On a lighter note, an end to end play of my Pink Floyd Vinyl has made me wonder - which bells are used on the recording of The Division Bell, both the change ringing and the single tolling bell. Any ideas?
I've a feeling the question has been asked before but I can't remember the answer.
Wikipedia credits Nick Mason with "drums, percussion, church bell" so presumably he rang it, though whether on location in a tower or a small one in the studio who knows.
A probably easier question - Which cathedral is visible on the horizon?
The photo was taken on Queen Adalaide Way by Ely, and yes it was Ely Cathedral. On the Division Bell Tour Nick Mason had a Church Bell which he struck at the start, on the Pulse Tour they used a recording (if I remember correctly) , there is a record of how they recorded the Church Bells and the issues they had doing it, I’ll try and find it !
I don't know about the recording, but it's the same recording used for the 4th wedding in the film "Four Weddings and a Funeral", which was also released in 1994. it's important to note that's it's NOT the same recording which was used on their song "Fat Old Sun", from 1970.
The single tolling bell was (I believe) a bell cast especially for making the album. Because aging rock bands can afford to do things like that. Certainly a bell was taken on tour with the band after the album as it can been seen being played on "PULSE", the concert film from the tour.
The album cover is, like most Pink Floyd album covers, a non-composite image with no trick photography. 2 heads were made for the shot, both about 1.5m high. Forced perspective makes them look much taller. A good friend of mine who's local to the area has told me that farmers have problems with avid Pink Floyd fans trying to find the exact field which was used for the shot - a hard thing to do as the landscape is quite flat and barren in that part of the world.
Ironic that Ely Cathedral doesn't have a ring of bells.
It's the same bells as in Fat Old Sun from Atom Heart Mother. Not sure where it was made, but it's from a sound effects library, The Kinks also used the same recording on a B-side.