CONDUCTING PLAIN BOB DOUBLES
By John Heaton from Derby Cathedral, with his kind permission
1. Introduction
When we start to learn to ring we soon begin to marvel at those clever people who seem to know where everybody should be ringing. Whilst we can't remember our next dodge some people seem to know not only their own work but also which dodge everybody else should be doing. Not only that but they also call touches faultlessly whilst we invariably miscall them and can't get the bells back into Rounds.
The art of conducting is one which is learned. Good conductors weren't born with super powers but instead have discovered the secret formula and practised it many times. In this article we shall discover the secret formula and how it applies to Plain Bob Doubles. Although not covered in detail, its application to other methods on any number of bells will be illustrated. The more advanced article, "Conducting" takes the story forward in great detail.
It is assumed that the reader can ring Plain Bob Doubles and is familiar with the normal terminology of the ringing of bobs. Some of the sections go into considerable detail. These may be skipped on a first (second, third, ....) reading.
2. The Plain Course
The first stage is learning how to conduct a Plain Course. Before we can do that we must understand how methods are built. The following description applies in principle to every normal method.
2.1. Method Structure
Here is the Plain Course of Plain Bob Doubles written out in full:
12345 13524 15432 14253
21435 31254 51342 41523
24153 32145 53124 45132
42513 23415 35214 54312
45231 24351 32541 53421
54321 42531 23451 35241
53412 45213 24315 32514
35142 54123 42135 23154
31524 51432 41253 21345
13254 15342 14523 12435
13524 15432 14253 12345
There are a few things to notice about this. As written above it is shown in four columns. In each column the Treble moves from lead up to the back and down to lead again. In each case it is the Treble's handstroke lead which is underlined. The block of changes from the Treble's backstroke lead (at the top of each column) to the Treble's handstroke lead is called a "lead". The first row of a lead is called the "lead head" and the last row is called the "lead end". The row following any lead end is the next lead head. The correct place for drawing the line across is therefore between the Treble's two blows at lead, not under the Treble's backstroke lead as is sometimes seen. This is an important point because it is between these two rows that calls take effect. Similarly, exactly the same terminology and principles apply to any other method where the Treble hunts (Plain or Treble Bob).
2.2. Calling A Plain Course
The procedure for calling a plain course of any method is to wait for the initial Rounds to settle down and then, in a loud enough voice, shout "Go Plain Bob Doubles". Don't shout too loudly because this makes people jump and spoils the start. The correct time to call is as the Treble ringer is just starting to pull the handstroke prior to going off at the next handstroke. Don't leave the call too late otherwise the front bells might not be adequately prepared for changing places and may even be unsure about which handstroke they should start at.
At the end of the ringing, "That's all" or "This is all" is called as the Treble ringer is just starting to pull the backstroke of the final Rounds. Call too soon and the last dodge will be messed up by those who stop straight away. Call too late and the front bells may have already started again, thus messing up the final Rounds.
3. Bob Calling
3.1. Why Bother?
Having seen how the plain course is constructed we can address the matter of calling bobs. We must first understand why we need bobs in the first place. Plain methods (methods where the Treble Plain Hunts) are derived from Plain Hunt. Plain Hunt on five bells only produces 10 changes, or "rows". This is sad because there are lots of other rows to ring on five bells. The fathers of ringing decided that Plain Hunt could be extended by ringing Plain Hunt up to where the Treble leads and then altering the hunting by having a bell make 2nds and the others dodge. This gives a new row from which to start hunting. The process of hunting and then altering the hunting when the Treble leads became Plain Bob and gave rise to the idea of methods where one bell hunts and the others do the work of the method. Each lead of a method is a self contained unit and the making 2nds and dodging is just a means of joining leads together.
Nevertheless, Plain Bob Doubles only produces 40 rows but there are 120 rows available to five bells. To obtain them we need a different alteration to Plain Hunt so that new rows are rung. This is the purpose of the bob. By having a bell make 4ths instead of a bell making 2nds the result is that three bells end up in different positions. Do this three times and you join together three different complete courses to give the full 120 rows. Notice again that the alteration to the work of the bells is done at the point where one lead is joined to the next, maintaining the principle that each lead is a unit.
3.2 Procedure In The Tower
Bobs take effect at the backstroke of the Treble's lead so that it is the lead head of the next lead that is different from what it would have been. This maintains the principle of each lead being self contained. Calls are always (with one exception - what is it?) made two strokes before they take effect (think about the bobs you've rung and about how call changes work). Therefore bobs must be called at the backstroke before the Treble's full lead (when the Treble is in 2nds place). In fact the calls should ideally be made as the bell that's leading is just starting to pull this backstroke so that the affected bells have the maximum time to panic about what to do next.
