major publishers providing printed handbell music such as the Hope Publishing Company, The Lorenz Corporation and Alfred Music as well as free sites from individual composers and arrangers. Costs associated with handbell music typically result from shipping (many scores are only published in hard-copy) and dissemination; as most scores do not permit duplication and must be purchased individually for each ringer. The coordination of the ringers requires a different approach than other ensembles. All the ringers read from a score. This score is similar to a piano score, but with an additional convention: The C above middle C and all notes below are always written in the bass clef, and the D above middle C and all notes above are always written in the treble clef. (This formatting is not always the convention for solo and small-ensemble music.) Handbells are a transposing instrument, meaning music is written one octave lower than the sound the bells make, so a middle C bell is playing the note C5. (For simplicity, the bell would still always be referred to as middle C or C5.) Due to handbells' relative rarity outside of the confines of church services—although less so now than in the 1980s and early 1990s—the majority of pieces last approximately four minutes. A few composers and arrangers write longer and more intricate works; generally these pieces use handbells in combination with other instruments. Ringing techniques To ring a handbell, the ringer moves it in such a way that the clapper strikes the inside surface of the bell, usually holding it against his or her shoulder, bell upwards, and then swinging the bell through an elliptical shape to cause the clapper to strike the casting. The tone of the bell will continue to resonate, decaying naturally until it stops completely or the ringer stops it by damping the bell with a hand or on the body or a padded surface. Handbell techniques have changed very much over the years. Donald Allured, founding director of Westminster Concert Bell Choir, is credited with fully realizing an American off-the-table style of ringing that includes many non-ringing sound effects including stopped techniques such as plucking the clapper with the bell on the table. He is also credited for promoting precise damping or stopping of the sound by touching the bell to a soft surface, in the service of more musical results. Multiple-bell techniques Normal ringing technique only