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Making Nail Chimes

These nail chimes are similar to wind chimes that have been used for decorating and adding musical beauty to buildings in Japan and China for hundreds of years. Chimes that are struck, such as the triangle, are percussion instruments used in modern western orchestras.

Materials

  • metal nails of various sizes
  • wood dowel or straight metal rod cut from a wire hanger
  • string

Procedure

  1. Set aside one large nail. Arrange the rest of the nails in a row from the largest to the smallest along the length of a wood dowel or metal rod.
  2. Cut a 15cm length of string for each nail.
  3. Tie one end of each string around the head of the nail. Tie the other end around the dowel or rod.
  4. Use another piece of string to hang up your chimes.
  5. Strike the nail chimes with the remaining large nail to make musical tones.


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