Handcrafted with precision at the foot of the Pyrenees, Koshi Chimes are designed with eight notes. The notes are metal pieces welded into a plate at the base of the resonating tube. The tube itself is made of thin layers of bamboo veneer treated with natural oils. The veneer is stronger than natural bamboo and makes for a much sturdier chime, without losing the acoustic qualities bamboo is famous for.
To learn more about Koshi Chimes click here.
The different tunings and elements were matched with each other based on the interpretation of the chime makers. The four elements, also known as Classical Elements, were known as the four “roots” in Ancient Greece. They heavily influenced Plato’s philosophy. They believed all of nature was made of these four elements. These four elements eventually gave way to the modern elements of chemistry, with the modern periodic table replacing the “Four Elements” model. Some modern scientists see parallels between the classical elements and the four states of matter (solid, liquid, gas, plasma).
The four classical elements are still significant in spiritual philosophy, interpreted as spiritual energies and archetypal qualities present throughout all of nature. In this interpretation, the energies aren’t physically-occurring “quantitative” energies like electricity or radio waves that can be measured by wavelengths or size or mass. Instead, we’re talking about “qualitative” energies, which can’t be measured. They’re energies that can only be felt and interpreted subjectively. We can all picture someone who is fiery, or down to earth, or lives with their head in the clouds, or someone who is deep like an ocean. When we describe people this way, we’re tapping into an ancient understanding of “energies” as naturally-occurring, essential qualities.
Learn more about this understanding of “Energies” and “Qualities” in our blog post on the Cosmic Octave, here.
When kept indoors, Koshi Chimes should not require any maintenance and should last a very, very long time.
If kept outdoors, you will want to keep your Koshi Chimes underneath some sort of porch or overhang to protect from direct exposure to rain. In damp weather and especially along coastal areas, it’s best to keep your chimes indoors. Like any wooden or bamboo object being kept outdoors, they should be treated with a protective oil such as teak, tung, or wood oil. Black spots on the bamboo can be treated with a paste of sodium bicarbonate mixed with a small amount of water, wiped off when dried, then retreated with oil. Though some corrosion may occur on the metal tines, this won’t affect the musical quality.
Koshi Chimes will maintain the same tuning they received at the Koshi workshop.
Koshi Chimes are handmade by an experienced artisan, based on the original Shanti® Chime design. The design features a resonating tube made of layers of bamboo with a circle of metal tines or rods (Nickel Silver) arranged around the rim on the inside, welded to a metal plate at the base of the tube. The sound is activated by a small activator that hangs through the center of the tube from the top hanging ring to the windsail at the bottom.
Koshi Chimes are crafted in France, at the foot of the Pyrenees Mountains.
Koshi Chimes are played by holding the string and gently swaying the chime around to activate the metal rods. If you have a full set, you can keep them on one of our chime stands and tap them with a small mallet or wiggle the stand itself to get the activating strings moving around.
All you need to get started with your Koshi Chime is a place to hang it! You can hang it from a hook or a nail or however you like! As long as the string is free to dangle and the tube is hanging freely, it will produce beautiful sounds.
We offer a couple of custom-designed stands, tailored to hanging a full set of four Koshi Chimes. You can find our full set of Koshi Chimes on the Songbird Chime Stand here, or a full set on our Chimefornia Stand here. The Songbird Chime Stand is designed with a removable top and a handle so that you can carry all four chimes around, waving them over participants during your sound bath meditations.
We also offer a custom soft case for storing and transporting your Koshi Chimes from your home to the yoga studio, recording studio, or wherever else you want to take your chimes.
The Koshi Chime design is inspired by the Shanti Chimes, designed in the 1980s by a small group of people spread out between France and the United States. The Shanti Chime is the original wind chime produced by these folks. They are no longer in production and are quite rare, with collectors paying a premium for them on eBay.
The Shanti Chime design was inspired by the simple energy and beauty of bamboo wind chimes. Bamboo is a fantastic material for a wind chime due to its strength, flexibility, and resonating quality. The design features a resonating tube made of layers of bamboo with a circle of metal tines or rods (Nickel Silver) arranged around the rim on the inside, welded to a metal plate at the base of the tube. The sound is activated by a small activator that hangs through the center of the tube from the top hanging ring to the windsail at the bottom.
During meditation, in a sound bath, or just on your back porch, the sweet and pure tones of these Koshi Chimes will float gently on the breeze, transporting you to a calmer, more meditative place.
