tubular bells

▪ musical instrument

also called  orchestral bells  or  orchestral chimes 

 series of tuned brass (originally bronze) tubes of graded length, struck with wooden hammers to produce a sound. They first appeared in England in an 1886 performance of Arthur Sullivan's Golden Legend in Coventry. Large tubular bells were at first used as a substitute for church bells in towers. Smaller tubes were later built to be controlled from an organ manual or, in the orchestra, to be played directly by a percussionist.

      As orchestral chimes, tubular bells can attain greater rhythmic precision than true bells, and their tone is clearer, for it emphasizes fewer higher harmonics. The instrument's compass normally extends 1¹/₂ octaves upward from the C above middle C.

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