Wind Chimes

What wind chimes are, and what decides the sound

A wind chime is a set of tubes, rods or bells hung around a striker. A flat wind catcher, sometimes called a sail, hangs below. When the breeze pushes the sail, the striker taps the tubes and they ring.

Everything about the sound comes from the parts. Length, thickness and material set the pitch. A University of Rochester physics-of-music lecture gives the formula for a vibrating bar's fundamental frequency, and the bar's length is squared in the denominator. In plain words: a longer tube rings lower, and the effect is strong. A thicker tube rings higher. The number of tubes decides how many notes you'll hear, and the size of the wind catcher decides how much breeze it takes to start them.

The table above lists wind chimes on Amazon US, shortest stated overall length first. Overall length is the full chime, from the hanging ring to the bottom of the wind catcher. Each spec is what the maker or listing states. A dash means it doesn't say.

What to look at on a wind chime listing

Five lines tell you most of what a chime will sound like and where it'll fit.

Overall length

This is the table's sort order, and it's the first thing I'd check. Stated lengths on this page include the 14-inch Woodstock Chimes Mercury, 17-inch chimes from Woodstock Chimes and Spoontiques, 24-inch chimes from ASTARIN and Woodstock Chimes, 27-inch Corinthian Bells, and 30-inch chimes from Carson, Corinthian Bells and Music of the Spheres. The table keeps going from there.

As a rough guide:

• Small wind chimes, under about 20 inches: a window, a small porch, a balcony or indoors
• Medium, about 20 to 30 inches: most porches and patios
• Long, over 30 inches: an open yard, a big tree, the end of a dock

Measure the spot before you buy. A chime needs clear space all around it, or the tubes hit the railing instead of the striker. (Ken would bring a tape measure and a cardboard template. I bring a broom handle and hold it up. It works about as well and nobody has to find the tape.)

Tube count, length and diameter

Tube count is how many notes the chime has. Many chimes here state 5 or 6 tubes. More tubes means more notes in each gust.

A few listings go further. The Corinthian Bells 27 states a 12.5-inch longest tube and a 0.75-inch tube diameter, and the ASTARIN Tree of Life states a 13.4-inch longest tube. Longest tube length is a better guide to the lowest note than overall length, because overall length includes the hanger and the wind catcher.

Tube material

Most chimes here state aluminum tubes. The Woodstock Chimes Heroic Windbell states steel. Material changes the tone along with the length and thickness, which is why the same length can sound different from two makers.

The sections below the table link to pages for aluminum, metal, wooden, bamboo, glass and shell wind chimes, if you already know the material you want.

Tuning

Some makers state a tuning, and those are the chimes built to sound like music rather than like a drawer of spoons. On this page you'll see:

• Pentatonic scale: a five-note scale; Woodstock Chimes Mercury and Mars, the Corinthian Bells 27 models in C
• A key: the Corinthian Bells 30 states the key of A
• Named scales: Music of the Spheres lists Pentatonic, Quartal, Mongolian and Aquarian sopranos
• A melody: Woodstock Chimes Amazing Grace models state the opening notes of the hymn

Here's my one opinion on this page: read the tuning and the length before you look at the finish. The finish is what you see from the kitchen. The tuning and the length are what you hear from the bedroom, every night the wind blows. A chime that doesn't state a tuning isn't necessarily out of tune, but you're buying the sound on faith.

Woodstock Chimes also lists a lifetime tuning guarantee on its Mars chime, as the maker states it.

If you're buying for someone else, the tuning line is also the easiest way to match a chime to a person. A soprano or a short chime suits someone who likes a light sound. A long chime in a low key suits someone with a big yard and patient neighbors.

Finish and design

Finish is the color and coating: bronze, silver, black, copper, copper vein, forest green fleck, rose gold and sky blue all show up here. Design covers everything that isn't a tube: engraved tubes, a stained-glass cross, chakra stones, a cardinal suncatcher, a butterfly, a tree of life.

Decorative wind chimes from Spoontiques carry characters and animals, including Scooby Doo, Peanuts, a highland cow and a buffalo, at 17 inches. They're picked for the picture as much as the sound, and that's fine. Not every chime needs to be an instrument. Some are a wave from the porch.

