Tubular bells consist of aluminium tubes that are struck with mallets to produce
sound. There are eight tubes of varying sizes. When the long tube is struck it produces a low,
deeper tone while the shorter tubes produces higher tones. This is because longer tubes support vibrations of longer wavelength When a tubular bell is struck initially a large variety of vibrations are produced but only some of these vibrations are sustained while others fade away rapidly. The first three sustained tones correspond to a set of frequencies in the ratio of 2:3: 4 resulting in a melodic tone!
"When you strike them in
succession, you will be able to hear the notes of the octave – sa, ri, ga, ma, pa dha, ni. Did you know: the seven notes of Indian music – sa, ri, ga,ma, pa, dha, ni correspond to the
seven notes in western music – do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti?"