How a flock sound comes into being

Bells differ in size and sound and are chosen according to the animal they are intended for (goats/sheep and cows/horses). Three different types of bells are identified in the area:  brunza,  mulegna  and  traccola . The choice of a bell is the result of an articulated logic of making sounds and relies on sophisticated learning and on the constant practice of hearing.  According to pastoralists, this ‘logic’ consists in combining a given number of bells, some having an acute sound (strillenti) and some having a low sound (surdo), so to create a ‘sound chain’ (catena), e.g. a sequence of harmonious notes ( cunciérto  o  accuórdo de campane ). The herd owner memorizes this harmony and, at the time of choosing a new bell, he will be able to select the one having the desired tonality, to enhance the «string of sounds» that he wishes to create. One essential rule is that bells must respond to one another: the «feminine» ones (with loud and crystalline sound) and the «masculine» ones (with low/grave sound).  This alternation of different tonalities is locally defined as «sutte en’còppa» («below and above»). Generally, in the context of a bell concert (formed by bells of different sizes and timbres) it is desirable to introduce a larger bell having a particularly ‘hard sound’ (tuósto). It is believed that this sound serves to close the alternation of crystalline and less grave notes of the smaller cowbells. Pastoralists argue that large bells have the purpose of «embracing all sounds», so as to «close the chain of sounds». When a bell does not have a homogeneous sound, it is said to have «two tones» («attacca a dùje suóne»); in other words, it is out of tune.  In this case, it must be fixed by being hammered on specific spots, until the desired sound is obtained. The choice of an animal to become the carrier of a bell is based on the relationship amongst members of the same flock, that is: the ability to form distinct groups within the same herd. 

Pastoralists claim that it is easier to hold animals together when few bells are used.  Conversely, when too many bells are used, the animals’ tendency is to separate into groups. When groups of animals begin to move, they generate a sound that will automatically merge with that produced by the other groups. The coming together of all groups into a particular location, generates what the pastoralists define as cunciérto (concert). Each animal has its own name and is associated with the sound of its own bell. This also means that the absence of a specific sound within a flock, signals the disappearance of a particular animal from its herd.