3.3 Calling A 120
There are 120 rows to be had on five bells. If you ring them all you are said to have rung a "120" or an "extent". The conductor has to call the appropriate bobs in the correct places otherwise the world will collapse. Not only that but the 120 rows produced must all be different otherwise the 120 will be "false". Whilst this doesn't matter for practices or short touches it is important for peals and quarter peals. For this reason we use a proper "composition".
To call a 120 it is necessary to call three bobs affecting the same three bells (Production of compositions is a huge subject in itself. For our purposes we just accept the ones that exist.). These three bobs will be a whole course (four leads) apart and at each bob the same bell will be making long 5ths. One of the three affected bells will run in, run out and make the bob. One will run out, make the bob and run in. The third affected bell will make the bob, run in and run out.
Because there are four positions in a plain course where a bob can be called there are four ways to call a 120. Bobs can be called:
- At the first lead end of the plain course, when the 4th makes long 5ths and then every other time the 4th makes long 5ths.
- At the second lead end of the plain course, when the 2nd makes long 5ths and then every other time the 2nd makes long 5ths.
- At the third lead end of the plain course, when the 3rd makes long 5ths and then every other time the 3rd makes long 5ths.
- At the fourth lead end of the plain course, when the 5th makes long 5ths and then every other time the 5th makes long 5ths.
So, the easiest 120 to call, and it doesn't matter which bell you ring, is to call yourself to make long 5ths each time. Then, with more practice, you can watch one of the other bells and call the bobs each time that bell makes long 5ths. Another way to remember where to put the calls is to call yourself to do one of the following:
- Run in, then run out and then make the bob.
- Run out, then make the bob and then run in.
- Make the bob, then run in and then run out.
3.4. Calling Positions
Each position where a bob may be called is knows as a "calling position" and they each have names. These names are valid for any method.
- If you call a bob when doing long 5ths you have called a "Home", which can be abbreviated to "H".
- If you call a bob that makes you run in then you have called an "In", which can be abbreviated to "I".
- If you call a bob that makes you run out then you have called an "Out", which can be abbreviated to "O". More usually for methods like Plain Bob where a bell runs out instead of making 2nds this is called a "Before", abbreviated to "B".
- If you call a bob that makes you make the bob then you have called a "Fourths", which can be abbreviated to "4". It may be that some would call this "Make" or "M" but this is ambiguous because in very fancy methods you can have bobs in which places other than 4ths are made.
The last point notwithstanding, many Doubles ringers might abbreviate "In, Out and Make The Bob" as "I, O, M". This gives rise to the very useful mnemonic "Isle Of Man" for the order of which work you do when you call yourself to be affected at the bobs. IOM can be rotated to give the other two callings with yourself affected: "OMI" and "MIO". You don't need to remember these because you can work them out from IOM, which you must remember. IOM will give a valid touch of Plain Bob Minor (180 changes), Cambridge Minor (360 changes), Newgate Surprise Maximus (1572 changes) and many other useful touches!
3.5. Writing Down Touches
When writing down a touch it is customary to write it down from the point of view of the biggest working bell, which is the 5th when ringing Doubles. There is a wide variety of formats. Here we will just deal with three ways in which Plain Bob Doubles might be written down.
3.5.1. By The Lead Heads
In this format each lead head is written down. If it had been produced by a bob a hyphen is placed before it. Thus we might have a plain course with a bob at the end written down as:
2345
3524
5432
4253
- 4235
Repeat twice
Notice that at the end of this touch the 5th has returned home but the other 3 bells are mixed up. It is in fact the 120 with the 5th unaffected and so there are three parts. Also notice that if you were to ring the 5th, since it comes home you would do the same work in each part. If you were ringing one of the others you would do the work of the bell whose position you ended up in, for example, the 4th ends up in 2nds place and so in the second part it does the work of the second, running out at the second bob. It next does the work of the 3rd and makes the final bob, which is a good thing. Notice also that the final instruction is to repeat the calling twice meaning that you call it three times in all. Many a peal or quarter peal has come to grief by an inexperienced conductor misinterpreting this.
3.5.2. Table Format
Lead head format is very wasteful on space. The most compact format is table format. In this format all the calling positions used are listed across the top in the order in which they appear in a plain course. The body of the table contains hyphens under the appropriate calling position and the lines of the table represent one complete course. The column at the right hand side is the course head produced by all the calls on that line. For example, In, Out and 4ths would be written as:
4 O I 2345 Note the order of calling positions as they occur in the plain course.
- 324 The first course ends when the 5th gets back to long 5ths
- 423 Note that all the bells that end up back home at the course end
- 234 are omitted.
3.5.3. Lead Counting Format
In this format only the lead heads produced by a bob are written. Thus the 120 shown 1 inch up this page would be written as:
2345
5423 3 A bob at the third lead end.
2543 4 A bob after 4 more leads.
4253 4 A bob after 4 more leads.
Pl 2345 1 One more plain lead and it's finished.
This is more compact than lead end format and is quite often seen in books on Doubles and Minor. notice that if the touch ends with a plain lead than this is stated by adding Pl as shown.
