Chimes

General info:

Chimes are musical instruments in the percussion family. Each bell is a metal tube, 30–38 mm in diameter, tuned by altering its length. Chimes are sometimes struck on the top edge of the tube with a rawhide- or plastic-headed hammer. Often, a sustain pedal will be attached to allow extended ringing of the bells. They can also be bowed at the bottom of the tube to produce a very loud, very high-pitched overtone.

History:

The origins of the chimes can be traced back to Asia. Asia is the home of cast bells. The Chinese were already using bells of various sizes in the orchestra over 4,000 years ago.

Bells reached southern Europe along the Mediterranean. In ancient Rome small bells were used chiefly as signaling instruments, in the Roman baths, for instance.

In dramatic contexts in opera the sound of bells was frequently required, but the use of church bells was impractical owing to their size and weight. Some large theater buildings resorted to the installation of a set of church bells , for example in the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, the Grand Opera in Paris and the Dresden Opera. However, to solve this problem, substitute instruments were made. In the 19th century many attempts were made to make the sound of church bells available to opera and symphony orchestras by means of more manageable instruments.

Chimes first appeared between 1860 and 1870 in Paris. The Englishman John Harrington patented chimes made of bronze. Arthur Sullivan may have been the first composer to score for chimes in the orchestra, in 1886. The chimes were able to imitate the sounds of the bell and could produce a definite pitch.

Although the original task of chimes in opera was to imitate bells, their own timbre has become increasingly valued in modern music. They have thus been used for short melody formulas, in which the notes are damped one after the other.

Range:

1½ octaves: C4 – F5 (18 tubes)

2 octaves: F3 – F5 (25 tubes)

2 1/3 octaves (philharmonic tubular bells): Eb3 – G5 (29 tubes)

Role:

N.A.

Foreign names:

Glocken ----- German

Cloches ----- French

Campane ----- Italian

Famous pieces: