Wind chime

A metal wind chime

Wind chimes are chimes constructed from suspended tubes, rods, bells or other objects and are often made of metal or wood. Wind chimes are usually hung outside of a building or residence, as a visual and aural garden ornament, and are to be played by the wind.

History

Bronze tintinnabulum, Roman, 1st century AD, British Museum.

Ancient Rome

Roman chimes called tintinnabulum were hung up in gardens and porticoes where they would make a tinkling sound as the wind passed through them. Bells were believed to keep off evil spirits and so they were often combined with the phallus, which was also a symbol of good fortune and a charm against evil. The image shows one example with a main phallus portrayed with wings, and the feet and tail of an animal, perhaps a lion. These added to its protective powers.

Eastern and Western Asia

In India during the second century CE and later in China extremely large pagodas became popular. At each corner small wind bells were hung; the slightest breeze would swing the clapper and cause a melodious tinkling. It is said that these bells were originally intended to frighten away not only birds but also any lurking evil spirits. Wind bells are not limited to pagodas. They are also hung under the corners of roofs of temples, palaces and homes. Japanese glass wind bells known as Fūrin (風鈴) have been produced since the Edo period, and those at Mizusawa Station are one of the 100 Soundscapes of Japan. Wind chimes are thought to be good luck in parts of Asia and are used in Feng Shui.

Sounds and music

Chimes produce inharmonic (as opposed to harmonic) spectra, although if they are hung at about 1/5 of their length (22.4%), some of the higher partials are damped and the fundamental rings the loudest. This is common practice in high-quality wind chimes, which are also usually hung so the centre ball strikes the centre of the wind chime's length, also resulting in the loudest sounding fundamental. Frequency is determined by the length, width, thickness, and material. There are formulas that help predict the proper length to achieve a particular note, though a bit of fine tuning is often needed.

In instruments such as organ pipes, the pitch is determined primarily by the length of the air column, because it is the resonance of the air column that generates the sound. The pipe material helps determine the "timbre" or "voice" of the pipe, but the air column determines the pitch. In a wind chime, the vibrations of the pipe itself radiates the sound after being struck and so the air column has little to do with the pitch being produced.

Sound can be produced when the tubes or rods come in contact with a suspended central clapper in the form of a ball or horizontal disk, or with each other.

Wind chimes may be used to observe changes in wind direction, depending on where they are hung, when they commence to sound.

Materials

A close-up of metal rods on a wind chime

Wind chimes can be made of materials other than metal or wood and in shapes other than tubes or rods. Other wind chimes materials include glass, bamboo, shell, stone and porcelain. More exotic items, such as silverware or cookie cutters, can also be recycled to create wind chimes. The selected material can have a large impact on the sound a wind chime produces. The sounds produced by recycling objects such as these are not tunable to specific notes and range from pleasant tinkling to dull thuds. The sounds produced by properly sized wind chime tubes are tunable to notes, as discussed in the external link below. As aluminum is the common metal with the lowest internal damping, wind chimes are often made from aluminum to achieve the longest and loudest sounding chime.

The tone will depend on factors such as the material, the exact alloy, and heat treatment and the use of a solid cylinder or a tube. If a tube is used, the wall thickness also has an impact on the tone. Tone may also depend on the hanging method. The tone quality will also depend on the material of the object that is used to hit the chimes.

Use in music

David Sitek with a wind chime suspended from his guitar.

Different types of wind chimes have also been used in modern music and are listed as a percussion instrument. The following is a brief list of artists and composers who have used them:

• Oliver Messiaen: Saint-François d'Assise (one set of glass, shell and wood chimes)
• Toshiro Mayuzumi: Bugaku (one set of wood and glass chimes)
• Giles Swayne Symphony No. 1 (one set of glass chimes)
• David Sitek, of American rock band TV on the Radio, sometimes hangs a wind chime from the end of his guitar to add texture to his music.
• Koji Kondo, head composer for the Mario series of video games. A prime example is the theme music for the world "Vanilla Dome" in Super Mario World.

Influences

The Japanese game Pokémon was influenced by the wind chime to create the Pokémon Chimecho.

Often, Mark trees are mistakenly called wind chimes, but they are different instruments.

Wind chime images

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  A Japanese Fūrin wind chime

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  A set of small wind chimes

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  Wind chimes in Nagano, Japan

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  Old hard disk platters used as a wind chime

See also

• Mobile (sculpture)
• Suncatcher

External links

• Windless Wind Chime Project
• Windchime Images
• Silverware Windchime Sample Images
• How To Design Your Own Wind Chimes