3.6. Other Touches
These are given here in the standard form as being from the point of view of the 5th. Apart from the 120s there are three other simple touches.
1. 20 changes
This is just two leads with a bob at the end of each. It would be written down by lead ends as:
20 Plain Bob Doubles
2345
- 2354
- 2345
Or in table format as:
20 Plain Bob Doubles
4 H 2345
- - 2345
Its main use might be to put learning Plain Hunters onto bells 2 or 3 and tell them just to ring Plain Hunt. You would call a bob at every lead and this would have the effect of swapping bells 4 and 5 so that the learner would have to look round a bit.
2. 60 changes
This is called by calling a bob at every other lead end. It could be done either by calling the first bob at the first lead end or at the second lead end and continuing with alternate plain and bobbed leads until three bobs had been called. Written down by the leads ends this would be either:
60 Plain Bob Doubles 60 Plain Bob Doubles
2345 2345
3524 - 2354
- 3542 3425
5234 - 3452
- 5243 4235
2354 - 4253
- 2345 2345
Or in table format as:
60 Plain Bob Doubles 60 Plain Bob Doubles
B I H 2345 4 2345
- 4325 - 3425
- 3425 - 4235
- 2345 - 2345
The main use for this touch is to adjust the length of a quarter peal. There is more about quarter peals later.
3. 100 changes
The following touch isn't all that widely known. It produces 100 changes which makes it longer than necessary for a quarter peal and too short to give the satisfaction of having rung a complete 120. It is written out below in lead counting format:
100 Plain Bob Doubles
2345
3542 2
5243 2
Pl 2354 1
Repeated
Notice here that only half of the touch is written down. The calling for the second half is the same as the first. Since the 2nd and 3rd bells end the first half where they started they will do the same work in the second half. Bells 4 and 5 are swapped at the end of the first half and so will do each others' work in the second half. This means that care is required when looking up touches of more than one part. Decide which bell to ring and then see where it is at the end of the first part. If it's not back where it started its work will differ from part to part.
This touch can be rung in other ways. As is is written above it is Plain, Bob, Plain, Bob, Plain repeated. Any touch that comes round in the normal way can be started from any lead head. Thus the following variations are possible:
- Bob, Plain, Bob, Plain, Plain repeated
- Plain, Bob, Plain, Plain, Bob repeated
- Bob, Plain, Plain, Bob, Plain repeated
- Plain, Plain, Bob, Plain, Bob repeated
3.7. Calling A Quarter Peal
A quarter peal is a quarter of a peal. A peal on 7 or fewer bells is 5040 changes because 5040 is the number of changes available on 7 bells. On 8 or more bell a peal is 5000 or more changes. On 7 or fewer bells a quarter peal is therefore 1260 changes (at least, a few more doesn't disqualify it). On 8 or more bells a quarter peal is at least 1250 changes.
How do we obtain 1260 changes of Plain Bob Doubles if there are only 120 different changes available? 1260 divided by 120 is 10 and a half. Therefore we must ring 10 and a half extents. As far as the extents go you can call whatever you want. You could call the same one 10 times or you could invent some pattern. A common pattern is to call each bell unaffected in turn to obtain 4 extents, do this again and then do two more. There is a distinct advantage to following a pattern: it's less likely that you will lose count of how many extents you've rung. It is extremely difficult to remember whether you are in the 7th or 8th extent once you've done a few.
Having rung 10 extents we are still half an extent, 60 changes, short. This is where the touch of 60 changes given earlier comes in. You must also call this. It doesn't matter where you call it; you can put it first or last or anywhere else you choose. The conductor has complete freedom over where the 60 goes and over the order in which the extents are rung. In fact, it is perfectly acceptable to call one of the touches inside another one: start one extent and then part way through call a complete extent and then resume the first one where you left off. This trick will also save a quarter peal that has been miscalled.
There is one pitfall to be aware of. Suppose you are calling the 4th unaffected and plan to call the 5th unaffected next. You will call the last bob of the 4th unaffected extent and then ring three more leads before it comes round. Then you will start the 5th unaffected extent and ring another 4 leads up to the next call. It is very easy for the unwary to call the last bob of the 4th unaffected extent and, thinking that that's the end of it, put the first bob of the 5th unaffected extent at the end of the 4th unaffected extent, a whole course too early. The result of this is that you won't ring the plain course of the 5th unaffected extent and if left unnoticed will render your quarter peal 40 changes short. Always be sure that you've completely finished the whole of one extent, not just the calling, before starting the next.
This is how to call a quarter peal. A peal isn't exactly four quarter peals since now we must ring 42 complete extents. Anyone attempting to do this with certainty about how many have actually been rung is very brave.
