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The bells of St Giles were retuned and rehung in 2011. Below you can hear the refurbished bells ringing Plain Bob Major, during a peal on 25-02-2012, and the original ones ringing Bristol Surprise Major on 11-08-2010. The recordings were made from different vantage points (new from north and old from south of the tower) and this may partly explain the difference in their sound. However, the refurbished bells have far greater resonance and they can now be heard from much further afield. This is the result of them being sand-blasted, which removed hundreds of years of corrosion, mainly in the form of copper oxide (they are made from bronze). Because different methods are being rung by different people in those two performances, I have also included simulated ringing of a plain course of Titanic Triples (coming round in only 28 changes). This probably allows a more objective comparison of their tuning. Both simulations use recordings made from near to the north door of the church.

After the rehang Plain Bob Major Simulated Ringing

The original bells Bristol Surprise Major Simulated Ringing

	After the rehang	1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8
	The original bells	1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8

A comparison of the tenor's partials before and after the 2011 retune
Orange: after tuning    Blue: before tuning

Tenor tuned
Sound pressure (deciBells) against time (seconds)

Tenor original
Sound pressure (deciBells) against time (seconds)