[ Danielle Squyres asked in MMD 010113 how to fabricate and tune
 [ the Deagan Organ Chimes.

The Dapper Dans barbershop quartet in Disneyland play one of a few
remaining sets of Deagan Organ Chimes.  I hope that is one park
tradition that hasn't been tossed.

To raise the pitch on the Organ Chime Tubes you need to make two
adjustments.

The first adjustment is to the resonator end where the end plug (if
any) must be moved inward to the new A440 position for each of the
tubes on each chime.

I hate to put a hot torch to a thin nickel plated brass tube so I came
up with a different method.  When making this change on all plated
closed resonator tubes I cheat by using liquid acrylic plastic.  I add
an amount necessary to fill the end up with the closed tube end down.

Tuning is done with an electronic tuner (I use an antique StroboConn)
checking the tuning of an audio oscillator and amplifier feeding a
small speaker near the end of the tube.  At resonance the sound gets
louder so I add the acrylic then check with the oscillator.  The
acrylic may be removed also.

When tuning is perfect I drop in a few drops of hardener and soon the
tuning is set.  No modifications have been done requiring loosening the
soldered end plug and marring the nickeled finish.  Some early sets
have a cork stopper which is movable for tuning.  Why they later went
to brass soldered stoppers is a mystery.

On sets with open tubes there is no way to keep from working through
the plating.  You must file a touch off of the open end all the way
around very evenly.

The next part is the tricky part.  Stuff the tube with cotton or a
rag.  With a rubber mallet hit the bar (tongue) of the chime.  Use a
microphone to see where the note is on your electronic tuner.  To raise
the pitch you need to take a bit of material off of the end of the
tongue and to lower the pitch (which you shouldn't need to do if you
are careful) you take a little metal off each of the two sides of where
the tongue joins the resonator.

For those who have never heard this sweet sounding instrument, a sound
bite and history plus related articles are at
http://www.dapperdans.com/dapperdans/deagan_organ_chimes/d_o_c_Main.htm

Making modern tubes is easy.  In fact, the instrument that Organ Chimes
was based on, the angklung from Indonesia, is for sale at Pier One
Imports here in Marin County, California.  It is done in the original
bamboo.

I prefer using aluminum tubes which really sing well, some might say
better than the old brass Deagan tubes.  I have not had the time to
make a full set and have only experimented but the sound can be very
pleasing.  Check out the web site above for construction suggestions
and you can have fun experimenting also.

Some other Deagan "inventions" are offshoots of the angklung.  The
Reveille Chimes for pipe organ is a tuning fork end with a resonator on
the opposite end.  Some church bell ringers use modern aluminum
extrusion versions of this.  The old Cliff House Mechanical Music
Museum that burned in 1967 (I believe?) had a simple roll playing
instrument where Reveille Chimes where struck singly and in chords to
sound like the Organ Chimes.

One last note, each of the individual notes on an Organ Chimes shaker
must be tuned perfect and not with the tempered scale.  So, on a 3 note
chime you would have the fundamental, a perfect third, and a perfect
fifth.  Some sets had an octave chime.

Al Sefl