4. CONDUCTING
4.1. Conducting The Plain Course - Special Rules For Plain Bob Doubles
Referring to the diagram of Plain Bob Doubles on page 1, we can observe the following: Firstly, ignoring the Treble which moves about amongst the other bells, the bells come to lead in the order 2453 (lead 1), 3245 (lead 2), 5324 (lead 3) and 4532 (lead 4). The bells also reach the back in the same orders but in different leads. We can take this a stage further. When ringing Plain Bob (or indeed anything else) you will be ringing a particular bell, say, the 2nd. Looking at the diagram you can see that throughout the method, ignoring the Treble and allowing for the bell leading again after making seconds, after the 2nd has lead the other bells always come to lead in the order 453. Not only that but as it hunts through, the 2nd passes the other bells in this same order. In other words, starting with the 2nd and allowing for the Treble and the bell making seconds, the bells lead in the order 24532453....
Similarly with another bell, say the 5th, after the 5th leads the other bells do so in the order 324 and as it hunts though, the 5th passes the bells in this same order. Thus from the 5th's point of view and allowing for the Treble and the bell making seconds, the bells lead in the order 53245324....
By also looking at the order in which the bells lead after the 3rd and 4th (245324... and 532453... respectively) it is obvious that the order in which the bells lead, lie and pass the other bells is cyclic and the same for each bell. It doesn't matter which bell you ring, you just find your position in the cycle and this is the starting place for observing the order in which the bells lead, lie and which you pass. Thus the cyclic order can be shown as:
3 ------------> 2
^ |
| |
| v
5 <------------ 4
This cycle is fundamental to all conducting. Now, whichever bell you ring you can regard that bell as the "start" of the cycle, or, the "observation bell". In this way you can be sure that after leading or lying yourself, the other bells will do so in the above order. For example, if you are ringing the 2nd, then the cycle is 24532453.... It is much better to just remember 2453 and remember that it repeats. Also, because you regard your own bell as being at the start of the cycle, you can omit it from the row of numbers that you keep in your memory (because you know that your bell is at the start) and just remember 453. You can do this for any bell. If you are ringing the 4th then, omitting your own bell, the others lead etc. in the order 532, and if you are ringing the 5th then the order is 324. Always try to reduce the load on your memory.
By knowing the order in which the bells lead and in which you follow them it is quite easy to keep a plain course of Plain Bob on the straight and narrow. The procedure is to watch the order in which you pass the bells and if it differs from the correct order you must start to tell the ringers in which order they should be leading. Don't forget to allow for the Treble. You will have observed from the diagram on page 1 that the Treble leads when you and everyone else is dodging. For example, you are ringing the 5th (bells lead in the order 324 after the 5th has lead) and are leading on your way to 3-4up. Nobody takes you off the lead! Disaster! You should now insist that the 3rd leads (against any resistance put up by the 3rd ringer!) but remember that by the time the 3rd has lead you will be starting your 3-4up dodge therefore the bell that will lead after the 3rd will be the Treble. This comes with practice and many (in fact, very many) mistakes. Actually, as you practice conducting you will amaze yourself with the number and magnitude of the mistakes that you make. Don't let this put you off; we've all been there.
This section is entitled "Special Rules For Plain Bob Doubles". The reason for this is that only in Plain Bob Doubles do you follow the bells in exactly this order all through the method. All other methods have some variation. However, all these variations can be related to the basic order of following the bells in Plain Bob but before we can see how this works we need to develop the idea of "coursing order". You will hear this term used indiscriminately, usually by nonconductors, to mean "the order in which you pass the bells" but for the budding conductor it must take on a more systematic meaning, one which allows an approach to conducting which can be used for any method whatever. Additional benefits include: knowing who is doing what at bobs and singles before they forget to do it, and not losing your place in a composition.
4.2. A More General Observation - Coursing Order
4.2.1. Derivation Of The Coursing Order
During the following discussion you need to keep in mind the order in which you do the bits of work in Plain Bob Doubles. For those who've maybe forgotten this is:
make 2nds, dodge 3-4 down, make long 5ths, dodge 3-4 up, make 2nds, ...
The cyclic nature of this needs to be borne in mind. Now we must refer to the diagram of Plain Bob Doubles. Imagine that you are ringing the 5th; notice the following facts from the diagram:
When the 5th dodges: the 3rd does: the 2nd does: the 4th does:
3-4 up make 2nds 3-4 down long 5ths
make 2nds 3-4 down long 5ths 3-4 up
3-4 down long 5ths 3-4 up make 2nds
long 5ths 3-4 up make 2nds 3-4 down
In other words, whatever dodge the 5th is doing the 3rd is always doing the next one in Plain Bob dodging order. Similarly, whatever dodge the 3rd is doing the 2nd is always doing the next one in Plain Bob dodging order. The same relationships hold between bells 2 and 4 and between bells 4 and 5. Now, this is the clever thing. At any lead end of Plain Bob Doubles, if you pick any bell and, starting with the dodge that it is doing, write down the bells doing the other dodges taken in Plain Bob dodging order you will always get the familiar cycle that we met in the previous section. For example, starting with the 4th when it is dodging 3-4 up we find that the 5th is making 2nds, the 3rd is dodging 3-4 down and the 2nd is making long 5ths. Thus in this example we have taken the bells in the order 4532. Try some more examples of your own. The cycle 53245324.... or just 5324 is present in the lead heads when the bells doing the dodges in Plain Bob dodging order are taken. This cycle is the true "coursing order" and represents the order in which the bells do the dodges in Plain Bob dodging order.
