Windchimes!

I inherited a box of copper pipe offcuts, left-overs from a job by a good friend of mine.

I’d dabbled with chimes and chime making before, some years back with a few bits of fifteen millimetre copper water pipe.

I was quite surprised at how well they sounded and dug a little deeper into the hows and why’s behind how they worked.  Physics. Physics, a bit of maths and a bit of trial and error. Suffice to say, theres a critical length, point to hang them from, (even how to hang them), and even a optimum point to strike them, all to try and get the best and longest sustain time.

Added to that, the ability to build almost any chord and potentially you’ve got an endless variety of personalised ‘instruments’ which are a few cry from the majority of tinkly, pentatonic things on offer at your local garden centre.

I made up a couple of sets at Christmas time for gifts, finishing them with a Scottish oak suspension disk and a bubinga striker. One from the twenty two millimetre copper pipe and another using some fifteen millimetre stainless steel gas pipe.

Head over to the Facebook page and theres a wee video of how they sound.