Tubular Bells (chimes)

The tubular bells also known as "chimes", include a set of copper tubes hanging on a wooden frame, in varying lengths in accordance to sound pitch. Hammering produces sounds similar to that of church bells, as in the "1812" overture by Tchaikovsky. In the movement "the Grand gate of Kiev" in "Pictures at the Exhibition" Mussorgski integrates the tubular bells in a hypnotizing ostinato as against the orchestra, gradually strengthening in a spectacular crescendo towards the main theme.

The Xylophone is built as a wooden keyboard (Xylus is Greek for wood) on which you hit with wood hammers. Keys are placed on a band of rubber so their sound is not stopped. Underneath each key, there is a resonance box that amplifies the sound's volume. Saint-Saëns used the Xylophone in "Danse Macabre", and Rossini gave it a solo part in "The Magic Store".

The Celesta - a kind of a keyboard whose keys are attached to hammers beating against steel plates. Tchaikovsky was the one who gave it its first symphonic part, in the dance of the sugar nut queen, in "The Nutcracker".

Celesta

The Marimba resembles the xylophone in shape. The marimba was brought to America by African slaves, originally having hollow pumpkins under its keys. In time, those were replaced by metal tubes as in the xylophone. In 1947, Milhaud wrote a concerto for marimba and vibraphone and it has been extensively cultivated by composers since.

Vibraphone is a xylophone whose keys are made of metal instead of wood. At the end of each tube there is a resonator, resonating to the key's sound, providing the instrument with its typical floating sound. It is particularly popular in jazz music, and the "Modern Jazz Quartet" is known for having the vibraphone as its characteristic. Among the greatest players of this instrument, we find the Jazz virtuoso player Lionel Hampton.

The glockenspiel is a metal keyboard that makes sounds of tiny bells. In his many works for children, Orff used many kinds of percussion, among which is the glockenspiel in his "Carrol of the Bells". Kodály used the glockenspiel in the "Háry János" suite.

Ancient Tubular Bells