<h1>The Rhythm And the Rhyme Of Wind Chime Design</h1>

Wind chimes have been around for thousands of years for a variety of reasons, spiritual and artistic.  Wind chimes have always been popular in the East, and now they are becoming almost as popular in the West.  There are many sizes, materials and shapes a wind chime can come in (it even can be solar powered than air powered) but the wind chime design is the same in all of them.  Something hits something else to make a pleasing noise.

Something Hits…

The material you use and how much is very important in wind chime design.  Oddly enough, the bigger the wind chime, the less wind it takes to activate it.  But you need to balance the ease of it’s mobility with it being heavy enough to make a noise.  Wood, bamboo, aluminum, metal, glass, shells or pottery are popular materials.  They are like drumsticks that the wind (or sun) uses to drum out its own particular rhythm.  You usually need at least four “drumsticks” to insure that the noise of the wind chime will be harmonious instead of staccato or discordant.

The “drumsticks” are actually called clappers – yes, just like the round thing on a stick that swings back and forth inside a bell.  Wind chime design is very much like bell design – only the bell is turned inside out.  Never explain wind chime design to a bell, especially the bell of the ball.

However, there are some wind chimes that are less shocking to a bell.  Tubes are suspended around a clapper, and it’s the clapper that is moved by the wind, not the other way around.

…Something Else

Another constant in wind chime design is that you can’t have the tubes or whatever is making the noise the same length.  They are like pieces of a pan pipe – they are different lengths to make different notes.  But instead of you blowing into the pipe, the wind pushes the clappers and the clapped together.  This is to make a more pleasant sound by adding variety.  Just enough variety in everything brings harmony.

Some wind chime designs are clearly just for show.  Their clappers might be too ornamental or too delicate for the everyday breeze.  If the look of a wind chime is more appealing to you than the sound, they are available.

Manufactured wind chime design relies today on computers to help tune the wind chime.  If something doesn’t sound tight, the wind chime can then be adjusted or trimmed to make the desired noises.