Tubular bells

Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the sound of church bells within an ensemble. Each bell is a metal tube, 30–38 mm (1¼–1½ inches) in diameter, tuned by altering its length. Its standard range is from C4-F5, though many professional instruments reach G5 (see photo). Tubular bells are often replaced by studio chimes, which are a smaller and usually less expensive instrument. Studio chimes are similar in appearance to tubular bells, but each bell has a smaller diameter than the corresponding bell on tubular bells.

Tubular bells are sometimes struck on the top edge of the tube with a rawhide- or plastic-headed hammer. Often, a sustain pedal will be attached to allow extended ringing of the bells. They can also be bowed at the bottom of the tube to produce a very loud, very high-pitched overtone.

The tubes used provide a purer tone than solid cylindrical chimes, such as those on a mark tree.

Tubular Bells 2003

Tubular Bells 2003 is an album by Mike Oldfield, released in 2003 by Warner Music. It is a complete re-recording of Oldfield's 1973 album debut Tubular Bells, which had been released 30 years earlier.

Background

Oldfield had always been uncomfortable with the original recording because he had only a few weeks to record it and the technology at the time was unable to cope with all of his requirements. As a result mistakes could not be fixed and some instruments were out of tune on the 1973 release. Due to contractual reasons no re-recordings were allowed for 25 years after the original release. The release of Tubular Bells 2003 took place in the year when Oldfield celebrated his 50th birthday and the 30th anniversary of the original version.

To remain faithful to the original album, Oldfield obtained a copy of the original 16 track tape, from Richard Barrie of Air Studios; this multitrack was then recorded into Digidesign Pro Tools. There were a few parts of the multitrack recording missing however; this included parts of the "Finale", "Caveman" and "The Sailors Hornpipe" sections. These original tracks were then moved into Emagic Logic, where Oldfield used MIDI to create a tempo and time signature map; some sections of the original album had not been in time. A guide MIDI keyboard was laid on top, for which Oldfield usually used some Roland Strings. The first instrument to be recorded was the Glockenspiel at the beginning of Part One's "Introduction", and the final part to be recorded was the "Caveman" vocal track.

Tubular Bells

Tubular Bells is the debut record album of English musician Mike Oldfield, recorded when he was 19 and released in 1973.

It was the first album released by Virgin Records and an early cornerstone of the company's success. Vivian Stanshall provided the voice of the "Master of Ceremonies" who reads off the list of instruments at the end of the first movement. The opening piano solo was used briefly in the soundtrack to the William Friedkin film The Exorcist (released the same year), and the album gained considerable airplay because of the film's success.

The following year the piece was orchestrated by David Bedford for The Orchestral Tubular Bells version. It had three sequels in the 1990s, Tubular Bells II (1992), Tubular Bells III (1998) and The Millennium Bell (1999). Finally, the album was re-recorded as Tubular Bells 2003 at its 30th anniversary in 2003. A newly mixed and mastered re-issue of the original album appeared in 2009 on Mercury Records, with bonus material.

For the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics, Oldfield rearranged segments from Tubular Bells for a segment about the National Health Service. This rendition appears on the soundtrack album, Isles of Wonder, and is included on the official BBC DVD release.