Mark tree

"Bar chimes" redirects here. For the glockenspiel-like instrument, see Chime bar. For other similarly named instruments, see Chime.

A mark tree (also known as a nail tree, chime tree, or bar chimes) is a percussion instrument used primarily for musical color.^[1] It consists of many small chimes—typically cylinders of solid aluminum or brass tubing about 3/8" in diameter—of varying lengths, hung from a bar. They are played by sweeping a finger or stick through the length of the hanging chimes. They are typically mounted in pitch order to produce rising or falling glissandos. More expensive models may also have a damper bar. Unlike tubular bells, another form of chime, the chimes on a mark tree do not produce definite pitches.^[2][3]

Bar chimes by Meinl

The mark tree is named after its inventor, studio percussionist Mark Stevens, who devised it in 1967. When he could not come up with a name, percussionist Emil Richards named it after Stevens.^[4] Mark trees are colloquially called wind chimes in some modern repertoire. However, the mark tree and wind chimes are two separate instruments, differing in construction and manner of sounding.^[5]

See also

• Bell tree

References

1. Libin, Laurence (2015). "Mark tree". The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments (Second ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780199743391.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-974339-1.
2. Holland, James (2005). "Mark tree". Practical Percussion: A Guide to the Instruments and Their Sources (Rev. ed.). Scarecrow Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-4616-7063-6. OCLC 681550519.
3. Beck, John H. (2014). "Mark tree". Encyclopedia of Percussion (2nd ed.). Routledge. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-415971-23-2. OCLC 939052116.
4. Strain, James Allen (2017). "Mark Tree". A Dictionary for the Modern Percussionist and Drummer. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 118. ISBN 978-0-8108-8693-3. OCLC 974035735.
5. Solomon, Samuel Z. (2016). "Metal Wind Chimes, Mark Tree, Bell Tree". How to Write for Percussion: A Comprehensive Guide to Percussion Composition (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 166–170. ISBN 978-0-19-992035-8. OCLC 936117814.

External links

• Media related to Mark trees at Wikimedia Commons