Why
“tuned” Wind Chimes?
What
makes them so different?
How
can I tell if my chime is tuned?
A
wind chime is a device to produce sounds by using the power of
the wind to move a sail and then a striker into a 3rd
surface. This third surface could be anything but most of
us prefer a surface that produces a melodic sound. Hollow
tubing in general does this. Most chime makers would agree
that aluminum tubing is the best choice, one because of its
resonant sound and two, its lighter weight puts less stress on
the other parts of the chimes.
Almost
all wind chimes produce sound except for the few specifically
designed not to. Those exceptions are not part of this
discussion. Whether the chimes are tuned or not is
analogous to some meals you could prepare. Apples,
oranges, bananas and grapes can go together to produce a fruit
salad but apples, hamburger and eggs produce a less pleasing
experience even though it too would qualify as a meal. A
“Tuned” chime is like the fruit salad always pleasing to the
palette.
If you
have only eaten apples, hamburger and eggs and had been told
that this was a fruit salad then this discussion is of no value
to you but if you are told and better yet are given the chance
to eat a real fruit salad then the difference is clear. In
the case of the chimes you will hear the difference. They
are however a few tell tale giveaways, one, the striker will
strike the middle of all the chimes, two, the chimes will be
hung at different heights to accommodate number one and three,
each hanging cord will enter it’s chime at precisely 22.4% of
the length of the chime. Like virtually everything man
does, better takes more effort hence costs more. In
general, a good tuned chime should never cost less than $30 and
depending upon the number of chimes and the lengths involved may
cost more.
