Church towers as an orchestra
118 church bells in 29 church towers in the city of St. Gallen will become one big orchestra on August 21. The final preparations for this unusual event are currently underway: 40 volunteer bell ringers will perform a composition by Natalija Marchenkova Frei and Karl Schimke.
Sophisticated technology is required to ensure that the sometimes very delicate sound of the church bells, which are up to 16 kilometers apart, can be heard in a coordinated manner at a central location. This is because not only the distances, but also the weather conditions and the reaction time of the people striking the bells have an influence on the duration of the sound.
All components were calculated by the programming specialists at the software company Namics AG and the bell control experts at Muff Kirchenturmtechnik AG and were incorporated into the development of control software specially designed for the concert.
More info: www.zusammenklang.com