Making Bamboo Wind Chimes

[Yona]

where can I find instructions on tuning and making windchimes....I couldn't find anything by searching

[Mark Meckes]

Welcome!, and thanks for writing in.
Windchimes were one of the first things I made from bamboo, in the mid-70's in Australia, then in the US in the early 80's, and sporadically onwards...
I never made large quantities, just a few at a time, each one different in some way.

Tuning chimes for me was a casual affair.
I aimed for the natural sounds of a flock of sqwaking geese in flight, or a gurgling and babbling brook, because, to me, that's what they sounded like.

After making up a lot of different sized/shaped chime pieces, I would select the pieces, firstly based on a design or configuration of pieces in mind.
Then I would select, from the options (prepared pieces) available to me, the pieces that sounded good when they were clunked together...
I've since learned of, and have an electronic tuner for instrument tuning, but haven't used it in chime making yet.

The tuning and resonance of a bamboo chime is certainly affected by the length, diameter, shape of the ends and positioning of the suspending string or device etc.
Tuning can get quite involved and interesting, though also time consuming to perfect.
The best way is to experiment, and if it doesn't work out, you can call it a mobile, a `kinetic sculpture' or any other name.

It's been several years since my last chime-making foray.
My last related efforts went into bamboo marionette making, which is a whole new area that I'm very interested in.

Chime-making and so forth is (one of) my favorite bamboocrafting pleasures.
So I've been saving up ideas, parts and bamboo pieces, and look forward to venturing into this realm again soon.
Mobile sculptures and windchime make great projects for people of all ages and inclinations, involving many tangent realms for exploration and discovery.

Regards, and looking forward!
Mark

[Yona]

thanks Mark....I have since found some good directions as far as making the chimes themselves and I sort of figured the tuning would be trial and error....I might borrow my son's guitar tuner.....got to grow the stuff first! Actually the stuff grows everywhere so I can experiment with making stuff before mine grows
thanks again
diana

[Yecatsmoon]

Please let me know if you have found any information on making bamboo windchimes.

Thanx,

[Angel]

Windchimes are tuned either by the length, diameter and wall thickness of bamboo, how long the tonge is, and, the most important thing, The resonance relation of the material itself and the air contained in the tube. This makes the difference between a mellow, well done instrument and others.
Is not a simple thing to explain by mail. I recommend Musical instrument design, by Bart Hopkin (http://www.bamboocraft.net/forums/showthread.php?t=447 ), if you are interested in this and many other musical instruments "secrets"

[Mark Meckes]

Hi! I'm finally moving messages over here from our original bamboocrafts forum (I'm only1/4 done), and I've got to our first message on windchimes.

You can link here to go our first post about Wind Chimes. (http://www.bamboocraft.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=420)

Many thanks to Ran and friends in Israel for posting the pictures (in the message).

I will be moving more messages over soon, about wind chimes, but I must do this methodically ( each message, chronologically, one step at a time)
Cheers,
Mark Meckes

[glf1951]

Hello All, I am looking for directions for MAKING A BAMBOO WIND CHIME. I have searched Google, and can't find what I am looking for. Can anyone help me or at least tell me where to look. Thanks a bunch in advance. Gloria

[Mark Meckes]

Hi Gloria!,
Bamboo mobiles and windchimes are a great abstract medium for exploring many musical variations and sounds of bamboo.

Here's a couple of other threads that are related to the subject:

Wind Chime Display:Teepee Trellis (http://www.bamboocraft.net/forums/showthread.php?t=525 )

WindChimes: Alive with Moss! (http://www.bamboocraft.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=526 )

I hope to get around to making some bamboo mobile-chimes for an upcoming craft show, and will post pics if I do.
Mark