Many hundreds of years ago Wind Chimes were used around shrines and temples to scare away animals. They have been around since the 2nd century C.E. They were also made for the purpose of scaring away bad spirits. There is a belief in China and parts of Asia, that Wind Chimes brought good luck to the families whenever they were placed on the corners of the people’s homes.

Of the 2 types of wind chimes made, one type is called Harmonic Wind Chimes, which were made for bringing luck. This type was made to produce specific notes that were pleasing to the ears. The other type was made for just making some kind of harmonic noise. These were the one’s that were made for frightening away animals.

Wind Chimes can be made out of almost any type of material, such as wood, glass, different types of metal, shells, bamboo, porcelain, and stones and other things. The center plate, which is called a ball, is centered exactly half way down the chimes length. This would help achieve hitting certain soft sounding notes. The tubes are cut to a certain length, depending on what note the maker wanted to hit. So a little knowledge of music would be a great help in producing a Great Wind Chime.

Wind Chime tone depends on the type of material that is used. Certain materials could produce sounds of dull thuds while others produce tinkling sounds, and the best Wind Chimes of all are the ones that have been made to produce specific notes. The tone also involves certain specs on producing notes; depending on the notes that are desired, the tubes can be solid or hollow.

Great Wind Chime sounds and tones have made their way into some symphonies. One renowned rock band has a guitarist who hangs a small Wind Chime on the end of his guitar to add what he calls texture to his music. Today, Wind Chimes are more elegant than in the past, makers have begun placing small replica’s of structures, and crosses, bird houses, butterflies, animals, and anything else that one can imagine.

There are places on the Internet where you can review chimes of varying styles and quality, from Oriental, celestial, inspirational, peace and serenity, Americana and much, much more. There are also any number of websites that deal in nothing but the best and most desired Wind Chimes that anyone could possibly want — just Google the keyword; Wind Chimes.

Several websites feature the J W Stannard Wind Chime Collection. The J W Stannard chimes are high quality, reasonably priced and use specially designed metal to create Wind Chimes that not only do not rust, but each chime produces just the perfect pitch. His artisans laser engrave the notes on the wind catchers, and on top of all that, Stannard Wind Chimes have soft wood clappers, so that the tones are not mixed with wood striking metal. He has even developed a magnetic clapper that can turn off the Wind Chime just by pushing up on the clapper so that it sticks to the top of the frames and keeps them from making sounds.

So review whats out there and enjoy the melodic tones.

Ronald Sam