Whether you use !Strike for serious listening practice or just as a fun game (eg by non-ringers) these notes may help you get more out of it. To find out more about learning to listen ou can download Ringing Skills from here .
!Strike can cover the whole range from tasks easy enough for anyone with reasonable hearing to extremely hard ones that will tax the abilities of those with the most acute sense of hearing.
Start with simple tasks and work up. Start with six bells and a moderate pace. Familiarise yourself with what errors of various sorts and sizes sound like. (To do this select Random errors and Tutor mode (from the Options window) and then use the 'arrow buttons' either side of the position displays to move individual bells. Make the errors large enough to hear, then try reducing them and see if you can still hear them. Remember you need to give yourself time to focus your hearing on the sound. Make sure that as well as hearing something wrong you can definitely hear which bell is striking early or late, and at which stroke.
Try using the dynamic display (across the bottom of the Main window). Make sure Show errors is set, then in the position display area click on the strip of the bell you are interested in. The strips at the bottom will show you in real time when the strikes occur in that strip and in the two before and after it.
Try altering the timing of two adjacent bells so that they get closer together or further apart. Notice what different gaps sound like.
Select the Single controlled error task and Student mode (in the Options window). Now select New error (in the Main window). !Strike will generate a 5% error in one of the bells and start the ringing (click on Look To ). You probably won't be able to detect this initial error, but listen just in case. Then increase the error by 5% to 10%, by clicking on the upward arrow button. (The change will be made after the tenor's back stroke). Listen to the striking carefully for a while and try to spot any irregularity. If you think you can, then test your diagnosis by clicking the arrow button corresponding to the error you think you can hear. If you get it right - well done. Select New error and have another go. If you still cannot hear clearly what is wrong, increase the error to 15% and listen carefully again.
You may find you hear something that may be wrong, but it has gone before you could 'catch it'. Listen again, this time focussing carefully on that part of the change where you thought you heard it. You may need to listen another time or two to be sure you can hear exactly which bell is wrong. If not, increase the error again, and so on.
When you get the hang of it, start recording your scores. They will give you a rough idea of how well you are improving. (You can use a different name for different occasions if you like).
Practice this task until you are quite good at it. Try different speeds and different notes for the tenor. Try different numbers of bells, though you will probably find it gets quite a lot harder as the number increases. You may find you are better at detecting errors in different styles of ringing.
Select Random errors (and Student mode) from the Options window. Make sure How many is set to One, Max size is set to at least 30% and Show score is set to Always before closing the options window. Start the ringing, (select Look to), if it is not already ringing. Select New errors. (Remember the changes will not be made until after the tenor's back stroke). Listen to see if you can hear an error. If not, look at the figure shown for Total error. If it is small, eg 2, click New errors again to get a bigger one. ( If you cannot hear the error at all, go back to the options window and select a Max size of 50%.)
When you can hear there is an error, try to work out what it is, and decide what is needed to correct it. Use the appropriate arrow button t move the bell you think needs correcting. (Use the arrow button pointing in the direction you want to move). Check whether the Total error has reduced or increased. If it has reduced, you are on the right track. If it has increased, you have just added a new error to a bell that was striking correctly! Undo this, listen more carefully and try again.
Once you find the right bell, you can reduce the error to zero watching the display of Total error, but there is not much point in doing this. (It is like taking flying lessons and then putting the aircraft on auto pilot!). Try to make your decisions without looking at the figures, and use them only if you need a bit of help.
When you have mastered this task, use the options window to increase the number of errors generated, (try Few). Now you will have more than one bell in error, and so a more complex task of sorting out what corrections to make. The more errors you start with, the less likely you are to sort them out without using the numbers to help you. When you think you are getting good, try switching the numbers off, (set Show score to At end in the Options window). Now you are on your own, relying entirely on your sense of hearing to sort out the ringing.
You will probably find you get to a point where you cannot put your finger on any definite mistakes, but the Remove control is still lit, showing there are errors in there still. You may sense that the ringing does not quite sound right, but not be quite sure how. Don't worry. The best of ringers do the same. Use the Show control to see how well you have done. The first time you do this, you may be horrified by what a mess it looks, but look carefully at it. You will probably find two things. You have reduced many of the errors, (the dots show you where they stated) and you will have smoothed out the worst variations between adjacent blows. In practical ringing, this is what matters most, because it has the biggest effect on how pleasing the ringing sounds to the public listening.
You can play many variations: on the number and size of errors, on the number and pitch of the bells and on the speed of the ringing. Try all these to give variety. Notice which are easier and which harder. Try to think why this should be.
The only variation we have not yet described is the way errors are distributed between the strokes. !Strike comes set for Isolated errors, so an error at hand stroke, say, has no effect on the back stroke. Experiment with the other two sorts of error distribution – Both strokes and Odd struck – (selected from the Options window). Notice that with either of these options set the arrow buttons at the end of the strips are also linked together, so the corrections you make also match the type of error.
Go to: Introduction Operating !Strike Using !Strike by yourself Using !Strike as a tutor
© John Harrison - July 1995, updated August 2014. Website: jaharrison.me.uk