the ground at the Kremlin, Moscow, Russia, where it fell when being hung. The ‘Peace Bell’ at the United Nations headquarters, New York, USA, was cast in 1952 from coins presented by 64 countries.