Thus, when you hear experienced ringers talking about the "coursing order" it is the order 5324 that they are referring to. Its identity with the order of passing the bells in Plain Bob is merely fortuitous. The order in which you follow the bells should be called "the order in which you pass the bells".
4.2.2. Other Methods
There is more cleverness to coursing order. Look at a variety of other methods (St. Simon's and St. Martin's are good, as is Cambridge Surprise Maximus). You will see that at any lead end you can pick any bell and taking the other bells in Plain Bob dodging order you will obtain exactly the same coursing order. It doesn't matter that in other methods a bell will do the dodges in a different order from Plain Bob. In St. Simon's, if the 5th is making 2nds then, as in the table above, the 3rd is dodging 3-4 down, the 2nd is making long 5ths and the 4th is dodging 3-4 up. Have a look and see. You must convince yourself of this.
In fact, we can generalise this a bit further. In Plain Bob, the bell that makes 2nds becomes "2nds place bell", the bell that dodges 3-4 down becomes "4ths place bell", the bell that makes long 5ths becomes "5ths place bell" and the bell that dodges 3-4 up becomes "3rds place bell". Look at the diagram of Plain Bob Doubles to convince yourself of this truth. We can now say that at any lead end of Plain Bob Doubles, if you pick any bell and, starting with its place bell, write down the bells doing the other place bells taken in Plain Bob place bell order (i.e. dodging order) you will always get the familiar cycle that we met in the previous section. If Plain Bob dodging order is make 2nds, dodge 3-4 down, make long 5ths, dodge 3-4 up then Plain Bob Place bell order is 2453 (depending on where you choose to start). Using this generalisation we can now see that the coursing order applies equally to methods that do and don't have dodges at the lead end. The development of this subject is beyond the scope of this article.
4.2.3. Coursing Order Pragmatics
5324 is the plain course coursing order for most doubles methods. On higher numbers it can be shown by similar reasoning that the coursing order is, on eight bells for instance, 8753246 and on 10 bells 097532468. Notice that each of these is written as starting with the biggest bell. This convention has been adopted to enable people to communicate during the more difficult moments of peals. Also notice that in each case, possibly ignoring the tenor, the coursing order consists of the odd numbered bells in descending numerical order and then the even numbered bells in ascending numerical order.
Large coursing orders are a lot to remember, so the majority of peal and quarter peal compositions are arranged so that only some of the bells are affected by calls, usually the smaller bells. This means that the bigger bells can be omitted from the coursing order to reduce the memory overload. On eight or more bells the coursing order is usually reduced to just 53246, which isn't too bad with practice. Obviously, the omitted bells still have to be borne in mind but the reduction of the coursing order to a manageable size is important in higher numbers of bells.
For similar pragmatic reasons we can reduce the coursing order of Plain Bob Doubles by omitting our own bell. Thus if we are ringing the 5th and the coursing order is 5324 we just remember 324 and assume that the 5th is really the first bell. If we were ringing the 2nd and our coursing order was therefore 2453 we would just remember 453.
4.3. Conducting The Plain Course By Coursing Order
In the remaining sections we will assume that you are ringing the 5th. Your reduced plain course coursing order is therefore 324. This is, for Plain Bob, the same as the order in which the bells lead etc. as discussed above. The way that it is used is therefore identical to the way the leading order and bell passing order are used to conduct the plain course. However, because of the way in which we derived the coursing order we can see that it tells us rather more about where the other ringers are than just when they should lead. Not only that but we can use this additional information in most other methods as well.
The additional information that we have learned is that we can use the coursing order to know which dodges the other bells are doing when you are doing a particular dodge. For instance if you are making seconds then the next bell in the coursing order, the 3rd, will be dodging 3-4 down, the 2nd will be making long 5ths and the 4th will be dodging 3-4 up.
So far we've only discussed the plain course. The next step is to find out what happens to the coursing order at a bob. 4.4. effect of bobs on the coursing order We will start by looking at the effect of a bob called when the 5th is making long 5ths. What we will see is the fundamental process which underlies all bobs in all methods.
4.4.1. Bobs At Long 5ths
If we write out the rows leading up to when the 5th does long 5ths we get:
Plain lead Bobbed lead
35241 35241
32514 32514
23154 23154
21345 21345
12435 12435
12345 14235
Now, bearing in mind the coursing order 324, we can see that the bob produced 14235 where the plain lead produced 12345. In other words at the bob:
- The 2nd ended up where the 3rd did at the plain lead.
