Homex – Mountain Song

Hand-crafted to order in Victoria's Dandenong Ranges

Beautiful hand-crafted chime instruments

'Wind chimes' … a few dangly metal pipes that jingle & jangle in the breeze, right?!

Ah! But that's not what we do here.

At Mountain Song Wind Chimes we delight in specializing in beautiful, custom-made and hand-crafted chime instruments, played by the wind.

If you’re about to order wind chimes you might be listening to for the next twenty or thirty years, you should have a say in how they look and sound – shouldn’t you?

Tough, for harsh environments

Mountain Song Wind Chimes are cut from quality tubing supplied to us by Australia's largest manufacturer of aluminium profiles. Each chime is hand-finished, and polished to a silk sheen.

Construction of other components is typically from thick bamboo veneers,* which we laminate together, cut, turn, and detail in our workshop, to make the carrier, striker and wind catcher.

All bamboo parts are protected against the elements by several coats of Australian-made marine-grade polyurethane finish, tough enough for the harshest environments.

*Australian hardwoods also available, on request

We're able to hand-craft the particular blend of tones you want to hear in most of the two thin-walled or seven thick-walled chime ranges we offer.* Choose from five to eight chimes in one of our suggested tunings, or let us help you find just the notes that 'sing out' to you.**

Select too the shape and style of the windcatcher (or sail - the bit that hangs below the chimes) and please do feel free to suggest other features you'd like us to consider.

If your order is for an anniversary, retirement, birthday, or other gift - or perhaps for a memorial or commemorative - we'll be pleased to laser-engrave the windcatcher with an inscription. For a nominal additional charge, this works beautifully to personalize your gift.

A hallmark of Mountain Song Wind Chimes is our attention to the smallest detail.

Chime notes in any set are carefully chosen to balance with one another. A key factor in the pitch of a chime is its length; rather than simply chop-and-hope, we cut each chime initially overlength, and then trim back for precision tuning. It takes time, but we know it's worth the effort. Rough tuning is usually by ear, afterwards using an audio spectrum analyzer to attain spot-on pitch.

Before polishing, each lip is rounded inside and out. Not only does this work to improve the aesthetic, but it ensures safety if small fingers find their way to where they shouldn't!

Mountain Song Wind Chimes are polished by hand while spinning each chime on a wood lathe. Several process stages bring the surface to the brushed aluminium satin or silk finish required. There is an art to achieving consistency in the sheen, and again, it takes a little time and patience... yes, we could just paint or otherwise coat the tube's surface, but we prefer 'gentle simplicity', and choose not to (see Q&As for more on this).

The finished surface is not limited to the outside of the chime, either! As far as is practicable, we polish a little of the inside too, at least as far as you might be able to see into the chime when it is hanging in a tree or from your verandah or pergola.

If there were a question we hear more than any other at Mountain Song Wind Chimes it would be: "How long is this string going to last, then?" - delivered almost accusingly! And you get a sense of bad experiences with wind chimes and string!

We use micro paracord to suspend chimes from the support plate. Though we don't make a habit of it, a single length will easily take the load of an entire set of our largest chimes.

To relieve a potential wear-point where the paracord passes through drilled holes in the chimes, soft nylon bushes are inserted to protect it. They extend well into the tube wall, providing a larger contact area for the paracord to bear each chime's weight.

Micro paracord is made in the same way, to the same stringent specification, and from the same UV-stabilized nylon as regular parachute cord - it's just thinner. It won't rot, and it's immune from fungal attack.

Wherever the paracord is tied off, the end is first heatsealed to prevent it pulling through. This makes for a compact and low-profile knot, which at the same time is very strong.

Each chime is suspended using its own cord, rather than one length threaded through the whole set. This ensures that even if the cord should break, all chimes will not come crashing down. The support plate holes are counterbored to conceal knotted cord ends.

Having developed expertise in manufacturing precisely tuned aluminium chimes, Mountain Song Wind Chimes is very well placed to consider your request to investigate other uses and options for these wonderful instruments. We have already worked with clients familiar with or engaged in Sound Healing, and are able to hand-craft individual chimes at 111Hz, 136.1Hz, 528Hz etc, a set of single chimes in Chakra Keynotes*, or indeed any frequencies that have particular value and meaning for you. Choice of material gauge means choice in overall length and chime resonance. We offer flexibility in mounting and striker options, and look forward to working with you in developing your bespoke chime solution.

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