Questions Asked at Wind Chime Site

Provided by: Beth Hoy - Music in the Wind

At Music in the Wind I've had many questions posed to me over the last year & a half. Many have to do with restringing a chime. I always recommend they use a nylon or dacron fishing line that might be found at a big sportings good store. Monofilament does not last very long, as a rule.

Some question me about the quality of bamboo. I always tell people not to expect more than a few years out of them. Every storm we've had with winds of 50+ mph has ruined my bamboo chimes. Most of the bamboo chimes on my site come from Indonesia, and the holes (for string to pass through) have not been deburred. When the string rubs back and forth on these holes, they get worn and finally break. Bamboo has it's great points though: inexpensive, soothing, and offers a percussive effect.

Many people would like to build their own wind chimes. I have an info site windchimes-windbells.com with links to articles on the internet for aluminum tubing and articles about tuning chimes. The mathematics involved are way above my head, and I admire the people who go through the work to make a loved one a special chime especially for them.

I get asked about Stannard chimes, a once-popular traditonally styled chime, and no-one can seem to find them. They were bought by a company called "Figi" or "Fugi", and Stannard chimes showed up at my local lawn and garden stores this year, a very different looking chime than it had been before. Obviously the company that bought them had different ideas for Stannard.

No one ever asks me this, but you should be aware that there are outfits that basically copy the design of Woodstock Percussion and sell it for a little less. This is also happening to Music of the Spheres (TM). Be sure you're getting the real thing, if it matters to you.

People phone me to make sure a chime is going to fit in a certain size space. The overall length is what you want to be concerned about, since you don't want the breezecatcher dragging on the ground.

The breezecatcher is the piece you will most likely lose. How do they get another one? If they purchased their chime from one of the companies carried on my site, the manufacturers will help them out. There is usually a nominal charge for this. Sometimes the size of the breezecatchers are different - the more information you can give them, the better. If you don't remember where or who you got the chime from, you can easily make one with some tin snips and an empty can. I picked up samples of stain once to give my chime a breezecatcher (those rectangular squares of wood with a hole in them) and they worked well for some years.

Because what I love about wind chimes is their sound, I provide sound-bytes on my site for people to get an idea of what they'll be listening to if they buy it. Still, I get numerous questions about "loud chimes" and "quiet" chimes - many people have neighbors to consider, still others want to "mask" the effects of near-by irritating noise. Aluminum sound carries the best, copper, brass, and steel though beautiful in tone, don't ring like aluminum does. Your wind chimes will get the most activity if hung on the corner of your house. One lady was trying to block the noise of a 4-lane highway one block from her house with a little 15" chime - you need about five average-to-large-size chimes (at least 40") to accomplish something like that.

About the Author:

Music in the Wind carries quality chimes including Grace Notes, Music of the Spheres(TM), Jacobs, Woodstock Percussion, and Wind Works. Please visit my site at http://www.musicinthewind.com/.