- The 3rd ended up where the 4th did at the plain lead.
- The 4th ended up where the 2nd did at the plain lead.
Therefore the coursing order has changed so that the 2nd is now where the 3rd was, the 3rd is now where the 4th was and the 4th is now where the 2nd was. In other words the coursing order has changed from 324 to 243. In more general terms the coursing order ABC has become BCA. This change to the coursing order is fundamental to how the coursing order of the bells affected by a bob changes for most methods on any number bells. If three bells ABC are the ones affected at a bob then they will be rearranged to become BCA. The process of rearranging the coursing order is called "transposition" and BCA is called a "transposition row". Transposition is something that you must to learn to do in your head; you need lots of practice.
Having got a new coursing order, 243, this is the new order in which the bells lead, lie and dodge. When conducting with this new coursing order you use it exactly like the pain course coursing order. When the next bob with the 5th unaffected is called the same transposition is applied to 243 as was applied to 324, ABC becomes BCA. Now, 243 becomes 432. From now on the coursing order 432 is used to conduct with. Finally the third bob with the 5th unaffected is called and again the coursing order is changed by BCA from 432 to give 324. 324 is the plain course coursing order and so the bells must run round.
You must learn how to transpose by BCA before going on to try the remaining transpositions. However, there is no harm in looking at the others at this point but if you get confused, skip down to Further Uses Of The Coursing Order below.
4.4.2. Bobs At In
The relevant part of the plain course is:
Plain lead Bobbed lead
23451 23451
24315 24315
42135 42135
41253 41253
14523 14523
14253 15423
Now, the bells affected are 2, 4 and 5, which taken in coursing order order gives 245. After the bob:
- The 2nd ended up where the 5th did at the plain lead.
- The 5th ended up where the 4th did at the plain lead.
- The 4th ended up where the 2nd did at the plain lead.
In other words, 245 has been transformed into 452. Once again, the affected bells ABC have become BCA. If we look at the coursing order from the 5th's point of view, the full 5324 has become 2345. In this case the 5th's position in the coursing order has changed because it was affected by the bob. What we do in this situation is rotate the coursing order to get the 5th back to the start. Doing this gives us the new reduced coursing order 234.
Because the 5th was affected at the bob we have had to do the transposition for the bob and then do another one to put the 5th back to the start. If we compare the plain course coursing order with that produced by the bob plus the rotation we get:
plain course 324
rotated result of bob at In 234
The overall effect of a bob at In therefore is to swap the first two bells in the coursing order. This is much easier to remember and to do in the head whilst ringing. Therefore for pragmatic reasons we say that the transposition for a bob at In is BAC, or just BA because C stays in the same place.
For advanced conductors, if the transposition for In is thought of as putting the next to the last bell first it will work on all numbers of bells.
4.4.3. Bobs At Out
The relevant part of the plain course is:
Plain lead Bobbed lead
42531 42531
45213 45213
54123 54123
51432 51432
15342 15342
15432 13542
Now, the bells affected are 3, 4 and 5, which taken in coursing order order gives 453. After the bob:
- The 4th ended up where the 3rd did at the plain lead.
- The 3rd ended up where the 5th did at the plain lead.
- The 5th ended up where the 4th did at the plain lead.
In other words, 453 has been transformed into 534. Once again, the affected bells ABC have become BCA. If we look at the coursing order from the 5th's point of view, 5324 has become 3425. Again the 5th's position in the coursing order has changed because it was affected by the bob. Again rotating the coursing order to get the 5th back to the start gives us the new coursing order 342.
Because the 5th was again affected at the bob we have had to do the transposition for the bob and then do another one to put the 5th back to the start. If we compare the plain course coursing order with that produced by the bob plus the rotation we get:
plain course 324
rotated result of bob at Out 342
The overall effect of a bob at Out therefore is to swap the last two bells in the coursing order. Again, this is much easier to remember and to do in the head whilst ringing. Therefore the transposition for a bob at In is ACB, or just CB because A stays in the same place.
For advanced conductors, if the transposition for Out is thought of as putting the last bell second it will work on all numbers of bells.
4.4.4. Bobs At Fourths
The relevant part of the plain course is:
Plain lead Bobbed lead
54321 54321
53412 53412
35142 35142
31524 31524
13254 13254
13524 12354
Now, the bells affected are 2, 3 and 5, which taken in coursing order order gives 532. After the bob:
- The 5th ended up where the 2nd did at the plain lead.
- The 2nd ended up where the 3rd did at the plain lead.
- The 3rd ended up where the 5th did at the plain lead.
In other words, 532 has been transformed into 325. Once again, the affected bells ABC have become BCA. If we look at the coursing order from the 5th's point of view, 5324 has become 3254. Yet again the 5th's position in the coursing order has changed because it was affected by the bob. Rotating the coursing order to get the 5th back to the start gives us the new coursing order 432.
