Talk:Tubular bells

Miscellaneous old comments
Ortolan88:

I agree that's an important sentence, but it was kind of confusing since a glockenspiel also produces a pure tone and wind chimes are often hollow.

Flamurai 06:37, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

The difference between tubular chimes and glockenspiel is one of tone quality, not purity. Tubular chimes have overtones more like those of much larger bells. I think the article is contrasting these two instruments against the group of instruments with less definite pitch, like the mark-tree. Wind chimes tend to have definite pitches and would come into the definite-pitch group.

dmhball 83.138.136.92 20:42, 5 October 2005 (UTC)

image link to dawsonsonline.com - this was submitted by an anon poster on 5 December but surely isn't fair use. Tim Pierce 19:24, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

Posted image, reomveing photo wanted tag
I posted a picture I took of a set of Tubular Bells. So, if there are no objections, I will remove the "photo wanted" tag at the top of the talk page. --Bjornredtail 06:44, 10 February 2006 (UTC)

Dude! NPOV-city! Somebody called "Abide with me" "beautiful." Cut that out.

Article Name
Can someone tell me why this is called 'tubular bell'? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.31.80.94 (talk) 03:21, 5 October 2007 (UTC)


 * Uh... perhaps because it's a bunch of tube-shaped objects that happen to produce bell sounds? :P 4.235.9.185 (talk) 06:44, 16 February 2008 (UTC)


 * They are technically bells in the Hornbostel-Sachs classification, and are normally called tubular bells (plural). Andrewa (talk) 23:16, 6 July 2012 (UTC)

Move proposal
I agree, Tubular Bell sounds ridiculous, as if you were only going to play one note.
 * Move to Tubular bells -- always referred to in the plural as the instrument is most often a set of tubular bells. Badagnani (talk) 09:29, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Marky1991 (talk) 23:16, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Change the Mike Oldfield's album to "Tubular Bells (album)" or something like that and change this page name to "Tubular Bells". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.17.151.176 (talk) 20:44, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

I was about to raise an RM for this, to move from the interim name of tubular bells (instrument) over the top of the many redirects that are the only history of Tubular bells. But as we have two votes in favour above, and one oppose from an anon with no other contributions who gives no rationale and seems unaware of policy on article names, I think I'll be bold and just move it. This will require admin powers but I think it's valid in the circumstances, as we have rough consensus already, so WP:SNOW seems to apply. Andrewa (talk) 23:07, 6 July 2012 (UTC)

bar chime pointer
"Bar chime" redirects here, but "bar chimes" redirects to "mark tree". That discrepancy makes no sense. Both should point to the same page, preferably to "mark tree," as that is what people usually mean when they talk about "bar chimes". I would do it myself but I don't know how to do redirects. 76.169.152.2 (talk) 03:27, 30 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Agree there was a problem. Fixed I think, bar chime now points to the DAB at chimes, which I think is the best we can do pending creation of an article on the sort of bell or chime you find on a bar counter, which may be the primary meaning of bar chime. But bar chimes is a common name for a mark tree, so it probably should remain a redirect there. Hatnote added. Andrewa (talk) 23:01, 6 July 2012 (UTC)

HS
My bad. Good catch. Andrewa (talk) 02:12, 9 July 2012 (UTC)

Instrument Range
According to numerous sources, including Musser's product description of their Tubular Bells (or "Chimes", as they call them), the playing range of Tubular Bells is actually C5-G6. Basically, this article is right about the range, but not about the octave. I'll leave it as-is for now, but if I don't hear any objections any time soon, I'll go ahead and change it, and add a citation. Belac1 (talk) 16:31, 8 February 2013 (UTC)

Actually, now that I think about it, it doesn't really make sense for Musser to say it's that high. When I think about the sound, it actually makes more sense for Musser to be wrong!--Belac1 (talk) 17:10, 8 February 2013 (UTC)

Okay, figured out the problem. Chimes are written an octave lower than they register, so the article is right, at least so far as writing is concerned, and the Musser page is right as far as actual sound is concerned. This information should probably be added to the article, to help avoid further confusion in the future. Belac1 (talk) 21:58, 8 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Yes, it should definitely be added. Good catch. Andrewa (talk) 19:15, 10 February 2013 (UTC)

Classification
The tubular bells are classified as keyboard percussion (see keyboard percussion instrument) so I added that as a category. Just like the xylophone, vibraphone, glockenspiel and marimba, the chimes use the same layout as the keyboard.--Kevjgav (talk) 18:50, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

modes
An explanation of 'modes' is needed for laypersons. HuPi (talk) 13:39, 11 July 2014 (UTC)

citation request
"Chimes are often used in concert band pieces (e.g. "Eiger" by James Swearingen[citation needed])" The request for a citation here is misplaced. If any citation is required, it is for the statement about 'often used', not that the example composition includes tubular bells, that is, the citation should not be inside the. The cited composition is itself evidence of the truth that it uses tubular bells, but as a single example it does not verify the 'often used' statement.

The statement implies that other genres of music are less likely to use tubular bells. Orchestral Chimes are used frequently in orchestral music, and a dozen or so examples are listed at the end of the article. I wonder why no request has been made for a citation of each of these ? Further examples are: Holst, The Planets, "Saturn"; Musorgsky-Ravel, Pictures at an exhibition, "The Great Gate at Kiev"; Puccini, Tosca, Acts I and II; Wagner, Parsifal, final scene. Here is the 'citation' if one is required: 92.3.194.40 (talk) 18:51, 8 August 2015 (UTC)

Similarly, "The Smashing Pumpkins' 1994 recording "Disarm" uses tubular bells to create a haunting mood.[citation needed]". The fact that this piece uses tubular bells is best verified by listening to the music or examining the score - music publisher or discography would be the required citation, but is it really necessary to be so pedantic ? Whether or not it creates a haunting mood is subjective, and not a matter of fact even if most people agree with it. It might be true to say that it was 'intended' to create a haunting mood - the composer/musician would have to be cited in that case I suggest.92.3.194.40 (talk) 19:13, 8 August 2015 (UTC)

In popular music
Are there tubular bells in Amy Winehouse's "Rehab"? PurpleChez (talk) 13:20, 7 November 2018 (UTC)


 * And also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bells_(symphony) Ansgarjohn (talk) 11:51, 25 September 2023 (UTC)

Dates?
This article says they were invented 1860-1870 and then goes on cite compositions that use them from the 1850s. Are the compositions dates wrong? The first appearance of the instrument incorrect? The compositions scored for something else (church bells?) and then retroactively changed to chimes. This section is nonsensical as-is. Ryukin (talk) 17:27, 8 November 2021 (UTC)