In 1894, Edward Gerry was granted a patent for a tubular resonator. It was made of metal with a movable plug: the first use of the "stopped pipe effect."
During the late 1800's, John Deagan visited Southeast Asia where he saw the early "bamboo instruments." He took the idea with him and in 1900, he patented the first slotted metal tube, which had a tuned tine and a fixed plug -- combining and improving the designs already in existence: the split tube of the people of Southeast Asia and the fixed plub, the invention of Edward Gerry.
In 1910, William Bartholomae patented a toy that claimed no musical significance, but used an external, attached device that struck the tube to make it sound. This was the first clapper mechanism.
In 1939, Earl Sanders was granted a patent involving a tube that was slotted at both ends. Although this slotted idea was not successful, the most significant contribution of his patent changed the slotted tube from round to square. This was to play a very important role in what we have seen develop as today's chime instruments.
In 1977, an English handchime was developed by Toby Harris Smith and was described in David Sawyer's article "Vibrations" published by Cambridge University Press. This instrument used an external "spring metal ringer." However, there was an inherent flaw in the design and Mr. Smith was unable to find a workable solution to the problem and was eventually forced into bankruptcy. The handchime was made in England and distributed by Schulmerich Carillons in the United States. Mr. David Ward, a therapist in England, used the handchimes in his music classes and in rehabilitative therapy sessions. He felt that the handchime would be a very useful addition in therapy sessions and contacted Dr. Paul Rosene, his friend in the United States. Dr. Rosene toyed with the idea of the "handchime" and consulted with Jacob Malta at Malmark, Inc. In 1981, they started experimenting with different designs, using rounded and squared tubes, using different combinations of aluminum and tin and developing a way to attach a claper mechanism, similar to ones used in the Malmark handbells. In 1982, Jacob Malta introdced the Choirchime (R): they had found the right combination of metals to produce a "pure" tone, based on the principals of the tuning fork with an external clapper mechanism. "The sound of the Choirchime (R) is mellow, peaceful and gentle;" "a heavenly sound." There have been some slight modifications in the original design and the Choirchime (R) is marketed in nearly its original form today by Malmark, Inc.
My references include: "Overtones 1955-1986" as well as class notes from Dr. Paul Rosene which I took at the Handbell/Handchime Workshop at Illinois State University in 1990.
Written by:
Monica S. McGowan
MMcgow9399@aol.com
Chairman, Area VII AGEHR, Inc.
Director of Handbells, Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church
Lakeville, Minnesota
3 Dec 1996
Archived original can be found at: Chime History