Wind bells and garden bells

Wind bells, garden bells and bell wind chimes are a different shape with the same idea: a bell, or a few bells, struck by a clapper with a wind catcher below. Instead of a set of tubes, you hear the bell's own note.

On this page, the Woodstock Chimes Heroic Windbell states steel with a copper finish, and two ASTARIN chimes list a wind bell design at 24 inches, in bronze and matte black. If you want one clear note instead of a little tune, a wind bell is worth a look.

Indoor and outdoor wind chimes

Most wind chimes are sold as outdoor wind chimes, built to hang on a porch, a pergola or a tree. Indoor wind chimes are usually small ones, hung by a window or a door where a breeze or a passing person sets them off.

For outside, check what the listing says about the tube material and the cord, since they're out in every rain. For inside, a small chime near a door gives you a soft ring each time it opens, which is either charming or a doorbell you can't turn off. You'll know by the second week.

Wind chimes for porch, garden and yard

Match the chime to the place.

• Porch: a medium chime on a sturdy hook, away from the bedroom side of the house
• Garden: a medium or long chime on a branch or a shepherd's hook, where the wind gets through
• Patio by the back door: a small or medium chime that won't swing into the door
• Open yard or dock: a long chime with room to move
• Window or indoors: a small chime

Dell's take, which he offers whether or not anyone asks: "Buy the one you'd want to hear at three in the morning, because that's when the wind will pick." He says it every spring. He's right every spring.

Where to hang wind chimes, and how

A few rules hold for any chime.

• Hang it where the wind reaches. A sheltered corner with no breeze is a very quiet chime.
• Give it room. The tubes, striker and wind catcher need clear space all around, so nothing but the striker touches the tubes.
• Use a sturdy hook. Screw it into solid wood, rated for the chime's weight, or use a bracket or a shepherd's hook. The hangers page lists those.
• Think about the neighbors' windows. A long, deep chime carries further than you'd guess.
• Bring it in for big storms if the maker suggests it, and check the cord each spring.

If you have to climb to hang it, use a stepladder on firm, level ground, with someone holding it.

Field note: hang a new chime for a week before you decide where it lives. A spot that sounds lovely at noon may sound different at midnight. My feeder log has a column for that now. It's the only column Dell reads.

Memorial wind chimes

Some chimes on this page are made for remembrance. Woodstock Chimes, Carson, ASTARIN and Corinthian Bells all list models with a memorial design, such as engraved tubes, a keepsake compartment or the opening notes of Amazing Grace. Those chimes have a quiet page of their own: memorial wind chimes.

Handmade, unique and personalized wind chimes

Unique wind chimes usually means an unusual design, an engraving or an unusual scale. On this page, Music of the Spheres lists its named scales and states made in USA. Corinthian Bells lists engraved models for weddings, mothers and pets, and several of its listings state made in USA.

Handmade wind chimes are worth reading carefully. The listing should say who makes them and what the tubes are made of. If it doesn't, the photo is doing all the work. Personalized wind chimes, with a name or date engraved to order, have their own page in this section.

Where to buy wind chimes

Wind chimes for sale show up at garden centers, hardware stores, gift shops and online, through the whole year, with a rush around Mother's Day and the holidays. This page sticks to Amazon US listings from makers such as ASTARIN, Carson, Corinthian Bells, Music of the Spheres, Spoontiques and Woodstock Chimes. The brand list below the table links to each one we cover.

The best place to buy a wind chime is wherever the listing tells you the overall length, the tube count and material, and the tuning. Those four lines are the sound. Everything else is the look.

Which wind chime fits which spot

A few quick matches from the specs in the table:

• A small porch or a window: a chime around 14 to 17 inches, like the Woodstock Chimes Mercury
• A typical porch: a 24 to 30 inch chime with a stated tuning
• A deep, carrying tone: a long chime; the deep-tone page lists those
• One clear note: a wind bell
• A gift with a picture on it: a decorative chime with a character or animal
• Remembrance: the memorial wind chimes page

Happy listening. The frogs on our pond have opinions about all of it, and nobody asks them.