[Kathleen Ann Cantrell]

Hi Larry!
I’m working on an orchestral score that has bells. The bell part is written with x’s for note heads on a single line, followed by straight lines, presumably indicating let the bell ring. How is this best notated? Also, the piece is in common time, yet the bell measures have varying numbers of indicated strikes/rings. Sometimes 7, sometimes 5, sometimes 6. Should I just devise a notation for the strikes and rings and not even think about values?
Thanks so much!
Kathleen

[Dr. Lawrence R. Smith]

Hi, Kathleen,

Without seeing the score, I’m guessing that the x-head notes all look like quarter-notes, without flags or beams. To let the braille reader know that the number of them in a measure is not a mistake, I’d use the irregular-group sign, preceded by the transcriber-added dot 5. I think you can interpret the straight line as a “slur that does not end on a note,” and use the “Let it ring” sign (dots 56, 14).

Cheers,
Larry

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