Wind chime
Encyclopedia
Bell (instrument)
A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...
s or other objects and are often made of metal or wood. Wind chimes are usually hung outside of a building or residence
Residence
The term residence may refer to:* House* Home* Nursing home* Residence in English family law, pertaining to where children should live in the case of disputes* Habitual residence, a civil law term dealing with the status of refugees, and child abduction...
, as a visual and aural garden ornament
Garden ornament
A Garden ornament is an item used for garden, landscape, and park enhancement and decoration.The category can include:*bird baths,**bird feeders,**nest box-bird houses*columns - cast stone*fountains,**rocks and boulders with basins...
, and are to be played by the wind
Wind
Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space...
.
History
Ancient Rome
RomanRoman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
chimes called tintinnabulum
Tintinnabulum (Ancient Rome)
In ancient Rome, a tintinnabulum was a wind chime or assemblage of bells. A tintinnabulum often took the form of a bronze phallic figure or fascinum, a magico-religious phallus thought to ward off the evil eye and bring good fortune and prosperity.A tintinnabulum was hung outdoors in locations...
were hung up in gardens
Roman gardens
Roman gardens and ornamental horticulture became highly developed during the history of Roman civilization. The Gardens of Lucullus on the Pincian Hill at the edge of Rome introduced the Persian garden to Europe, around 60 BC...
and portico
Portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
es 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
Phallus
A phallus is an erect penis, a penis-shaped object such as a dildo, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. Any object that symbolically resembles a penis may also be referred to as a phallus; however, such objects are more often referred to as being phallic...
, which was also a symbol of good fortune and a charm
Amulet
An amulet, similar to a talisman , is any object intended to bring good luck or protection to its owner.Potential amulets include gems, especially engraved gems, statues, coins, drawings, pendants, rings, plants and animals; even words said in certain occasions—for example: vade retro satana—, to...
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 IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
during the second century CE and later in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
extremely large pagoda
Pagoda
A pagoda is the general term in the English language for a tiered tower with multiple eaves common in Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and other parts of Asia. Some pagodas are used as Taoist houses of worship. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most commonly Buddhist,...
s 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. Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese glass wind bells known as Fūrin have been produced since the Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
, and those at Mizusawa Station
Mizusawa Station
is a railway station on the JR East Tōhoku Main Line. It is located in Ōshū, Iwate, Japan. Its nambu furin are one of the 100 Soundscapes of Japan.- Station structure :The ground-level station has two platforms with three tracks....
are one of the 100 Soundscapes of Japan
100 Soundscapes of Japan
In 1996, as part of its efforts to combat noise pollution and to protect and promote the environment, the Ministry of the Environment designated the . 738 submissions were received from all over the country and the 100 'best' were selected after examination by the Japan Soundscape Study Group...
. Wind chimes are thought to be good luck in parts of Asia and are used in Feng Shui
Feng shui
Feng shui ' is a Chinese system of geomancy believed to use the laws of both Heaven and Earth to help one improve life by receiving positive qi. The original designation for the discipline is Kan Yu ....
.
Sounds and music
Chimes produce inharmonic (as opposed to harmonicHarmonic
A harmonic of a wave is a component frequency of the signal that is an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency, i.e. if the fundamental frequency is f, the harmonics have frequencies 2f, 3f, 4f, . . . etc. The harmonics have the property that they are all periodic at the fundamental...
) spectra
Harmonic spectrum
A harmonic spectrum is a spectrum containing only frequency components whose frequencies are whole number multiples of the fundamental frequency; such frequencies are known as harmonics....
, although if they are hung at about 1/5 of their length (22.4%), the higher partials are dampened and the fundamental
Fundamental frequency
The fundamental frequency, often referred to simply as the fundamental and abbreviated f0, is defined as the lowest frequency of a periodic waveform. In terms of a superposition of sinusoids The fundamental frequency, often referred to simply as the fundamental and abbreviated f0, is defined as the...
is brought out. 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. 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 an organ pipe, the pitch is determined primarily by the length of the air column, It is the air that vibrates. The pipe material helps determine the "timbre" or "voice" of the pipe, but the air column determines the pitch. In a wind chime, the pipe itself is being struck and the air column has little to do with the sound produced.
Sound can be produced when the tubes or rods come in contact with a suspended central clapper
Clapper
A clapper may refer to one of the following:*Part of a bell*Clapper bridge*A sound-activated gadget called The Clapper*A character from the video game Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest*Clapboard used in film production...
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
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
- Oliver Messiaen: Saint-François d'AssiseSaint-François d'AssiseSaint François d'Assise is an opera in three acts and eight scenes by French composer and librettist Olivier Messiaen, written from 1975 to 1983. It concerns Saint Francis of Assisi, the title character, and displays the composer's devout Catholicism...
(one set of glass, shell and wood chimes) - Toshiro MayuzumiToshiro MayuzumiToshiro Mayuzumi was a Japanese composer.-Biography:...
: Bugaku (one set of wood and glass chimes) - Giles SwayneGiles SwayneGiles Oliver Cairnes Swayne is a British composer.- Biography :Swayne is a cousin of Elizabeth Maconchy. He spent much of his childhood in Liverpool, and began composing at a young age...
Symphony No. 1 (one set of glass chimes) - David Sitek, of American rock band TV on the RadioTV on the RadioTV on the Radio is an American art rock band formed in 2001 in Brooklyn, New York, whose music spans numerous diverse genres, from post-punk to electro and free jazz to soul music....
, sometimes hangs a wind chime from the end of his guitar to add texture to his music. - Koji KondoKoji Kondois a Japanese video game composer and sound director who has been employed at Nintendo since 1984. He is best known for scoring numerous titles in the Mario and The Legend of Zelda series.-Early life:...
, 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 PokémonPokémon
is a media franchise published and owned by the video game company Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996. Originally released as a pair of interlinkable Game Boy role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, Pokémon has since become the second most successful and lucrative video...
was influenced by the wind chime to create the Pokémon Chimecho.
Often, Mark tree
Mark tree
A mark tree is a percussion instrument used primarily for musical colour. It consists of many small chimes – typically cylinders of solid metal approximately 6 mm in diameter – of varying lengths mounted hanging from a bar...
s are mistakenly called wind chimes, but they are different instruments.