Example Compositions |
When Elf first loads, you'll notice that the default settings are for a 5-part 1280 of Cambridge, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Superlative, with the composing options "Nice Part Ends" and "Maximum COM" selected. This is a good search to experiment with - just press the Compose! button to try it out. After a few seconds, the search should finish and the "top" composition should look like the one below.
1280 4-spliced, gen. Elf (No. 1) 2345678 7635428 YC 8562437 NY 2657843 CN 4867523 SC 7283456 YS 3826745 NC 5684723 NS 4263578 YS 5 part Music = 25 COM = 80
Notice that the part end is a Plain Bob Minor lead for bells 2 to 6 - this is one of the "Nice Part Ends" specified for five-parts. (For more information on nice part-ends, see Composing Options.) The composition is also well-balanced, with a change of method every lead and half-lead, and the same number of half-leads of each method.
Since this search is so quick, is it possible to widen the search and perhaps find more musical compositions? Well, it's always worth a shot! You could try turning off the "nice Part Ends" option to start with. This search takes about twice as long, but we're still talking seconds, and because we haven't altered the methods we're using or the musical scoring criteria, Elf 's tables don't have to be rebuilt, making it very quick to try out the different options. You'll find a slight improvement in music from this search but the best composition has a part end of 13584672 - so it probably won't be easy to ring!
You'll probably find better results with the "Nice Part Ends" option turned back on, and "Maximum COM" unchecked. This search takes substantially longer - eight minutes on my laptop - because if we don't enforce a change of method at every lead and half-lead there are many more compositional possibilities to check. Remember however that you can leave Elf to run offline, so why not leave it going whilst you make a cup of tea! When you come back you should find this pleasant little composition sitting in wait for you:
1280 4-spliced, gen. Elf (No. 1) 2345678 7835426 YN 6582437 NY 3752864 SN 2574386 CN 6457382 CS 7842635 CC 2385764 YS 5634278 YS 5 part Music = 29 COM = 70
Back on the main Composer page, you should now see all eight methods in the method list, and "8-spliced" as the type of the composition. With this many methods we have to be much more careful about the search options, because some searches are so big they will take weeks if not years! So, make sure the following options are ticked (but no others): Nice Part Ends, Optimum Balance and Maximum COM. The "Optimum Balance" option will ensure that every method is represented in both the first and second half leads somewhere in the part; in other words, that the composition is all-the-work for the working bells at the part-end. For more information, see Composing Options.
This search should also take a few minutes to run, but the results are worth it. Try it for yourself, but here's what you should get:
1280 8-spliced, gen. Elf (No. 1) 2345678 3478562 BR 6783254 NB 5374826 YP 2574386 RL 6457382 CS 4572386 LC 8652743 SN 4263578 PY 5 part Music = 31 COM = 80
Notice again that the part-end is a rotation of the 5-bell coursing order, and that the methods are distributed exactly evenly between first and second half-leads.
What about "ordinary" spliced? It would be nice to find an equivalent composition with no half-lead changes. To do this, simply tick the "LH spliced only" option; this automatically enables calls, so the "Allow Bobs" option is disabled. The results from this search are much quicker. I've chosen composition number two here - it's practically identical to No.1 but with the Pudsey and Lincolnshire swapped round. To see it and the other ten best compositions, click the "Show Top Ten" link on the Composer page. It's often a very good idea to look through these - Elf 's idea of the No.1 composition might not be the same as yours!
1280 8-spliced, gen. Elf (No. 2) 2345678 5738264 P 8674523 Y 6423857 N- 2684735 R 6435278 C- 3624857 L 6457382 S- 5634278 B 5 part Music = 27 COM = 40
It's interesting that the half-lead version has slightly more music - this is certainly not always true.
How about an all-the-work version of the above? If you change the number of parts to "7", Elf will search for compositions of length 1792, which, since every method is included and every bell takes the place of every other at the part-end, are guaranteed to be ATW. (If we were still searching for half-lead compositions, the "Optimum Balance" option would also be important, to ensure each method has both its first and second half-leads represented.)
Here's the top result of the search. Notice that increasing the number of parts has very little effect on the speed of the search - it's the number of leads in the part that is important.
1792 8-spliced, gen. Elf (No. 1) 2345678 4235678 B- 5728463 S 4257386 L- 7826435 C 6385742 Y 3542678 N- 2758364 P 3527486 R- 7 part Music = 47 COM = 56