Tubular bell

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See Tubular Bells for the Mike Oldfield album.

Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the percussion family. Each bell is a metal, typically brass, tube, 30–38 mm (1¼–1½ inches) in diameter, tuned by altering its length. Tubular bells are typically hung vertically in chromatic sets of 1½ octaves with a range from C5 to F6. Two-octave sets that extend to F4 do exist, but they are extremely heavy and not commonly used. A standard set of brass tubular bells can be seen [here].

A set of tubular bells

Tubular bells are typically struck on the top edge of the tube with a rawhide- or plastic-headed hammer. They are commonly used to mimic the sound of heavy and impractical church bells in programmatic classical music pieces such as Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, Sousa's "Liberty Bell" March and Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. The bands of the Indian Army uses these bells when playing the beautiful Hymn Abide With Me. Tubular bells are used in popular music, as well. Mike Oldfield used tubular bells in his 1973 debut album, Tubular Bells, an excerpt of which was used as part of the score for The Exorcist. Rush drummer Neil Peart used this as part of his percussion set-up onstage from 1977 to 1983 and on the studio albums from 1977 to 1982.

The tubes used provide a purer tone than solid cylindrical chimes, such as those on a mark tree.

External links

[History of tubular bells] - Vienna Symphonic Library

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Tubular bell

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