DRUMMER CAFE

Has anyone ever played these?I know that Neil Peart used to use them in the 70's and even into the 80's.I love tou sound they produce but I am not sure if I can get some similar types of sounds from a small metal xylophone.I need certain unique sounds for certain songs and I have no clue if bells or a xylophone would be the way to go.What are all of your opinions?

The best way to do this from drum set point of view would be to use samples.  

A set of Concert Chimes can be quite expensive, especially one that is in tune.  You might be able to find an old one that a school or an orchestra is selling.  However, lugging one of those around is not fun, and they generally aren't built for travelling.  They are struck at the top of each tube with a large hammer shaped mallet made out of either some form of epoxy, or rawhide.
http://www.pearldrum.com/admchime.asp
Neil has since removed his set of chimes, and opted for a set of v-drums and a malletkat www.alternatemode.com
He uses sampled chimes now, and you really can't tell the difference.

Of course...if you have someone to lug all your stuff around, and money to burn...the more toys, the merrier!

Nate

When you say "Chimes" I think a lot of people (especially non-orchestral types) think of wind chimes (marktree).  Where more "clasically-trained" folks might thinkk of Tubular Bells.

Sampling/electronics is the best way to go these days.  Even Neil Peart goes that way these days via a MalletKat (or something very similar).  He can get his Orchestra Bells, Crotales AND Chimes sounds out of one gig, AND he doesn't have to stand up to play the Chimes.

I thought tubular bells was the name of the theme from "Halloween".


 

As far as I know, chimes are solid metal bars and generally small whereas tubular bells are hollow tubes and much larger. You could probably make some if you are so inclined, go down to the hardware store and start banging pipes in the plumbing department until you get close to the tone you're after. Stainless plated brass tubing or even just brass might do the trick, they just need a tiny hole drilled through the top to suspend them with fishing line and a mounting frame that can be made out of wood. Tuning is the hard part, be prepared for a lot of trial and error cuts with a hacksaw until you get the right pitches. A flat file can be used for fine tuning. Xylophones have a different sound as they are not as suspended and are generally solid bars, they don't resonate as long. Here's an article on the subject: http://www3.telus.net/ereiswig/chimes.htm I'm gonna try it out too, I like making instruments and this sounds like a cool project.

Unfortunately, here in the US, musicians and composers often refer to tubular bells as chimes.

This isn't the first time that we've language differences between countries that speak the same language ... well, sort of.