I have a Grandfather clock fitted with eight bells that ding on the
quarter hours.  When I obtained the clock I found the bells were not
in sequence from largest to smallest, so I changed them around so that
they are in alignment by size.  In fact, they nest so that the next
smaller one fits partially inside the larger one.

This seemed to me to be correct but now I wonder if I'm wrong?  When
they ring I can't make out any melody (but then I couldn't carry a tune
in a bucket!), so I am wondering if all such bells should be in line
from largest to smallest or did manufacturers assemble the bells out
of order (by size) to suit their own melodies?

Your advice would be much appreciated.

Colin MacKinnon