How the bell tree makes its sound
In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the bell tree belongs to the struck idiophones: the body is struck directly – bells, gongs, xylophones and cymbals.
More broadly it is one of the idiophones, where the solid body of the instrument itself vibrates, without strings or a stretched membrane.
Players shape its sound through technique and materials; the resonating body filters the raw vibration, boosting some harmonics and damping others.
From Wikipedia
A bell tree, also known as tree bells or Chinese bell tree (often confused with the mark tree), is a percussion instrument, consisting of vertically nested inverted metal bowls. The bowls, placed on a vertical rod, are arranged roughly in order of pitch. The number of bowls can vary between approximately 14 and 28. An effective glissando is produced by sliding a triangle beater, a glockenspiel mallet, or a xylophone mallet down the length of the tree. The bells are usually pitched to microtonal intervals and do not represent any formal scale. When a glissando is played, the inexactness of the order of the bowls' pitch is unnoticeable, merely creating a fuller sound.
The bell tree is often used to accentuate the start or end of passages of music with a "bright", "shimmer" effect, adding complexity.
Other struck idiophones
Frequently asked questions
What does a bell tree sound like?
As one of the struck idiophones, its sound comes from the way the body is struck directly.
What type of instrument is the bell tree?
It is classified as struck idiophones (Hornbostel–Sachs 111.242.221).
Sources & credits
- Wikidata Q12273079 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Bell tree – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Image by Belltree.png : Aaron Walden derivative work: - Begoon (Talk) – CC BY-SA 3.0