Bourdon (bell)

This article does not cite any sources. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: – · · · scholar · JSTOR (June 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Emmanuel, the 13-ton bourdon of Notre-Dame de Paris being remounted in 1850 during restoration

The bourdon is the heaviest of the bells that belong to a musical instrument, especially a chime or a carillon, and produces its lowest tone.

As an example, the largest bell of a carillon of 64 bells, the sixth largest bell hanging in the world, in the Southern Illinois town of Centralia, is identified as the 'bourdon.' It weighs 5,000 kilograms (11,000 lb) and is tuned to G. In the Netherlands where carillons are native, the heaviest carillon is in Grote Kerk in Dordrecht (South Holland).

The biggest bell serving as bourdon of any carillon is the low C bell at Riverside Church, New York City. Cast in 1929 as part of the Rockefeller Carillon, it weighs 19,000 kg (41,000 lb) and measures 3.10 m (10 ft 2 in) across. This is also the largest tuned bell ever cast.

Although carillons are by definition chromatic, the next bell up from the bourdon is traditionally a whole tone higher in pitch, leaving a semitone out of the instrument.

English-style ring of bells[]

The heaviest bell in a diatonically tuned English-style ring of bells (change ringing) is called the tenor. If a larger, heavier bell is also present it would be called a bourdon.

See also[]

v t Bells
Background and terminology	Bell Bell-cot Bellfounding Bell-gable Bell tower / Campanile Bell-ringer Belfry Bourdon Campanology Full circle ringing Ring of bells Strike tone Striking clock Zvonnitsa
Types	Agogô Altar bell Babendil Bianzhong Bicycle bell Bonshō Call bell Carillon Chime Church bell Cowbell Crotal bell Dead bell Doorbell Dōtaku Ghanta Glockenspiel Handbell Jingle bell Kane Mini-ring Ship's bell Song bells Standing bell Suzu Tintinnabulum Tubular bells
Ringing styles	Bell pattern Blagovest Bolognese bell ringing Change ringing Canpanò Method ringing Peal Russian Orthodox bell ringing Veronese bell ringing
Notable bells	List of heaviest bells Balangiga bells Bell of Good Luck Bell of King Seongdeok Big Ben Freedom Bell Great Bell of Dhammazedi Great Tom Ivan the Great Bell Tower Japanese Peace Bell Justice Bell Liberty Bell Maria Gloriosa Mingun Bell Bells of Notre-Dame de Paris Olympic Bell Petersglocke Sigismund Bell Swan Bells Temple Bell, Boston Tsar Bell World Peace Bells Kentucky Yongle Big Bell
Bell founders and foundries	Bilbie family Andrey Chokhov Cockey family Royal Eijsbouts Kashpir Ganusov Vanden Gheyn Gillett & Johnston Grassmayr Miles Graye Hatch Pieter and François Hemony Christopher Hodson Franciscus Illenfeld Juutila McShane Meneely John Murphy Paccard Petit & Fritsen Richard Phelps Rudhall John and William Rufford John Taylor & Co Hugh Watts John Warner & Sons Whitechapel Geert van Wou
Related	The Ringing World Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers Glockenmuseum Stiftskirche Herrenberg Liberty Bell Memorial Museum Liberty Bell Museum Ringing organizations Freedom Bell, American Legion All the Bells (artwork)