IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR MABEL USERS!!
Mabel 1.0.0 and 1.0.2 will not run on MacOS Catalina or later.
You must upgrade to Mabel 1.1.0 or later if to run on MacOS Catalina or later.
Mabel is a ringing simulator for the Apple Mac, intended primarily for home use (rather than in towers). The latest version, 1.1.1, runs on Apple Mac systems with macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) or later; earler versions run on OS X 10.4 (Tiger) onward. Mabel does not run on 10.3 (Panther) or any earlier version of OS X.
Mabel was first released in May/June 2009. Version 1.0.2 was released in January 2012. Version 1.1.0 was released in January 2019, primarily because Apple announced that older apps such as Mabel 1.0 would not run on future versions of macOS. Version 1.1.1 was released in October 2023, primarily to fix a display problem caused by a change in MacOS 14 Sonoma.
Mabel has all the main home-use features of Abel (described in the Abel documentation). In outline:
Mabel can ring from 3 to 24 bells.
Mabel can ring call changes, called up or down
Mabel can ring plain courses of any method
It can ring compositions with up to four call types (eg, bob, single, extreme, omit) in a method, and can splice up to 100 methods
There is a library of basic methods and compositions, including call change compositions. Users can add further methods (eg, by importing them from the microSIRIL library of about 15,000 methods, which is supplied), and compositions
A user can join in on any bell, or a pair of bells for handbell practice, by pressing keyboard key(s)
Users can conduct call changes or touches of methods, using keyboard keys and/or mouse clicks
Mabel can show the rows and blue line(s) for any method or composition, and can print them, and save them in a pdf or text file
There is a wide range of preferences that users can specify, including ringing with or without a handstroke gap, ringing speed, tenor behind singles and/or doubles, anticlockwise ring, one or two blue lines, various print styles, sally/tail or handbell graphics, tower or handbell sound, musical scale and pitch of the bell sounds, half muffled ringing, etc
There are standard sets of preferences appropriate for both tower bell and hand bell practice (eg, changing the ringing speed, sound, and graphics).
Mabel does not have features aimed primarily at tower use, nor some other Abel features that are not vital for most home users. In particular, it does not include:
Externally connected bells, and associated features such as Autostart and port monitor
Moving Ringer and Moving Rope graphics
Striking summary and analysis, and associated features such as touch replay
Bad striking of Mabel's bells, for listening practice
Support for MIDI sound, stereo bell sound, and silenced bells.