random question about wind chimes

[redbird]

For those of you who have wind chimes (or have had them before and would like to have them): what do you like about them?

I tend to find wind chimes irritating, especially if the next-door neighbor has them. (If the people around the corner do, it fades into the background.) I'm fairly sure my irritation isn't the repetition, or at least not only the repetition, since I like listening to birdsong, which is often repetitive (mockingbirds weave together lots of different noises, but most species of birds have only a few calls).

(This was prompted by someone else posting about damage to her wind chimes, but it seemed more appropriate to ask here. Sometimes "why do you like that?" isn't really answerable, and "try it, you might like it" doesn't apply here—but I'm hoping this won't run aground on the shoals of the paucity of generally agreed vocabulary for flavor and odor.)

Comments

[alexseanchai]

I do not have wind chimes because they too easily could annoy the neighbors and the landlord might therefore take exception. (Also, not sure how I'd hang them.) But I want to have them. They're musical and pretty.

Well. Usually.

[lone_lilly]

I love wind chimes, although I could see why they might be irritating to some people, especially certain kinds.

Mine are very large and made of wood and thicker metal pipes and have a deeper, almost cathedral-like sound to them. When I hear wind move through them, it's instantly calming the way the sound of moving water is when I'm near a river or beach, etc.

Perhaps, my enjoyment of them stems from the pitch? I'm imagining I wouldn't necessarily like a more higher pitched wind chime, and I do not enjoy birdsong very often (I don't *mind* it generally, but I find it very irritating when it wakes me up early in the morning).

[alatefeline]

Huh. I love windchimes. Well, I guess I can understand how someone could find them irritating, in theory, but to me the *feel* of listening to them is a soothing sensation like ... running water, or crickets, or the soft breathing of a loved one, or ocean waves in the distance, if any of those are soothing to you. They just sound mellow and melodious, generally, although some of the little tinny ones are too high pitched for me.

I can't quite say *why* they are soothing. The repetition and variation helps, the fact that they are generally tuned to some kind of notes helps, the way they synch up with the effects of breeze on the sounds and sights of nearby foliage helps. I won't voluntarily sit under the ones on our porch when it's blustering up for a storm, though, so there is a limit for me as to what is too much clatter from them.

I am familiar with mild frustration with the unanswerability of "Why does that seem good to you and not-good to me," too. I feel like that for a lot of music. I've noticed some patterns in what I do and don't like, but they are idiosyncratic.

I like the patterned randomness of a sound straying back and forth between a set of possible notes. I like the rise and fall that goes with the rise and fall of wind. I like the lasting resonance, the shimmery quality of metal ones and the hollow deep richness of wood or bamboo. I like the *idea* of them, just as I also like kites and pinwheels and wind-sculptures; and rain gutters, and sand ripples, and waves breaking on rocks. I like gongs and flutes and New Age music, which have sometimes similar sounds. I like owls and crickets, and am reminded of them by wind chimes.

Does any of that make sense at all?

[redbird]

A lot of that makes sense, and thank you.

[alatefeline]

Yay!

Individual experiences and tastes are weird. It's like we're all different people or something. ;)

[snippy]

I've never liked wind chimes, but when I was a teen I loved going to the Japanese Garden, partly because of the shishi-odoshi by the tea house.

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

Ah, FWIW, I like the idea of wind chimes, but I'm not so fond of them in life, and less so as they play longer.

[tanac.livejournal.com]

I only like them when they are tuned, and fairly low pitched. Think marimba, not xylophone. I went through at least 20 until I found one that was on pitch when I bought one. (It died years ago). It also was difficult to sound, so the noise was not ever present.

We have a set in the bedroom that came with the house; they go when the ceiling fan is going. They are twinkly but very soft, I can't hear them through ear plugs.

I tend to loathe other people's wind chimes. Atonal or dissonant and loud.

[tiger-spot.livejournal.com]

I have wind chimes. I like that I hung then somewhere mostly sheltered, so they play only rarely. It is a nice surprise every now and then.

They are fairly low-pitched, and an interestingly decorative visual style.

Also, they were a gift.

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

They make a pleasant noise that isn't repetitive. It's a magnification of the wind, or a spandrel on it; I associate them with the start of fall or Spring and being able to have the windows open. The deeper toned they are, the better I like them, but I appreciate even most higher-pitched ones.