Because the 5th was again affected at the bob we have had to do the transposition for the bob and then do another one to put the 5th back to the start. If we compare the plain course coursing order with that produced by the bob plus the rotation we get:
plain course 324
rotated result of bob at Fourths 432
The overall effect of a bob at Fourths therefore is to transpose the coursing order by CAB, or in other words, put the last bell first. For advanced conductors, if the transposition for Fourths is thought of as putting the first two bells last it will work on all numbers of bells.
4.4.5. Summary Of The Effects Of Bobs On The Coursing Order
The following diagram summarises the effects of bobs on the coursing order. I'm afraid that you have no alternative to learning the transpositions thoroughly and practising them many times.
BAC
^
|
| In
|
|
CAB <-------------- ABC --------------> ACD
4ths | Out
|
| Home
|
v
BCA
4.5. Further Uses Of The Coursing Order
4.5.1. What Other Ringers Are Doing At The Bobs
Since we derived the transpositions of the coursing order from the changes of position of the three bells affected by bobs we ought to be able to see directly from the coursing order which bells will do which work at any bob. In the above examples we saw how the affected bells ABC were transposed into BCA. If you go back and look at each of these you will see that in each case bell A made the bob, bell B ran out and bell C ran in.
Bobs At Long 5ths - with a coursing order of 324 the affected bells, ABC, are 3, 2 and 4. Therefore the 3rd is bell A which makes the bob, the 2nd is bell B which runs out and the 4th is bell C which runs in. This gives a new coursing order 243. At the next bob at long 5ths bell 2 is A and makes the bob, bell 4 is and runs out, bell 3 is C and runs in.
Bobs At In - when the 5th runs in it must be bell C. Therefore bells A and B must be the two bells before it in the coursing order. If the coursing order is 324 the two bells before the 5th (remembering the cyclic nature of the coursing order) are bells 2 and 4. Therefore the 2nd is bell A (makes the bob) and the 4th is bell B (runs out). The 3rd isn't any of bells A, B or C and must therefore be the unaffected bell.
Bobs At Out - when the 5th runs out it must be bell B. Therefore bells A and C must be the two bells either side of the 5th in the coursing order. If the coursing order is 324 the two bells either side of it are 4, which is bell A (makes the bob), and 3, which is bell C (runs in).
Bobs At Fourths - when the 5th makes the bob it must be bell A. Therefore bells B and C are the two bells following it in the coursing order. If the coursing order is 324 the two bells following the 5th are 3, which is bell B (runs out) and 2, which is bell C (runs in).
From these it is possible to see which bell is doing what at the bobs by calmly seeing where you fit into the ABC pattern and working it out from there.
4.5.2. What Is The Next Call?
If you have forgotten where you are up to when calling a quarter peal you soon begin to wish that there was some way of working out what the next call must be. Well, there is! In any extent of Plain Bob Doubles there is one bell which is making long 5ths at each bob. If when calling any extent you know at the start which bell will be doing long 5ths then you can use the coursing order to tell you without a doubt what the next calling position is.
Calls At Long 5ths - You shouldn't have any trouble when calling yourself unaffected.
Calls At In - If you run in at a bob you must be bell C therefore the bell following you in the coursing order must be the bell that is unaffected. If the coursing order is 324 and the 5th runs in then the 3rd must be unaffected. Conversely, if you know that the 3rd is being called unaffected, the bell before it in the coursing order must be bell C, which runs in. With a coursing order of 324 bell C must be the 5th therefore the next call must be an In. Simplifying things a bit, if the unaffected bell is the first bell in the coursing order then the next call is an In.
Calls At Out - If you run out at a bob you must be bell B therefore the bell two bells in front, or behind, you in the coursing order (it's the same bell) must be the bell that is unaffected. If the coursing order is 324 and the 5th runs out then the 2nd must be unaffected. Conversely, if you know that the 2nd is being called unaffected, the bell two before it in the coursing order must be bell B, which runs out. With a coursing order of 324 bell B must be the 5th therefore the next call must be an Out. Simplifying things a bit, if the unaffected bell is the second bell in the coursing order then the next call is an Out.
Calls At Fourths - If you make fourths at a bob you must be bell A therefore the bell before you in the coursing order must be the bell that is unaffected. If the coursing order is 324 and the 5th makes fourths then the 4th must be unaffected. Conversely, if you know that the 4th is being called unaffected, the bell after it in the coursing order must be bell A, which makes fourths. With a coursing order of 324 that bell must be the 5th therefore the next call must be an Fourths. Simplifying things a bit, if the unaffected bell is the last bell in the coursing order then the next call is an Fourths.
