Bell, perhaps, in IOW place emitting second note (8)
I believe the answer is:
inventor
'bell perhaps' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how one could define the other.
'in iow place emitting second note' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'in' is found in the answer.
an anagram of 'note' is 'ento' which is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for inventor that I've seen before include "Creator of new devices" , "Innovator, creator" , "Author" , "Morse, perhaps" , "Creator of something new" .)