Ashley B Wilson STARS Studio

We were initially intending to fit special Simbell transmitters to four of the bells in the belfry (the two, four, six and eight) and have paired receivers and associated equipment in the ringing room, to enable four ringers to practice independently of each other at their own pace, effectively creating a ‘language lab’ equivalent for ringers.  However, thanks to the generosity of Ashley's family and friends we can now extend this to a fifth bell.  

Ashley was an accomplished ringer of heavy bells. He rang 51 peals on the tenor (including one at Liverpool Cathedral, which is the heaviest tenor  bell in the world at 82cwt/4171 kg!) and a further 39 on n-1 (the second heaviest bell of the ring)  We have therefore decided to add a further pair of transmitters to our tenor bell, to enable ringers to practice and develop their 'big bell' handling technique and gain confidence before doing this in 'public' at a practice night or for an extended piece of ringing.

Learning will be able to be undertaken at any time, because the clappers on the bells will be tied, so no sound will be heard outside and simulated sound will be generated via Abel software to bluetooth headphones. A monitor will provide visual representation of other ringers generated by the software.

This will be a great way for ringers at any stage of their learning journey to practice new methods, hone their rhythm and striking skills and also work on refining the efficiency of their bell control.

Using the system, ringers can choose any level of complexity they wish from ringing in rounds on six to touches of spliced Surprise Maximus and more!

How to book

Will will offer set practice times where ringers can pre-book a slot to ring. It will also be possible for one or more ringers to arrange a mutually convenient time to have a session in the studio.

We are currently only offering Ashley B Wilson STARS Studio to ringers whose home tower is one of our affiliated towers or to ringers who generously donated in memory of  Ashley.  If you would like an Ashley B Wilson STARS Studio session please contact us.

(Depending on demand, we may be able to offer this facility more widely in the future, so do check back periodically.)

Cost

We ask for a small donation in exchange for use of the Ashley B Wilson STARS Studio, which enables us to make a regular donation to the Church towards the  maintenance of the bells we use/contribute to the Church's running costs and also contribute to the running costs of STARS. We don't charge for the actual tuition, our teachers give their time for free.

Please contact us for more information.

Donors

Thank you to the following people who donated in Ashley's memory, enabling us to establish the Ashley B Wilson STARS Studio.  A special thank you goes to Isy and Mark (Ashley's brother and sister-in-law), whose initial generosity sparked the seed of the idea to set up the studio in memory of Ashley.

(Names are listed in order of receipt of donation)