Birder’s Guide to Wind Chimes

A set of chimes makes a great backyard decoration because they are simple, look great and add a certain tone (pun intended!).  Wind chimes add to the ambiance of a backyard that has been carefully groomed and outfitted for feeding backyard birds.  Chimes are often ornate and decorative and can be hung on porches or from a tree by a favorite spot in the backyard where they can be seen and heard, complimenting the calls of the chickadees or the repetitive whistles of a cardinal.  Wind chimes require no maintenance.  Some are designed to remind us of familiar works of music and others just produce a steady reassuring and resonant boing, boing… 

Popular wind chimes have sounds named after favorite pieces of music such Amazing Grace.  Most chimes named after music also come in different sizes such small, medium and large.  The larger the chimes, the deeper more resonant the tones.  Others may invoke a sense of cultural history such as the Chimes of Bali or the Aloha Chimes and the American Arts and Crafts Chimes.

Oh leaf me alone!

Wind chimes can be hung outside year round.  The chimes can be metallic pipes or hollow wooden tubes, each carefully measured, cut and tuned to produce precise notes or they can be made of bells or glass or shells that can resonate or tinkle when struck or caught in the wind. 

Glass and Capiz shell chimes are cascading pieces of resonant glass and shell that flutter against each other resulting in a pleasant tinkling sound reminding us that air is constantly moving even if sometimes we can’t feel it.  Glass and Capiz shell wind chimes come in many different colors, some uniform and others stretching across complementary palettes, ideal for matching to a room’s décor. Often the glass pieces or the shells are cut to pleasing shapes such as birds, leaves, grapes, and other interesting decorative designs.

Fish and Chimes anyone?

Although most chimes evoke a sense of peace and connectivity to a spiritual force, some chimes are designed to be direct and immediate.   For example, the Woodstock Chime company produces chimes decorated with designs that are obvious and associated with different faiths and beliefs.  These chimes have names such as Chakra, and Feng Shui.

And then there are the novelty items.  Novelty items are chimes that are decorated with designs and symbols that again complement or accent a room or themed porch and include cowboys astride a horse, or a lion posturing with pride, or maybe a monkey for a kid’s room.  Natural designs include hummingbirds and exotic fish.

Bells and gongs are also driven by wind, but instead of pipes, tubes and pieces of hard material, the artistry is expressed with carefully positioned bells and gongs.  Names include Emperor Gong and Garden Bells.  The sounds can be deep and resonant or light and tinkling.  The pieces are typically decorative, with spiritual designs and structures invoking Asian cultures.  The Turtle Bell is a stylized metal turtle from which hangs flattened metal turtle images that sway in the wind and cause the Turtle Bell to be struck.   A very popular item is the Acorn bell which takes the shape of an acorn and is struck by a cord that hangs down and is weighted with a metallic oak leaf. 

“Environmental”  chimes may comprise inverted floating bells, the striking of which is driven by running water causing them to gently collide and let out a ring that is considered a tranquil sound.   Environmental chimes also include those that are rung by hand such as gongs or flat pipes of metal and wood.  These have names such as the Crystal Zenergy chime which comprises one pipe and a crystal mounted on a wooden structure and which comes with a small hand-held striker and the Zenergy Quintet which comprises 5 separate pipes, laid out on a block and which also comes with a hand-held striker.

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