A handbell is a bell designed to be rung by hand. To ring a handbell, a ringer grasps the bell by its slightly flexible handle – traditionally made of leather, but often now made of plastic – and moves the arm to make the hinged clapper strike the inside of the bell. An individual handbell can be used simply as a signal to catch people's attention or summon them together, but handbells are also often heard in tuned sets.
Handbell
Two English handbells, manufactured by Whitechapel Bell Foundry
Handbell choir practicing
Hand bells hung chromatically from stand
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an internal "clapper" or "uvula", an external hammer, or—in small bells—by a small loose sphere enclosed within the body of the bell.
13th c. BC bell, Shang dynasty
Chinese bronze bell, 18th-16th century BC
Bianzhong of Marquis Yi of Zeng, dated 433 BC.
English full-circle bells shown in the "down" position, in which they are normally left between ringing sessions.