Doubles compositions

This is an A5 sized book, 54 pages in length written and printed by me. Initially this was designed to be a reference guide to doubles methods & variations for myself, however it got spotted and the idea was put in place to make it available to others. Copies are made by request (printed by me) for £4.00 (£4.50 if posting required). Below is a photo of a few pages...

The book contains blue lines for over 80 methods, names of hundreds of variations and details of how to call 120's for all methods & variations included, printed in colour. For copies or further information email me at tim.rose2@gmail.com.

MULTI-EXTENT TOUCHES

First, It is necessary to start with a definition;

"Multi-extent touch" - A touch being a multiple of 120 changes in length (240, 360, 480 etc) containing all 120 changes exactly the same number of times as that multiple. For example, a 240 contains every change possible on 5 twice and a 360 contains each change three times.

The easiest way to create multi-extent touches to to insert 120's into each other. To learn the basic principle we will look at Plain Bob, but I will explain how to extend this to other methods later.

First we will look at the 120 which leaves the 5th unaffected; PPPBPPPBPPPB. To produce a 240 from this, we can directly insert another 120 at any of the plain leads. For example we could insert BPPPBPPPBPPP immediately after the first bob of the touch where the 5th is unaffected, giving; PPPBBPPPBPPPBPPPPPPBPPPB. But, be aware that this will result in there being a section where a whole course goes by without any calls (shown here in bold and underlined). Similarly, another 120 (not necessarily the same one) can be inserted at another point in the original 120 to give 360 changes. For example after the second bob, giving; PPPBBPPPBPPPBPPPPPPBBPPPBPPPBPPPPPPB, now notice that there are two points at which a course is rung with no calls. Obviously, this can be extends as many times as required. Since each 120 in itself is true, if inserted at any point, all 120 changes are observed, but the first and last will not be rounds. As a result, 12345, will be seen at some other point with in each 120 inserted at either handstroke or backstroke. Obviously, upon finishing off the base 120 (shown above in green), in other words the end of the multi-extent, rounds will appear in the traditional way at backstroke.

Multiextents can also be produced by inserting and extra call at some point with in the original extent. For example, the 5th can be called out, 4ths, in (pbpppbpppbpp) to give a true 120. This can be extended to 360, by calling a bob in place of any one of the plain leads and repeating twice, to give a 3 part. The bell left unaffected (ie making 5ths) at the additional call will do the same thing 3 times, whilst the other bells will not.

These principles easily extend to other method, which can lead to many quite interesting multiextents. For example, the touch bbbpbbbpbbbp (true for St Simons, St Martins, Reverse Canterbury, amongst many others) can be inserted into pppbpppbpppb (also true for these methods), to give multiextents such as; PPPBPBBBPBBBPBBBPPPBPPPB, being 240 changes. A further insertion could give the 360; PPPBPBBBPBBBPBpppbpppbpppbBBPPPBPPPB.

Infact, this insertion rule works for any extent in any method. So for methods such as Union Bob, which has 28 different extents possible using the standard bob, whole quarter peals can be generated as one big multiextent, using completely different calls for each insertion.

Just as a final point, 60's can also be inserted in this way to give 180's etc, which can be used to finish off quarter peals.

SPLICED TOUCHES

There are two easy ways to call spliced doubles. The first being to select some methods, swap them about a bit and then work out how to get the touch round, giving an almost certainly false touch that is fun to ring of a practice night or on an outing. The second is to use a defined method group, varying the work done below the treble depending upon which bells are on the front to give true 120's (or multiextents). This type of splicing is often used as a way of increasing the number of methods rung in a quarter or peal.

Firstly, I'll deal briefly with the "improvised splicing". The easiest way to do this is to call which ever methods you want, in any order, using the "grandsire trick" to bring the touch round. So what is the Grandsire trick???....... Firstly you need to be ringing Grandsire! Secondly, the 4th needs to be in the hunt. This can be done two ways; either to call the change of method as the 4th becomes seconds place bell so it will be in the hunt after the method change, or to call Grandsire and then put the 4th in the hunt with either a bob or single. Finally, call the 4th out of the hunt when it will double dodge down with the 5th, doing this with either a bob or single depending which way round the 2 and 3 are. This might sound complicated, but if you ring the 4th when calling this, getting yourself into the hunt is easy then all you have to do is watch for the 5 to make thirds (ie it takes you from the lead) and then notice which order you pass the 2 and the 3. If the order is 5,2,3 call a bob and if the order is 5,3,2 call a single and it comes into rounds.

The second method of calling spliced is easier still, but is very restrictive when it comes to which methods can be included. It does, though, have the advantage of giving true extents suitable for use in quarters and peals. So what can you do? A true extent can be created from splicing methods with the same work above the treble, but varying the front work, remembering that the same pairs of bells must do the same front work. For example St Simons may be spliced with St Martins to give a true extent, providing that the same pair of bells do the same method throughout the extent. To understand this it is useful at this point to note that there are six different pairs of bells that can be on the front together (2&3, 2&4, 2&5, 3&4, 3&5, 4&5) and that each pair of bells come together twice at some point during an extent. Getting back to the matter in hand, If you ring the 5 (for example) an extent may be created by calling yourself unaffected whilst changing the method between St Simons and St Martins each time you dodge in 3-4. In other words, all the pairs involving the 5 (2&5, 3&5, 4&5) ring one method, whilst the other pairs ring the other. This can be extended to include more methods (for example the St Osmunds and Eynesbury front works). This time use (for example) St Simons as the base method for pairs (2&3, 2&4, 3&4) and then call one of the other methods for each other bell the fifth dodges with.... for example 2&5 = St Martins, 3&5 = St Osmunds, 4&5 = Eynesbury. This is more difficult because it involves you watching which bells you will be dodging with. Similarly, this can be done with the St Nicholas group methods, New Bob group, etc, etc as well as using non-standard calls to give variations. The most important thing to remember is that the extent will only be true if only the front works are changed and the same pairs ring the same front work throughout the extent.

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