Campanology is the study of bells — the methods of casting and tuning them and the art or science of ringing them.
Types of bell-ringing
There are many sorts of bells around the world of all shapes, sizes, and materials, rung in many different ways. When a set of tuned bells is to be rung, some organizing principle must be used; in Europe two main ways of using a church tower for this sort of bell-ringing developed:
In a carillon (popular on the continent of Europe) a large number of bells can be struck by hammers all tied in to a central framework much like a piano keyboard, so that one "carilloneur" can ring them all according to some tune or melody, and even with rudimentary harmony.
Change-ringing (popular in the British Isles) involves a smaller number of bells, each mounted on a wheel and physically swung by its own bellringer pulling on a rope; they are rung not according to melody but following a changing series of mathematical patterns.
Bellringing (or more specifically, the art of "English Change-Ringing") is quite possibly one of the most misunderstood hobbies ever.
And, given that there are so many bad movies that depict people jumping up and down on the end of bell-ropes, it isn't all that surprising that people have no idea what ringing really is. Therefore, in order to explain what it is, it is easier to begin by explaining what it isn't.
There's nothing like the feeling of finally getting a method right that you've been trying to learn for weeks/months.
The bellringer makes the bell do what he wants by making small adjustments as it approaches and then moves away from the top of the stroke.
A major aim in bellringing is to achieve good striking which means everyone getting their bell to ring at exactly the right moment so that the sound is even with no clashes and no large gaps - and when its done well it sounds very good.
It is made tricky by the fact that on each stroke the bell doesnt ring when you pull on the rope but about three quarters of the way through the swing, not long before you pull for the next stroke.
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