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 A set of chimes made by Yamaha | |
| Percussion instrument | |
|---|---|
| Other names |
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| Classification | Keyboard percussion |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 111.232 (Sets of percussion tubes) |
| Playing range | |
| C4–F5 standard; extended range can include B♭3–G5, bass F3–B3, but can vary | |
| Builders | |
Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the percussion family. [1] Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillons, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the sound of church bells within an ensemble. [2] Each bell is a metal tube, 30–38 mm (1+1⁄4–1+1⁄2 in) in diameter, tuned by altering its length. Its standard range is C4–F5, though many professional instruments reach G5. Tubular bells are often replaced by studio chimes, which are smaller and usually less expensive instruments. Studio chimes are similar in appearance to tubular bells, but each bell has a smaller diameter than the corresponding bell on tubular bells.
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Tubular bells are usually struck on the top edges of the tubes with a rawhide- or plastic-headed hammer. A sustain pedal may be attached to the instrument to allow damping and un-damping of all the bells at once. Very loud high-pitched overtones can be produced by vibrating the bottoms of the tubes with a violin bow.
The tubes provide a purer tone than solid cylindrical chimes, such as those on a mark tree.
Chimes are often called for in orchestral and concert band repertoire. They rarely play melody, instead being used most often as a color to add to the ensemble sound; but chimes do occasionally have solos, particularly in imitation of church bells. [2]
In tubular bells, modes 4, 5, and 6 appear to determine the strike tone and have frequencies in the ratios 92:112:132, or 81:121:169, "which are close enough to the ratios 2:3:4 for the ear to consider them nearly harmonic and to use them as a basis for establishing a virtual pitch". [3] The perceived "strike pitch" is thus an octave below the fourth mode (i.e., the missing "1" in the above series).
