A set of chimes may be made from tubing suspended from a frame. These metal tubes are open at each end, and composed of a special alloy. Their musical pitch varies according to their thickness, diameter, and length. The longest tubes sound the deepest notes, and are usually both larger and thicker. If the tubes were all of the same material and diameter, their pitch would vary solely according to their length; and given two tubes, one twice as long as the other, the long one would sound the same note as the short one, but one octave lower. Eight is a good number for a peal, tuned to a complete octave. The distance apart does not affect the tone. The tubes are suspended by silk or leather thongs threaded through holes at each side near the top. They are struck near the top end with leather-faced hammers. To form the scale, make one (the longest, 2 ft., 3 ft., or 4ft., according to fancy and the note desired) and set its measurement down on paper, for the longest, and another, half its length, for the shortest; then draw a slanting line from the lower end of one to the lower end of the other. If the remaining six tubes are now drawn in between the longest and shortest, at equal distances, the slanting line will cut off each to its proper length.

These lengths are only approximate, and the tubes will require tuning in unison with an octave on a piano, cutting them down carefully until each one sounds the note desired.