An Example: you are calling the 3rd unaffected. The coursing order is 324. Since the 3rd is the first bell in the coursing order the next call must be an In, to give 234. Now the 3rd is the second bell in the coursing order, therefore the next call is an Out, to give 243. Finally the 3rd is the last bell in the coursing order so the next bob is a 4ths to give 324. The plain course coursing order has been regained so the touch will come round when the 5th is doing long 5ths.
4.6. Ringing Other Bells
There are two ways of using the coursing order when ringing a bell other than the 5th:
4.6.1. Observing The 5th
Suppose you are ringing the 2nd you can conduct by watching what the 5th is doing and pretending to be the 5th. In doing so you will use the coursing order that the 5th ringer would use, 324. The transpositions would be those that the 5th ringer would use, so if you call the 5th to run in, for example, the coursing order would become 234 etc..
The main difficulty in doing it this way is in reliably knowing where the 5th is; if you try to watch it then you will probably get lost and start to do its work instead of your own. Another way is to work out from the coursing order what the 5th must be doing from what you are doing. For example, with a coursing order if 324, if you are ringing the 2nd and going to dodge 3-4 up, the 5th, two bells further on in the coursing order, must be going to the dodge two further on than this, 3-4 down.
Conversely, you can work out what you must be doing when the 5th is doing the next calling position. If the next call is to call the 5th In then the coursing order tells you that you, on the 2nd, will make 4ths, thus this is what you call yourself to do.
4.6.2. Your bell As Observation Bell
Probably easier for the beginner is to make yourself the observation bell and use the coursing order as seen from your own bell. If you are ringing the 2nd your coursing order will be 453. Now, using this coursing order, the transpositions that you do on it will be those for the work that you do yourself at the calls. You can ignore the 5th altogether.
This method has the advantage of simplicity but the disadvantage that the coursing orders you encounter may be unfamiliar or clumsy.
5. Recommended Approach To Learning To Conduct
This article contains a lot of information for the newcomer to absorb. In fact it contains too much but once I start I can't stop. The following stages should be closely adhered to otherwise you will try to do too much too soon. Once each stage is mastered the more advanced material in the text and how it relates to the ringing will become obvious. Try to ring the same bell each time you practice otherwise you will become overloaded and bogged down. Don't try it with other methods until you can do Plain Bob. Tick off each step below once you have mastered it (more or less). It might take several months to complete them all, depending on your opportunities. Practice as frequently as you can; it doesn't work to do a bit every few weeks.
Steps 1 to 5 should be mastered with the plain course:
Step 1 - Learn the plain course coursing order (5324) by heart. There is no point in proceeding until this is done.
Step 2 - When ringing your chosen bell try to see the order in which you pass the bells, allowing for the Treble, and relate this to the coursing order.
Step 3 - Try to watch the other bells coming to lead, allowing for the Treble. When doing this, practice not continuing to lead yourself as you think to yourself which bell should be leading. At this stage it is all too easy to start doing what somebody else should be doing.
Step 4 - Try to see which dodge each bell is doing by stepping through the dodges, starting at your own dodge, and stepping through the coursing order. Make sure you can watch the ringer actually doing it (or not!).
Step 5 - If there is a mistake and you have built up some confidence, try putting people right, but accept that half the time it will be you who's missed the dodge because you were thinking about the coursing order!
Steps 6 to 9 should be tried by calling yourself unaffected:
Step 6 - Make sure you can call the bobs at the correct time and in a clear voice.
Step 7 - Make sure that you know the coursing order transposition for a bob at long 5ths and that you can transpose it reliably and in a reasonably short time. Practice at home.
Step 8 - Once you can keep the new coursing order in your mind without going wrong yourself (too much), attempt to put people right. Don't do this whilst still at the stage of either being able to keep the coursing order or the method in your mind but not both, otherwise learners will become confused and the ringing will sound 'orrible!
Step 9 - Learn which of the bells A, B and C in the coursing order are doing each bit of the bob and try to watch them do it.
Steps 10 to 14 are the final stages for Plain Bob Doubles. You could leave step 9 until later if you find it difficult.
Step 10 - Learn the transpositions for all the remaining calling positions (In, Out and Make).
Step 11 - Call any of the extents where you are affected and practice the new transpositions.
Step 12 - Learn for each calling position which bell will be doing which work at the bobs.
Step 13 - Call a quarter peal with a learner in it.
Step 14 - Teach somebody else to conduct. It's good for your tower and it's good for learners to teach.
In practice, for Plain Bob, if you can see the bells as you pass them and see which bell should be leading and keep the coursing order reliably you will be a very good conductor. To be able to see more is icing on the cake for Plain Bob but if you intend to go beyond Plain Bob you should practice seeing as much as you can.
CONCLUSION
If you have followed these notes and the suggested programme and have practised the techniques many times until they are automatic you will become a competent conductor of Plain Bob doubles. For those of you wanting to move on to methods on higher numbers there is a more advanced article which covers everything you should ever need. If you have any difficulties with anything in this article contact the author, email to John Heaton, or 'phone on 01332 342061