Virtually Christmas ZOOM Event  Saturday 11^th September 2021

Sixty four people joined the Zoom meeting and Northwest teams were well represented, including Maghull, Norbury, Kinder, Northern Bell Orchestra
and Sale.

The three massed ringing pieces of varying difficulty, put us in the mood for the Festive Season and Christmas hats, lights and characters were in evidence

Fantasia on Jingle Bells, the most involved piece, was conducted by Rob Willis with the help of his music software "Sibelius". This could speed up or slow down the musical accompaniment as well as adjust the volume. It couldn't however adjust for geographical separation and it was decided that the delay in some cases was due to the distance between Chester and Surrey! The most northerly attendee was
Ruth Cantlay in Inverness. 

The arranger Robin Benton was also in the assembled gathering, watching carefully for our reactions.
Rob Willis awarded plaudits to those seen damping and ringing out long notes as appropriate.

We also looked out for drum roll and tower bell effects in the music.

We had a useful discussion about phrasing in the music and the use of volume in this. After a short break for wine, tea or water we continued on with the ringing or marking time with a spoon.

Kate Sawallisch had chosen a Canadian First Peoples' Carol written in 1926, The Huron Carol, which had an Indian American beat.

It was decided the next such event would be a Webinar in November (to be confirmed) with another ZOOM rally in the New Year 2022. 

Thanks go to Laura Buist for taking the bookings and sending out the details to participants.

We finished with "Joy to the World", arranged by A. R. Price, which sent us out in a joyous mood ready for Christmas with our teams.