Bar Chimes

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Michael Willis
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Bar Chimes

Post by Michael Willis »

I'm thinking about fabricating a set of bar chimes. It seems like it would be a simple evening project involving a length of hardwood, a spool of twine, and a steel pipe of about 1/2 diameter cut into progressive lengths. Has anybody else done a project like this? Any advice is appreciated.
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Re: Bar Chimes

Post by ssj71 »

Michael Willis wrote:Any advice is appreciated.
Measure twice, cut once? :)

Also err on the long side and file down to length. I haven't actually made any but I've used a few sets made by my uncle (he uses lengths of steel conduit pipe), and I've "tuned" a few of them with a file.

Really the hard part is figuring out how to mount them such that you can reach all of them, allow them to hang without being overly damped, and not have them clank together if you're a bit overzealous with your strike. We just hang them from string on hooks on a simple stand made of 2x2 furring strips. We overlap hooks so each chime is in between 2 hooks, and the string is in a triangle shape (hook-hook-chime) and doesn't damp the chime. However problem 3 above isn't addressed by our simple solution.

Sounds fun, good luck!
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Re: Bar Chimes

Post by Michael Willis »

ssj71 wrote:Really the hard part is figuring out how to mount them such that you can reach all of them, allow them to hang without being overly damped, and not have them clank together if you're a bit overzealous with your strike.
Actually I'm intending to build the kind that are considered an instrument of indefinite pitch, and intentionally spaced to clank together, like this: https://freesound.org/people/pjcohen/sounds/414558

My idea is that rather than using sampled bar chimes, I want to be able to play with more expression and nuance.
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Re: Bar Chimes

Post by ssj71 »

oh I see. Sorry.

I think 1/2" pipe is going to be huge for that. The bar chimes I remember from my concert band days were tiny solid cylinders, maybe 1/8" in diameter.

This does make me wonder how well it would work to make a synth patch to simulate that. :)
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Re: Bar Chimes

Post by tramp »

Not that I've build one, but I've build a kalimba:
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Re: Bar Chimes

Post by Michael Willis »

ssj71 wrote:I think 1/2" pipe is going to be huge for that.
Ha, I meant 1/2 cm.
ssj71 wrote:This does make me wonder how well it would work to make a synth patch to simulate that. :)
It could be fun to try! I can imagine a touchscreen interface that you drag your finger across and watch them jangle back and forth.
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Re: Bar Chimes

Post by Michael Willis »

tramp wrote:Not that I've build one, but I've build a kalimba:
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That kalimba is beautiful! I like the circular ornamental carving near the bottom.
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